If you've ever traveled I-75 through Georgia, I'll bet that at some point you've said to yourself...
"... if we can make it to Macon..."
...we'll get lunch
...we can stop for the night
...we'll be half way to Atlanta

Something like that. But it ALWAYS sounds like a song title.

This is a song about do-overs.

MAKE IT TO MACON

daddy sent a clipping from the paper out of macon
i couldn't believe my eyes
looking just as sweet as a georgia peach
with her arm around another guy
the story underneath her said a real big wedding
was planned for the end of may
i told her not to wait...what a big mistake
i never thought it'd turn out this way

    if i can make it to macon
    before she takes those vows
    i'll make up for my mistake
    and win her back somehow
    if this old truck can get me there
    i can change her mind
    if i can make it to macon....on time

got my diploma and i left for oklahoma
never meant to be gone so long
momma and daddy sent a letter every week
to keep me up with what was going on
they tried to tell me nicely, break it to me gently
that certain things had changed
that pictures worth... a thousand words
didn't think she'd change her name

repeat chorus

    my engine's running hot...but i can't slow down
    got a dozen roses...a million reasons..
    i'll turn her heart around

repeat chorus

    hey, if this old truck can get me there
    i can change her mind
    if i can make it to macon
    i'll make her mine.....


...and the Band...
RealTracks in song: ~1846:Bass, Electric, CountryBoogieRootFive Sw 140
RealTracks in song: 378:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming DoubleTime Ev 088
RealTracks in song: ~621:Pedal Steel, Background Easy Ev 136
RealTracks in song: 2021:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm CountryBalladJohn Ev 120
RealTracks in song: 623:Banjo, Background Backporch Ev 098
RealTracks in song: ~618:Fiddle, Background Allis Ev 120
RealDrums in style: NashvilleEven8^6-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare, HiHat Open
RealDrums in song: NashvilleOutlaw^10-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride

Harmonies by the janettes (that would be Janice Merritt and me) - Thanks, again, J&B!!!!

floyd

Always know I'm in for a treat when I see a new post by you Floyd!! This is a fun little gem. You are a true craftsman-every note and word in place. Another cool tune!! Take care. Greg

+1 !

John

Hi Floyd
Yup, we've used I75 but to come South to A M I. What a wonderful place this is!
Great song! I've bought myself a good set of earphones for this tablet and it sounds really rich and full.
No critique from me - its just Sooper Dooper!
Cheers
Ian

Well, every time time you sang " make it on time" I was imagining " make her mine". And then you finally sang it! It was worth the wait. Great job as usual.

You left room for a follow up song with the story to whether you made it to Macon on time.

Good song and looking forward to hearing "the rest of the story"


Charlie

Hi floyd,

I managed to jump in a bit earlier this time!

This song is good! Real good! You and Janice have once more reached the stratosphere of performance.

Right at the moment, I'm sitting in front of my computer and giving myself a rest from programming macros in Excel while I'm slowly working my way through Walkenbach's book Microsoft Excel 2013, Power Programming with VBA. It's a great book but I've got to take breaks from it every once in a while. As much as I like playing around with programming, though, I have to say that I think I enjoy listening to your music more.

What initially captivated me with “Make It To Macon” was the sonic fabric of the chorus. You really got me thinking with this one!

I'll try and explain what I mean …

To my ears, the name 'Macon” has the following sonic characteristics: it has an “m” sound, a long “a” sound, a “k” sound and an “n” sound. As a bit of an exercise, I thought it would be interesting to look at those individual sounds in the chorus and note the words in which they occur. Table 1 below summarises my deconstruction.



Wow! Out of the 44 words that make up the chorus, 22 of them are directly related to reinforcing the four sounds found in “Macon” - see the yellow highlighting on the image below. That's a whopping 50%. Moreover, a number of these words multitask across multiple sounds (i.e. make, takes, mistake, change, mind).

When I looked a little more closely at the brickwork of the chorus, I found that there are only five syllables, in fact, that occur on the stronger rhythmical beats that aren't related sonically to “Macon”. I've highlighted those in the pink colour below. (The non-highlighted words are those that have no direct sonic relationship to the sounds in “Macon”. It's worth noting that they all occur on the weaker rhythmical musical beats.)



The net result of the above sonic landscape is that you've written a chorus that resonates and flows. Quite literally, it hums along just like the drive itself! This makes it easily memorised and enjoyable to sing. With every line, this chorus cleverly reinforces the song's hook by boosting the sounds of alliteration (the "m" sound), assonance (the long "a" sound) and consonance (the "k" sound) found in the title "Make It To Macon".

In addition, I really liked the inner-lyric rhymes of "wait/mistake", "diploma/Oklahoma", the weak syllable rhyme of "nicely/gently" and the relationship of "worth/words". I also liked the way you used hyperbole to develop the lyric content ("thousand words", "million reasons").

Lastly, I couldn't help but notice that because the singer is talking about a picture he's holding in his hands, your use of a variation of the saying "a picture's worth a thousand words" has no sense of 'cliche' about it whatsoever. Nice one!!

There's so much to talk about in this song but I'd better leave it there and save something for your next post

For what it's worth, I think that this is outstanding work! Thank you for sharing more of your excellent songwriting techniques.

All the best,
Noel

awesome thanks eric

Floyd ...

Another winner from you ... with a little help from Janice. Your voices blend splendidly.

I could see Montgomery-Gentry taking this and rocking it a bit. But, I like your solid country version as is. never a disappointment with anything you post. Super work and performance! best to ya ...

Alan & Di

floyd,

excellent, country music at its best.
Good background vocals by the janettes as always.
As I think I have said before your voice is perfect for this style of country.

+1 to the other comments also

thoroughly enjoyed

Alyn

hi floyd!

great production – you really got a voice that "is perfect from this style of country", as alyn said!

there are so many great details in the arrangement , i would loved to hear the song with a little less drums, just a to make all the other things shine even more

Floyd, this is really, really good. Fantastic lyrics, put together with a great feel. Just loved the way you used the double-rhyming like Noel mentioned. Very nice touch.

Definitely should be in the C&W Charts

Going back for another listen right now!

Trev

Driving to Florida by way of Atlanta, making it to Macon was always the pit stop for us too. Cool idea for a song.

Solid write - well crafted country song - well sung. Gets me feeling good routing for the guy to get his girl back. I think Al might be on to something with dirtying up the production a bit but also agree that's it's fine as it is too and could go either way. There's lots to like here. I especially liked those higher parts added to the harmony.

Josie

Hi there Floyd,

As usual, another fine country song (although we never made it to Macon )
We think this song has one of those classic country themed lyrics.
Great quality and the same goes for Janice's background vocals.

Regards,
Rob and Anne-Marie

Yep been on I75 in GA a number of times.

You have the knack for taking every day events and turning them into great country songs. This is no exception. As I have said many times I don't know why you are not signed yet. Each and every song that I have heard from you and you and Janice is ready for airtime IMHO.

Another winner!

Greg - thanks for that!




John - thanks for dropping in for a listen...




Ian - Thanks. Hope y'all are having fun in AMI. You have had a bit of rain down there the last few days...seems to be moving south now, so hopefully, you'll get some sun today...

Patrick - thanks...




Well, Charlie... it's been a while since we heard one from you... perhaps you should write the follow up!...

Noel - Another delightful visit from you! And you are hitting on very important aspects of writing. The very things that make a song "singable" and memorable. It is all very "sonic". I have mentioned a number of times (in responses to others) about the "cadence" of a song and "how it falls on the ear". These are aspects of writing that you first need to recognize (obviously, you do) and then need to practice (by repetition - constant, continual writing). It eventually becomes "the way you write" - you don't really "think" about it - you just do it because that's what makes the best sense, sonically. As you noted in the "Do You Remember" thread, these things are not often in typical songwriting books - and more likely to be noted in books from other fields.... It's not difficult to develop - the big step is in the recognition. One of those light-bulb moments. If you are familiar with a particular (developing) writer for some time and that transition occurs, it is quite identifiable... "Ah...he gets it" kind of thing. It's a big level changer....

(btw... I've written VBA code behind MSAccess for years. Of the many languages I've coded in, it remains my favorite)

Thanks, eric.



Thanks, guys. Are M-G still at it? I thought they broke up... No one does (records) these type songs anymore... we have become relics...




Alyn - thanks for the kind remarks... appreciate it... Long live the janettes!!!!

Hi Floyd,

I'm sorry I'm so late, but I had troubles with my new notebook. Now I finally can listen again.
This is one of your stories I like so much.
And I like the Janettes!
Only thing I can say about this production: professional.

Guenter

Floyd, another well written song. Great production chops as usual.

Yes, this flows nicely.....

regarding rhymes.....

Macon rhymes nicely with BACON..... perhaps next time... huh? (wink wink)

molsenhouse - thanks.

Drums are always a BIG part of (most of) my productions. Everything I listen to these days is based on up-front drums.... commercial Country, pop/rock type things, etc. Drums are a real foundation these days (I often suggest to people they need to turm 'em up...).

That being said, these were a bit loud. Rather than turned them down, due to your comment, I remixed to bring out some details in other instruments... a little more clarity to the piano. a little bit of "crisp" to the acoustic. some volume to the banjo...

Drums should be big, but not to the extent to hide the details...

Thanks.

Trevor - always appreciate you droppin by for a listen. Thanks for all those nice things...



Josie - appreciate you "headin' down the highway" with us on this one! Always glad to "catch your ear"



R&AM - Thanks for all of that! We appreciate it!


Mario - You say the nicest things! Country ought to be about "every day events"... ah, the good ol' days, eh?....

Hi Guenter. No such things as late... Thanks for the spin...



Thanks, Herb... I should have had him stop for breakfast!

Floyd,
Great song. I've only been down I75 through Macon once, but I can definitely relate.
Thanks for post.
SD