WTG
Please use alternate link at bottom of page if you have issues with SoundCloud.

A few weeks ago I pondering all the social media/texting short cuts, e.g., LOL, OMG, WTG, etc and ended up writing what I felt was a decent verse, chorus and hook....but the muse, who rarely visits, abruptly left. I revisited it a couple of times and remained stonewalled. Still thinking I might have something going I ask floyd if he'd help out. And he did, big time. In short order he added another verse, the bridge and came up with a great melody. A while back we co-wrote "Tryin'" and it resulted in us posting a guy and a gal version. So look for the guy version of this from floyd!

It's all just for fun but we do welcome and appreciate your comments!

J&B

Lead Vocal: Janice (Rodes NT1 interfaced to Logic Pro X via USB Blue Icicle)
Harmony Vocal: floyd
Bud: Mix and Mastering (Ozone 6 and Nectar2)
Bass: RT 712 Acoustic Bossa, ev, simple
R Guitar 1: RT 1595 Fingerpicking Pop 8ths Steady ev
R Guitar 2: RT 2200 Nylon, Background, ev
Cello: RT 1856 PopCountry, ev
Fiddle: RT 2028 Soloist, ev
Banjo: RT 1758 Pop16ths, ev

Thanks floyd for the nylon guitar suggestion and the idea of letting the RT's build.

WTG
 
V1
Our years together weren't all heaven but neither were they hell
better than a life alone, far as I could tell
So it caught me off guard when you said you were leaving
if you walk out that door, you'll leave me nothing to believe in
 
Chorus
Staring out the window, wondering what it's all about
dark clouds moving in while you are moving out
If you're hanging 'round to see if I'm going to fall apart
Way to go,  good job,  you're off to a damn good start
 
V2
Something that once passed for love turn in to passing time
now past the point of no return, no reason, no rhyme
it cracked, it crumbled, it resisted repair
it teetered, it tumbled, for the lack of a little care

chorus
 
bridge
I held out hope that we could find a way to make things better
I'm left holding my breath and trying to hold myself together

chorus

© 2015 Bud Merritt/floydjane

Alternate Link to play WTG
 

WTG Guys! Another I75 classic.


Regards,

Bob

Almost had to lookup "WTG" when Janice rescued me! Guess I'm not as clued up on social media as I like to think I am. Love the fiddle and the very subtle banjo. Good one guys

Hi Janice, Bud and Floyd,

very nice one. Had to google the title.
Great vocals and harmony as always. The fiddle fits nicely.
Very enjoyable listen.

Guenter

Pretty instrument arrangement Bud. Your vocal is beautiful as always Janice. I especially like that melody FJ.

Josie

Beautifully done!! Powerful, well-crafted lyric, great somber melody, wonderful vocals, and perfect arrangement to bring it home. A little Bonnie Raittish. Great work guys. Top notch!! Take care. Greg

Janice & Bud,

I really like this - another great add to your song inventory.

Bob

+1, What she said. Written, arranged, delivered, and mixed with great skill and expertise. Loved the melody and the vocal and well, everything else! Tom

J & B

Really great, fantastic lyric, pleasant laid-back pace. The strings really balance the song nicely, giving it a 'forlorn' feel.

Top job once again.

Trevor

Thanks Bob! Yeah man connected by 75 and the net.



Thank you. Glad Janice rescued you. Yeah if we were commercially oriented we'd definitely call it "Way To Go" but what the heck -- a little whimsy. On the banjo, I had tried it...didn't like it but then floyd mentioned it with the notion of letting it enter the late into the song and contribute to the build. That man's good at that stuff.

Really nice melody and lyric on this one. The production and performance were superb. Enjoyed it.


Charlie

Thanks Guenter! Glad you like the fiddle. Using it and the cello was a bit of an experiment. Glad it worked for you.



Thanks Josie. Yes, he came up with a great melody and quickly at that.

J&B

Like everything about this one. Love the fiddle. The nice strong vocals.
The light whimsical tone of the piece and the word plays.
Held, holding, hold in the bridge, leavin, believe in, movin in movin out,
cracked, crumbled, resisted repair
teetered, tumbled, lack of a little care.
Enjoy that. Cheers.

Excellent listen. Radio ready production, beautiful singing. You always choose great songs so I was a little surprised this was written in house instead of a public domain song. Really strong writing.

What a fabulous use of realtracks! So rich and beautiful!

And then you add lush vocals and harmonies and superb lyrics?

Sweet!!!

I'm happy to be a part of it as an audience!

Dunno how I missed this one.
Great write.
Excellent use of real tracks.
All boxes ticked here.
Loved it.
Rob

Hey guys,

Very nice! A good write! Loved the production... Have I told you how much I like Janice's voice!

Greg

Bud - Thanks for including me in on this! I had a ton of fun!
Janice - thanks for putting your spin on this!


Bob - I75 thanks ya!


Joanne - WTG (figuring that out!)


Guenter - appreciate you having a listen..

Hi Janice, Bud and Floyd,

Nice WTG guys!
We've just learned some new short cuts, LOL!
The song:
OMG!
It is definitely compliant with your usual high level of song creating.
A nice listen for sure.

Rob and Anne-Marie

Thank you Greg. We appreciate everything you said!

J&B



Thanks Bob!

J&B



Thanks Tom!

J&B

Josie - thanks for listening...

Greg - appreciate the support...

Thanks, Tom..

Janice, Bud and Floyd,

You must have some Irish blood in you

These kyrics are so sad and beautiful at the same time. The melody melancholic, in an Irish spirit . I was with you all the way trough the song.

Production-wise NTR (nothing to report)

See you around guys!

Fred

Thanks, Charlie...

Richard - appreciate someone picking up on how we put this together...

Thanks. Glad the strings worked for you.

J&B



Thank you Charlie!

J&B

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen and comment. It was amazing how quickly fj took my verse and chorus and turned out a complete package. And I get half the credit! Seems like cheating. And my wife certainly iced the cake with her vocal and fj's harmony.

Bud



Thank you Jim. Those are kind comments. Yep our favorite writer is Trad Arr Reckon we are about 50/50 traditional arrangments and our writes or co-writes. Thanks for your time to listen and comment.

J&B



Glad you liked it Mr gruve!

J&B

Thanks Rob -- glad we got all those boxes!

J&B



Thanks Greg. You put a smile on her face!

Bud




Thanks for turning it into a song!!

J&B



FWIW, we really appreciate y'all listening and commenting

J&B

Excellent tune. Lyrics were very cool. Closed my eyes and felt like I was floating down the river on a warm summers day

Thanks, y'all for the listens and comments... 'course listening to Janice sing... easy...

I'd be pleased with Irish ancestory! Thanks for listening and the kind remarks.

J&B



Thank you Scott. Glad it worked for you.

J&B

I'm late to the party because this hit while I was travelling, and I didn't have ear buds that would do justice to showcase songs. I skipped past all the other comments, so apologies if I say a lot of stuff that has already been said. Anyway, here are my thoughts:

1) The title is good use of Irony, as "Way To Go" is usually used in a positive way, but the theme of the song is anything but positive.

2) I thought the phrasing of the harmonies was innovative. Most people would have harmonized the whole phrase, but the choice to harmonize only parts of each verse gave it a fresh feel. I especially liked the harmony at "If you're hangin' around to see..."

3) I liked the alliteration:
"Cracked, Crumbled"
"Resisted Repair"
"Teetered Tumbled"
The fact that the alliteration only occurred in one verse struck me as a missed opportunity. Including it in both verses would have been a binding theme... in fact, the fact that it appeared only in the second verse makes me wonder if there was a collaborative split in the lyric writing, and the verses were not written by the same person. I think that if the same person had written both verses the alliteration would probably have been employed the same way both times.

4) I also like the interesting mutations of the same words in various places:
in verse 2 there is PASSED, PASSING and PAST
later in the bridge there is HELD, HOLDING and HOLD, all used in different ways. Very interesting attention to verbal detail!

In verse 1 I liked the segue between HEAVEN and HELL. I also liked the rhyme between LEAVIN' and BELIEVE IN

5) I liked the guitar intro, the way it flowed from low to high. I'd be very surprised if you said it just generated that way! I'm thinking you took pains to make that happen.

The fiddle is totally believable as a live embellishment to the song. And the backing guitar is also just perfect for the song! You couldn't have done much better at finding appropriate real tracks for the song!

I also like the sustained cello

6) I noticed that in verse one the written word was:"if you walk out that door, " but the vocals substituted "OUR door" for "THAT door".. a change I like, BTW, but it caught me off guard as I followed along with the printed lyric sheet

Like I said, I skipped past the other comments.. but I'm betting that if I end with "WTG!" it won't be the first time you've heard it! But it's exactly the right summary! Way to go! Awesome song in every way!

update:
in rereading my post, I realized I omitted any comments about the most important parts of the song!

Janice, it almost doesn't need to be said any more because your singing is legendary! But I want to say it anyway because you deserve to hear it! You have the perfect voice for delivering mournful lyrics, and this song was a good write for your vocal delivery!

Bud, you should count it as flattery that your mix was so seamless and invisible that I closed without even commenting on it! A mix that gets noticed is probably not a good mix. But yours is so clean and free from anything to comment on that the cleanness speaks for itself! Someday maybe I'll know how to do that! But until then, I'm glad you and a few others here know already!

Pat, just taking the time to write your comments is greatly appreciated. And the icing on the cake is that, as usual, they are incredibly astute. For example your observation that floyd wrote one of the verses is spot on. And that likely accounts for me not using an alliteration as I wrote mine first. You can thanks Mr jane completely for V2 and the bridge. And he came up with them in a few nanoseconds. Or so it seemed to us

Glad you like the irony in the title...cause it was intended!

Thanks for the comment about the opening guitar -- it is comped from several generations. I got lucky and was able to, hopefully, seamlessly paste in the first few notes also.

The fiddle was comped from many generations but the cello was just one generation (got lucky).

Your comments about the mix/mastering are hugely appreciated and your remarks about Janice's vocal put a large smile on her.

Thanks again so much.

J&B