Sometimes a heartache is too big to hide from...


THIS TOWN AIN'T BIG ENOUGH

i hear montana is pretty this time of year
i ain't been to vegas for a while, so i might head there
the south of france or katmandu
if there's no chance i'll run into you

   this town ain't big enough, baby
   big enough for you and me
   all this small talk's driving me crazy
   i can't hide from what we used to be
   around every corner, in ev'ry face i meet
   in ev'ry cobblestone of every street
   this town's overcrowded with memories
   so, this town ain't big enough for you and me

it ain't easy watching you run around town
i know it's over, my heart needs to break some new ground
just when i think i'm strong
you walk by and you prove me wrong

   this town ain't big enough, baby
   big enough for you and me
   all this small talk's driving me crazy
   i can't hide from what we used to be
   around every corner, in ev'ry face i meet
   in ev'ry cobblestone of every street
   this town's overcrowded with memories
   so, this town ain't big enough for you and me

if we could cut it down the middle, divide it with a fence
maybe my heart would stand half a chance...

   this town ain't big enough, baby
   big enough for you and me
   all this small talk's driving me crazy
   i can't hide from what we used to be
   around every corner, in ev'ry face i meet
   in ev'ry cobblestone of every street
   this town's overcrowded with memories
   so, this town ain't big enough for you and me


Here is the Band...

Style is _MANPMGA.STY (PopCountry Ballad Mandolin[75RS])

RealTracks in style: 1827:Bass, Electric, PopModernGrooveA-B Ev16 075
RealTracks in style: 1839:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm PopModernGrooveA-B Ev16 075
RealTracks in style: 1596:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Pop16ths Ev16 065
RealTracks in style: 1947:Mandolin, Rhythm PopModernGrooveAndy Ev16 075
RealTracks in song: 1705:Guitar, Electric, Soloist CountryBrent Ev 085
RealTracks in song: 1829:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm PopModernGrooveBrightArp Ev16 075
RealTracks in song: 1762:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm Pop16thsArp Ev16 085
RealTracks in song: 861:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm HardRockWaltzSustainHeld Ev 140
RealDrums in style: PopModernGrooveSync16 (fills only)


Hope you enjoy it. But, either way, comments encouraged..
Thanks for listening.
Band-In-A-Box.... the true modern miracle...

floyd

Another good-un...

Good imagery in the lyrics... Well done on the musical front as well.

No major nits that I could hear on a first listen.... a few...I would have produced this or that differently but nothing that detracts from the production you did...


Real pretty the way you started it.


Excellent song.

if we could cut it down the middle, divide it with a fence
maybe my heart would stand half a chance...


As much as I loved the song through and through (AND I DID), this is one of the best bridges I've ever heard....short, concise, great alternative angle on the theme...Brilliant!
The rest of the song is excellent as well. We've all experienced that painful reality of having to be around someone who still turns your world upside down in a town, a team, a class, a workplace, whatever. This song perfectly taps into that painful emotion. Beautifully crafted lyric and flawless use of "the band" to bring the song to life. Another home run Floyd!! Take care. Greg

Floyd,

Another excellent job! Your a machine man.

A good song, good vocals, good production. The drums are happenin'! (great snare sound)... and I'm good with that, but maybe a little more reverb on them wouldn't hurt. I'd say just on the snare, but I know that's not an option. Just my $.02

Greg

Excellent song, excellent writing, great selection of real tracks - the mandolin worked quite well in your mixture of instruments. Your production was crisp.

Another good song.

Musically, "i know it's over, my heart needs to break some new ground" the phrasing of 'neeeeeeeeeeeeew'seemed a bit awkward in relation to the rest of the lyrics. Having a nit over the phrasing of a single word is really saying, there aren't really any nits to fret over.

Good job and I enjoyed the listen.

Charlie

Great song Floyd!!!
Music, vocals, everything.
Fascinating from the beginning to the end.

Rob and Anne-Marie

Great tune. Absolutely love the lyric!
-Carolyne

Hey Floyd.
Usual top notch production.
Really liked the vocal phrasing, the bridge and key change.
The last couple of bars sound very harsh to me.
Is that deliberate?
Cheers.

Hi Floyd.

I really do like it when a bit of "Rock" gets mixed into your songs and there's absolutely nothing in this which I didn't like. Everything is up to your usual high standard of professionalism.

Maybe a solo would have been nice? It's such a good track to solo over, I found myself desperately wanting to put one in!

Still a great track though.

ROG.

Yup.... my thoughts exactly.... coulda laid one down for you bro.....

Hi floyd,

This sounds as professional as anything I've heard that's come out of demo studios in Nashville. It's radio material through and through – brilliant writing, brilliant singing, brilliant production.

There's nothing quite like the discreet use of hyperbole to raise the bar of emotional intensity in lyrics.

• According to here on Wikipedia, hyperbole is defined as "the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally.”

An example that springs to mind (where exaggeration has been used to boost lyric intensity) is Fred Ebb's B-section for “New York, New York”.


Being "King of the hill" and "Top of the heap" strikes me as hyperbole. Fred then revisits this and gives it a vitamin shot by (a) repeating it and (b) exaggerating it even further saying …


Liza Minnellli shows the nuclear power of hyperbole when she performs Ebb's words at this concert. She also uses the repetition and further exaggeration to set up a megaton performance explosion into what can only be described as a Mt Everest of finishes.

Personally, I find hyperbole a powerful songwriting tool and I always keep it in mind as a lyric development device. For this reason, I tend to use it later in a song's lyrics: often verse 2 or the bridge.

You've employed it way up front in the chorus! It's never occurred to me to do that. To my ears, your use of it was very effective. I thought that using the exaggeration of...

• around every corner, on ev'ry face i meet
  on ev'ry cobblestone of every street

...was a very skilful way of showing us just how much this woman was inside the head of this guy and how this has trapped him in a web of misery that's pretty much impossible for him to escape from. It set-up the phrase "over-crowded memories" perfectly! The lyric sequence worked for me

Really, really terrific songwriting.

More please!
Noel

P.S. Great key change!

P.P.S. I've just seen that David Cuny also talks about "cobblestones" from a different perspective. It's good to have multiple views on things!

Hi, floyd!

First of all, great execution (as usual). Great singing, production, clever lyrics...

My only issue is the song is a bit too clever in spots. I can overlook "small talk", but "cobblestones" breaks the fourth wall completely.

That said, I particularly like:

if we could cut it down the middle, divide it with a fence
maybe my heart would stand half a chance...

Hi Floyd,

great song again!
Lyrics, music, vocals, everything the usual high standard.
Have I already mentioned that I'm a fan?

Guenter

Thanks for the listen, Herb.



Greg - I know you are a real student of songwriting - so coming from you, that is especially nice to hear... (really looking forward to your next..)

Thanks, Greg... In fact, adding reverb to just the snare, in this case, actually IS an option. I built the drum tracks on this - the snare is a separate track (as is the kick). If you listen closely, you should notice there is no hi-hat in this - that is how I wanted this to sound... if you look back at the RealDrum listed in the Band, I used only the fills from it.

As I'm sure you are aware, snare sounds are all over the map in country and pop. And it depends on the song what you might want for that sound. I'm very partial to a leathery snare - though for this one, I did apply some reverb to it.. if I have another go at this, I will try some adjustment to it to check that out..

Thanks for the listen.

I like everything about this one. Once again, great use of BIAB.

"katmandu" - I loved that one!


Regards,

Bob

I am also in the "I like everything about this song" crowd.

Not only are you an outstanding lyricist you are also an outstanding producer, singer, guitarist, mix engineer etc!.

This was perfect!

A quintessential country song,
Perfect vocals love the chorus.

I can see this easily making airplay.
You also have a touch of Nickle back going on as well.

Id love to be able to write like this,
Spot On.
Rob

Floyd

Another Masterpiece!

Sensational Lyrics
Sensational Melody
Sensational Build
Sensational Vocals
Sensational Mix

You've been working overtime on this, you must have.
Yes, you should put it up for air-play
This is another one of those 'really stand-out' songs on the User Showcase.

Great job Floyd.

Trevor

Great voice. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks, Charlie... the mandolin was part of the style... I listed the Style for a change since I used most of it.. it is a nice combination. I can see where holding "new" might throw your ear off some. It felt comfortable to me to emphasize it - but it could certainly be done without that... if I revisit the vocal, I will give that a try...




Thanks, guys... I appreciate that...




Thanks, Carolyne...

+1, I also loved the bridge. Everything here is of pro quality. The writing , the vocals, the arrangement, and the mix couldn't be better. Please explain a little more about building the drum track. There is much to be learned here. The level of these productions couldn't be higher. Much enjoyed. Tom

Another radio-ready gem! Love this one...

Bob

As usual another hit....great work and great lyrics..........Now a question, to get that good crisp mix, what do you use? I have Nectar 2, Alloy 2, Ozone 6, if you could, give me the run down on your mix and what, where and etc. PM if you want or post here, any help in this area would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Floyd,

You definitely nailed it again!

Like others I can't get over how good the production sounds. The drums and especially that snare sound is to die for. The vocals are perfect too.

I would have loved to hear a lap steel slide solo in there but that's really nitpicking.

Fantastic job once again!

Rec

Before I do anything else... I'll attempt to answer Tom's request for more on how I built the drums for this song.

Normally, I use the BIAB drums as they are generated - typically EQing them to accentuate what I want - which is typically a dominate snappy snare. Most modern Country and Pop songs depend on a dominate snare and I will often suggest to people that they bump up their drums a little. (We guitar players often focus on the guitars a bit too much)

For this song, I want a particular pattern throughout the song - which was, basically... kick-snare-kick-snare-kick-snare-kick-kick-snare with a few variations here and there. For this song I did not need or want the typical hi-hat. I'm not clever enough to "program" realistic drum fills... so where I want them, I used the generated BIAB RealDrums track.

Another important thing - the RealDrum track is used to know where to place the samples that I use - so that they land where a REAL drummer would - with the human nuances...


I add 2 tracks for kick - one for the constant (beat 1 and 3) and another for what will be the second kick of the kick-kick (the "and" of 3-and).
I add one track for just snare. (beat 2 and 4)

It looks like this:



track 1 - kick 1
track 2 - kick 2
track 3 - snare
track 4 - RealDrum track.

The snare sample and the kick samples need to line up with the RealDrums hits (for realistic timing). Here is a sample when first dropped in - misaligned...



I then walk my way through the entire track and line them up...




I then add in the fills from the RealDrums tracks:



Also... I draw a volume envelope over the snare and kick track so that the velocity of the hits varies randomly - so they don't all sound exactly alike... it is a fairly quick draw in Studio One - I would imagine other DAWs have the same functionality... the variance is fairly small...You could probably get away without doing this particular step...

And now I have complete control over the snare and the kick. I can really jack 'em up...I can add as much reverb to either as I need..

If you think of something I may have forgotten to mention, let me know...

Floyd,
Congratulations with your new song. Again you deliver a classic.
The song: catches from the guitar intro, the drums are so clear, they carry the song all the way. The bridge wich brings us to the final chorus is short, but summarizes the despare of the singer, moving up a tone and on to the final. And then the final chord... I think I didnt hear a chord fading out so long since "a day in the life".

Floyd, I love your music, professional with a message all the way. But even more I Listen to your production, and I read every word about "the making of"... Thank you for sharing your experience and know how!

Hopefully you'll notice some of your tips finding their way to my music.
Listen to the final chord in my next

Greetings,

Fred

The problem with this song!


Is in my hearing aids!

Hi Floyd. couldn't understand why no-one else could hear all the harshness in this song. Particularly the dischords at the end.

Am getting used to using the hearing aids again and must have had them on the no2 setting when listening to your song. ( and a few others )

Taken me a couple of days to figure out what was happening.

The aids add various degrees of overtones and strange sounds to the music I have discovered.
So from now on. Hearing aids out for the music!

So please allow me to add my congratulations for this fine song. Not harsh at all. Sounds great through natural ears.
Cheers

Richard - That is interesting... Hearing has begun to fascinate me lately... I've had a number of conversations of late about hearing aids and what they can and can't do..and the frequencies that people lose or don't. I'm beginning to have some ringing, but I still hear highs pretty well (it seems). The guitar that finishes the song is, in fact, a thinner, colder sound than I usually use - it actually repeats throughout the song - it is the opening, too and the middle interlude... so I was wondering why you did not mention it being harsh in those spots as well - though it might be what is underneath it at the time. Anyway, thanks for coming back around for a second go... I appreciate it...

I think it's about time for another from you, too...

love that you took all the cymbals and hats out (except in the fills), and the modulation at the end did it's job to perfection!

Great lyrics with some stand out lines!


much enjoyed!

Thanks, ROG - always enjoy your take on a song... It's interesting (to me) that this one has you looking for a lead (so to speak). From the get-go, I arranged this without a lead spot. Partly because the opening "signature" plays in a number of places through the song (not sure anyone actually noticed that) and it seemed "long-ish" to me, so I chose to leave it as "the guitar part" and not add another. Plus the modulation gives some of the variety that a standard lead typically provides... And so... the song come in at around 3:20 which is getting to the time limits in the "world I used to live in"...and I still seem to have that firmly in my head...old dog, ya know...

I'll look for another that you can jump in on...



See above... (but thanks)

Noel - Thanks for another delightful discussion on a lyric! And thank you for the multiple "brilliant"'s... That made me smile... I also appreciate you providing the hyperbole backup - it is, in fact, the point to that section of the song - an exaggeration of exasperation...
Watching Liza wears you out! She does work it...




David - thanks for the listen and your thoughts... I'm not sure why "small talk" would give you pause... I get that "cobblestones" is perhaps archaic (though there are still plenty of cobblestone streets in certain areas) - it was intended as an exaggeration - as Noel pointed out... I appreciate you taking the time...



Thanks, Guenter... I certainly appreciate that...

Thanks, Bob!



Mario - you are too kind, my friend...



Rob - I appreciate you dropping by... thanks.. that's my first Nickleback comparison...

WOW – a really GREAT song, performance and fabulous production!
U nailed it! :-)

Another in your string of hits!

-rob

Trevor - wow - have to say, that has got to be one of my favorite reviews I've ever gotten... I do appreciate it - thanks for dropping by!



Thanks, Uffe...





Thanks, Tom. Appreciate all that... in case you missed it, I did a post about the drum build...

And, just to re-iterate (based on a comment elsewhere) I don't do this for every song. It's the exception - 75% of the songs I do use the RealDrum tracks as they are provided by BIAB (with EQ added - and as LOUD as I can get them)... for the other 25% I may build small parts (like a kick only section) but, generally BIAB WILL give you all you need....

Thanks, Bob...



Steve, thanks... Nectar 2, Alloy 2, Ozone 6... those are great tools - and should be about all you need for any production... Often, it's a matter of experimenting enough until you get a good feel for what each of them will do - and where and when to use them. Like anything else, you improve with practice..

I answered a similar question in another song thread..

http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=260854&page=3

look through until you find my answer to R & AM (It's fairly long, so easy to find)

Thanks, Rec... I've had a lot of practice... As I mentioned in an earlier response, as I put this together, using the structure that I did, adding a lead section did not seem the right thing to do - but, obviously others felt that there should have been one... I'm just not sure where it sit right...



LOL - Fred... I'll definitely be looking for that last chord as you post more... thanks for the kind words...

Thanks, Lawrence... appreciate that...



molsenhouse - nice of you to say... thanks...

All we are going to add to the accolades is
immediately upon our first listen each of us
almost simultaneously said "Dean Dillon and
George Strait!" Dean Dillon wrote some of
Strait's biggest and best crafted songs in
our opinion.

We're not typically ones to drop other artists'
names when commenting on a song but Dillion
is a fine writer and we felt Mr jane
would enjoy the comparo. We recently watched
Strait's final Dallas concert "The Cowboy
rides Away" and this song would have fit
perfectly in the show. 'nuff said!

J&B

Thanks, rob...



Well...heck... those are 2 names I don't mind being in the same sentence with... (humbling)... and STILL, George doesn't write, he doesn't call....

This song must have hit the forum while I was away... my first take is that it sounds like today's country!

No pedal steel, chicken-pickin' or other trademarks of classic country. Instead you use mandolin, which pays homage in a way to the current popularity of the bluegrass sound in country.

Also the guitar decorations have a pop feel to them, and the chord progression is closer to the current 4 chords than it is to the classic country chord progression.

I like the way you sculpted the drums to match the sound of other current country hits.

I also like that you seem to have isolated a signature guitar passage to use throughout the song to establish symmetry and recognizability.

Great lyrics as always, and everything works together to build the mood and message of a hit song!

edit:
Dang, Floyd.. you really need to be famous! We don't understand.. WHAT'S THE HOLDUP??? You're doing everything right!

Floyd,

This track is just unbelievable in every way and it shows just how deep your understanding is of all the facets of a hit song. You get the well known truth that "Less is More" when it comes to laying music tracks for a song as well as when to do something or not to do something.

Being a guitarist, I always dig a great guitar solo but also know if you want to do what's right for a song, you have to give it what it needs. This track is perfect like it is. It doesn't need a solo of any kind and you absolutely nailed this one to the wall! Bravo!!!

BR,
David

Mario said it all for me.

Why aren't you famous with songs/productions like this????

I shall read your technical post later for ideas!!

pure floyd jane genius

Alyn

Wasn't expecting this one to pop back up... and I would normally just let it slide back down, but y'all are simply being too nice to not say a quick "Thank You"...
Pat - I appreciate the mention of the signature guitar passage. There was some discussion some time back (there have been many, actually) where people state that the only way to have "signature guitar licks" is to play them yourself... and that that is a limitation with BIAB... I don't believe that for a second... so wanted to "drive that point home" - it is simple to find licks within the BIAB tracks to pull out and repeat to give a production a musical hook... a little imagination goes a long way...

Thanks, also for noticing the fact that this is "not your granmpa's Country". I think it's good to recognize that BIAB has plenty of stuff for current sounds - you just have to start using them...

Famous? I am famous - right here in the PG forum - with the 8-10 people who contribute to the conversation - you being one of those... a great group of people!!!




David - I really do appreciate you saying such nice things! BIAB provides the tools required to get that sound - I think it is important that we show that off if we can... and it is done nicely by so many here - in so many different ways...



Ah...gee...Alyn... you're gonna make it hard to wear my hat!!!

Floyd,

This is a song I like VERY much. I am so glad you took the time to explain how you developed the drums as you "composed" drum track is one of the things that make the sound of the song. Nobody mentioned the left channel guitar in the first verse or two that complements the right channel mandolin so I will; they sound as close together as peanut butter and jelly.