FATHER TIME

SoundCloud Alternate: Father Time

Here's an experimental venture into Americana. We considered several different genres after I wrote the lyric but, FWIW, it seemed to work better with a roots rock groove and Janice came up with a melody that seemed to fit.

Vocal: Janice via Rodes NT1 interfaced to Logic Pro X via Blue Icicle and vocal effects by Izotope’s Necter 2
Lead Guitar: Tom Adams (tommyadmusic.com)
Rhythm Guitars 1: RT 835 Rendered thru Direct Input and distortion applied via a Logic Pro amp/speaker/mic module
Rhythm Guitars 2: RT 833 Rendered thru Direct Input and tremelo applied via a Logic Pro stomp box module
Bass: RT 700 EQ applied via Necter2's EQ module
Drums: N'ville Even 8's with EQ and Reverb from Necter2's modules
Mixing/Mastering: Logic Pro X and Izotope Ozone 6.

Big thanks to Tom for the cool lead guitar and for rhythm guitar effect suggestions/feedback, mix advice and lyric tweaks. And thanks to floyd jane for putting me on to one of the rhythm guitar selections and mix feedback. No way would I have ventured into electric guitar effects w/o their help and support.

Thanks for taking the time to listen and, as always, comments are both welcomed and appreciated.


Father Time
© Merritt/Adams

You ran with the bad crowd everyday after school
and fought imaginary enemies down the avenue
Always taking advantage of the less fortunate

made out like a bandit, never failed to take the credit

You're on a one way track, ain't nobody got your back

Chorus:
You may think you have all that you ever desired

but your memory is fading and your body grows tired 

There's one tall mountain you'll never climb

it's not long, you’ ll be brought down by Father Time

Sycophants danced 'round you like rock groupies 

you paid off everyone in sight even all the juries 

Said you were in Nam, claimed you earned the Heart

funny how your buddies don’t remember that part

You're on a one way track, ain't nobody got your back

Chorus

Bridge 

Now your bones are aching and your eyes are dimming
It won't be very long, you've played your swan song

Chorus





______

Hi Bud and Janice
That is quite some song! Being brought down by Father Time. The great leveller. Really enjoyed Tommýs guitar and as always Janice vocal is spot on'. Love the groupies/juries rhyme. Good one!

Hi Janice and Bud,

A very good song. Vocals nice, clear and crisp as always.
The guitar is very cool, Tommy has done a great job.

Regards,
Rob and Anne-Marie

Well, this one is a little different than some of your more recent offerings! I needed to step back a few paces and really listen for a while to get my brain wrapped around a whole new kind of Merritts song!

I am particularly interested in the lyrics. The specific observations being made suggest you may have somebody in mind. If so, would you care to elaborate? (If you'd rather not, I certainly understand) On the other hand, if its more of a generic observation about a certain KIND of person you've encountered in life, I'd like to hear more about that too. Anyway, I thought the lyrics stole the show on this tune! I'm guessing Bud wrote them? If so, AWESOME job, my friend! I am so envious! I can't write good lyrics to save my soul!

Its interesting to me that this song comes on the heels of Floyd's suggestion that JosieC revamp her folk tune as a frisco folk rock tune ala Jefferson Airplane, because I get a very similar vibe from this song.

One of the things that gives it that vibe is the fact that more modern pop music relies heavily on hooks and signature riffs that have sorta become the benchmark of commercial music. In the 60s most acts were highly resistant to the idea of making music for commercial reasons, and therefore the guitar parts were more ethereal. Whether the lack of recurring riffs in those days was planned, or whether it was just because they were stoned, and couldn't remember what they played in the last verse in order to play it again... is a moot point now. But its worth noting that the lack of hooks is somewhat characteristic of that era.

Having said all that, I notice that Tommy seems to have purposefully passed up the opportunity to rubber stamp the same riffs throughout this song. Instead he plays from the heart at each passage, which has the end result of making the decorations more varied and interesting from start to finish. Good job, Tommy!

Normally, this is the part of the review where I would take the rest of the day to craft a succinct paragraph of meticulously chosen words that describe Janice's awesomeness to the best of my verbal ability. But, I'm starting to feel like such a suck-up that I'm a little bit embarrassed to do it in every single review! Really, I am. So, this time, in an effort to scale the praise back a notch so that future praise isn't quite as eye-rollingly predictable, I'll leave it at this:

Janice, you are awesome. If you ever stop singing, boy will I be mad. If singers were food, all the singer chicks on the radio would be dog food, but you'd be steak. I think Guitar Center should have one whole wall painted as a mural of you. The next presidential function should feature music by the Merritts. The next space mission should include a time capsule with your CD in it so whatever alien civilization finds it will know that earth included a musically superior race of Merritts.

There. (Did that work as a scaled back and almost totally muted observation?)

;-)

disclaimer: only radio singer chicks are dog food in comparison. The forum singer chicks are all awesome, and they will get their own individual praise-fest each time they post their ear candy!

Loved it!! Love the concept. We all have known someone like the character in this song, and had that emotion. Mix and arrangement are superb, and Tommyad is always going to be a great addition to a track. The live vibe to the track is great, and Janice delivers the vocals beautifully. What's not to like? A true gem!! BTW, for a different slant on the time angle, check out TIME THE CONQUEROR by Jackson Browne. It's worth the listen. Take care. Greg

Excellent write, excellent production, excellent Guitar and excellent vocals. Really enjoyed this and looking forward to hearing something from you guys again real soon.


Charlie

Really loved this tune. Excellent lyrics. As always excellent singing and playing. Excellent guitar work. Great collaboration..

Thank you Joanne. Mercifully folks of that ilk can't last forever.



We appreciate that guys. It was a fun departure.

Hi, Bud, Janice and Tommy !:))

Father Time, yeah seems we
are all slowly closing up to
that time ? I liked this
production really much and
Janice (what a voice !!!)
enhances every bit of the
melody ! WOW !

Cheers
Dani

Hi Janice & Bud and Tommy,

great collaboration.
Excellent lyrics. Janice's voice shining like always.
Tommy's guitar work makes it unique.
Enjoyable listen.

Guenter

J&B&T...

Stellar. Pro sound from every direction.

It sounds like Janice sat in as guest vocalist with The Grateful Dead.
Right down to that guitar guy... nice!

And... kudos for getting "sycophants" into a lyric!

floyd

Hey!

The three of you, along with BIAB, sound super! Man, I can relate to the lyric. I'm close to 70 years old and growing old is not a graceful process! I figured out why I always have blisters on my fingers ... I thought it was from practicing guitar 2 or 3 hours a day, almost every day. Nope ...it's from having turned so danged many calender pages!

The soul in Janice's voice is perfectly matched with Tom's excellent guitar work. And Bud's lyric tells the tale!

Super job! i didn't listen to a lot of rock back in the 60's, 70's, & 80's, so I (Alan) can't comment too much on the groups that have been mentioned. Heck, I was playing lead guitar in a Country band 25 nights a month! It took all I had to keep up with that!

But, this is cool, regardless of who it might sound like. To me it sounded like a J&B hit featuring Tom Adams. That works for me any day of the week!

Best to you. All three of yas did down-right superb work!

Alan & Di

Pat, when Janice and I decided to venture back into making music after nearly a decade off your comments on our early posts were and remain very meaningful to us. Since we were experimenting way out of our bluegrass comfort zone we didn't always get a lot of support from our old music friends. This forum and folks like you gave us the encouragement to forge on.

Father Time drew mixed comments from family and friends as it's more rock oriented than any previous efforts. We knew immediately that Tom's guitar was excellent and perfectly fit the song. However weren't completely sure if structurally, lyrically and melody wise we were on the "right" track for a roots rock tune. That's why responses like yours are such confidence builders and we always appreciate them.

You asked about the origin of the lyric. We all have seen many good caring people pass on way too early. And at the same time we see truly awful or even evil people live long lives. People without one whit of humanity. It seems that only Father Time brings them down. Yet it's hard to take solace in that as Father Time eventually takes us all. So I had no one person in mind - just a composite of a few personal encounters and characters from history and current news.

Thanks for your remarks and interest in the lyric. And Janice was just overwhelmed by your thoughts about her vocal.

I want to check in here and thank all the listeners who commented on the guitar work. I viewed this as an alternative country roots rock sound and envisioned it being played in a club in Austin. There is something just a little off on the intro guitar lead, but we decided it added to the not-so-perfect vibe we were looking for. Thanks to Bud and Janice for letting me become a part of this one. Tom

that makes me happy!



friends and family are free to have their opinions... but I'm glad you have the strength of conviction to walk according to your own vision instead of mooing along with the herd. Creative people shouldn't moo. (there's a song there somewhere.. )



thanks for taking time to elaborate! Your lyrics did a great job of capturing the stated intent!


I always enjoy your stuff. I just hope you never hear the praise as anything but sincere. 'cause it is.

Tommy,

after many listens I can't hear anything in the guitar intro that sounds "off"

Your guitar work is characterized by its authenticity. Please never change.

Janice and Bud,

It was a bit of a shock to her Janice's voice in front of distorted guitars but her voice is so beautiful as always.

Tom rocks as usual!!
Wonderful lyrics!!

Different but brilliant.
Good selection of guitars, floyd

Alyn

Thanks for the kind words Greg! We are familiar with the Jackson Browne song and, yes, it is definitely worth the listen and then some. It's very cool that you like this....as mentioned previously we were apprehensive about whether it worked or not. Thanks again.

J&B




Glad it worked for you Charlie. Very nice of you say that.

J&B

Thanks Scott. Happy that it worked for you.

J&B



Thanks Dani!!

J&B



Thank you Guenter. We appreciate your remarks very much.

Thanks floyd, kind of you, and yep Janice is a big time Garcia fan!

Yeah, I'd been waiting years to get that word in a line......

J&B





Thanks y'all. Yep, father time will take us all down but there certainly characters who don't deserve a long run!

Thanks again and I'm with you on pushing 70 -- it's no cake walk!



Thanks Tom, w/o that guitar this project would never have come together. We do appreciate it.

J&B

Everything that I wanted to say has already been said: great vocal, backing tracks and guitar!

Unfortunately I could relate to the lyrics so I don't know whether or not I like them! Just kidding, they were great lyrics.

This was great!

Thanks Alyn....it was a shock to me adding the distortion to them