MYSTIC CHORDS

Janice and I are both history buffs and I ran across this Lincoln quote a while back.

"The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." – Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1861, from his first inaugural address.

I couldn’t get the phrase off my mind and eventually it morphed into a song write. I had my ideas developed and the verses/chorus/bridge written but each time I came back to it I was more and more convinced that it was lacking - well, it was there but it felt cumbersome. So, I asked floyd to help me out. He quickly stripped it down, polished many lines, replaced a few and rewrote the bridge. If that wasn’t enough he, again, quickly came up with a great melody. Once more he made me feel like a bit of a writer To ice this cake that I’d been handed Tom (tommyad) made the whole mystic chord theme shine with a couple of fine acoustic and electric guitar tracks and floyd provided a tight harmony part to accent the lead vocal.

BTW, the Martin picture is Janice's old '18.

An oft told tale of the washed up musician but hopefully with a new twist or so. Comments are most welcome. Thanks for your time.

Lead vocal: Janice
Harmony vocal: floyd
Electric and acoustic guitar solo/fills: Tom Adams
Bud: RT’s and the mixing/mastering stuff

Drums: N’ville Even 16
Bass: 1036 NortherRockBallad Ev65
Guitar Rhythm: 1037 NortherRockBallad Acoustic Ev65
Guitar Rhythm: 836 AltCountryRootsy Electric Ev75
Fiddle: 1594 Pop16s Ev65 Outside Ev65


Mystic Chords

V1
endless gigs...endless roadhouses...
he never quit... he never counted the losses...
night after night... of near-empty rooms
sometimes just a bartender, him and his tunes
 
Ch
now no more crowds... no more cheers
he turns the radio up... downs a few more beers
in the corner, a battered Martin left for dead
while mystic chords of memory play... in his head
 
V2
behind the barn, the bus gathers dust
a Silver Eagle gone to rust
a million miles...a thousand towns
to find a stage, a pickup band, that elusive sound
 
Ch
but no more crowds... no more cheers
he turns the radio up... downs a few more beers
in the corner, a battered Martin lies dead
while mystic chords of memory play... in his head
 
Bridge:
sometimes he still hears that roar
an ovation that makes his old heart soar
 
Ch
but no more crowds... no more cheers
he turns the radio up... downs a few more beers
in the corner, his battered Martin.....dead
while mystic chords of memory play... in his head
mystic chords of memory play

© 2015 B. Merritt (words) & floyd jane (words/melody)



This is a true A-+ in every sense of the word. It is a privilege to even be able to comment. WOW...

This is an A-game production if ever there was one.

Lovin' this one.


Charlie

The fab three. I'm also a civil war buff and this poetic tune paints many a picture.
I can see that battered Martin, it has a crack near the bridge and the the top E string is missing but still plays magnificently.
Well done you guys

Well Team, you've nailed another one for sure. What a great arrangement, and what fantastic subject material for the song. I really like the way you took that line and developed it into something else.

Floyd, Bud, Janice and Tommy, congratulations, take a bow.

Well what a team! Like it all and particularly the chorus being quite restrained which fits perfectly with the theme of mystic chords. Cheers.

WOW

beautiful


memories take over when something has gone and you can't eradicate them,

Well done Bud, floyd, Janice and Tom for producing country at its best

Alyn

Thought I'd like it and I did. Well sung, well written and well played!

This is gorgeous guys!
Bud: I can imagine that these lines spoken by Abram Lincoln serve very well as a source of inspiration for cool lyrics like this one.
A lyric that will resonate with lots of people, playing or having played gigs, either solo or in a band.

I've been a fan of Martin acoustic guitars all my life, but never been able to afford one. The best I have done, many years ago, was an Ovation balladeer, which I bought secondhand.
But that isn't the same as a Martin.

The song has a beautiful country feel.
All the parts are very well done.
Professional work, as always!

Rob

Nice.... I enjoyed that one.

Loved how you took Abe's quote and wrote a song about a fading star.....

Nice, tasty stuff.

Charlie, we are humbled by your remarks. Thank you so much. And thanks to floyd and Tom for helping us so much with our work on this tune.

A great collab by four pros.
I enjoyed this a lot.

Guenter

An excellent composition and arrangement performed perfectly. i especially loved the acoustic guitar fills. Thanks for sharing.

First of all, my thanks to the three of you for the invitation to play on this. I am seriously in love with this song. I think it is at the top of what y'all have done. The line "Mystic Chords of Memory" is a powerful statement filled with many meanings and images far beyond what four words can usually convey. A tremendous write, a tremendous vocal, and a tremendous arrangement and production. I also love the connection here- March 4[the date of Lincoln's speech] is also the date of my birthday and floyd's birthday! Congratulations you three on a brilliant song. Tom

Appreciate that Rob! I like your description of the old Martin. I've seen a lot of them over them over the years in all kinds of disrepair. I'm glad I bought Janice's waaaay back before the market went nuts.

J&B



Thank you. We ALL fun with this one!

J&B

What a gorgeous production, great acoustic guitar and vocals. Wow! Sounds really pro!! Love it love it love it.

By the way, I have bookmarked your sound cloud channel and am trying to do the same with all the regular contributors to this forum. Anyone reading please send me your channel or url of you want to so I can bookmark it. I am making a BIAB library so I can study everyone's "body of work" and have instant access. Thanks!!!!

What a beautiful song!!! The forum A team has captured "that sound" that made it my favorite era (a little Bonnie Raitt, a little Jackson Brown, a little Little Feat). Wonderfully organic and heartfelt. Vocal and mix are awesome and Tommy's guitars bring it right into your own living room. Truly a gem!! Great job guys! Take care. Greg

Thanks Sonny. Nice of you to say that and thanks for mentioning the mix, etc. Tom and floyd are so easy to work with and the best half of my marriage, Janice, makes it all so easy that I feel like I'm just along for the ride.

Bud

you had me at the first 5 notes on the guitar... SO glad you used it as a recurring motif! Lots to say here, but I want to start by saying that it reminded me of James Taylor's SEPTEMBER GRASS in some way.

I really like the chord progression on this song! I know you are a bass player, and the bass (upright especially) is not an instrument that is played with chords... so it is especially impressive to me that this song (and really ALL of your songs) tend to have very interesting chord progressions. Although some of your songs are public domain, and you inherited the basic chords... you wrote this song from scratch. I'm impressed.


All things considered, I like it a lot! As always, Janice's voice is just perfect.. no doubt she did this in one take... no punch-ins or re-takes... (am I right?) ;-)

Floyd's harmony adds a whole new layer of awesome, and the final combination of tracks work so well together, I'm not surprised to see the positive remarks being made by everybody!

Tommy played guitar?? Cool! Which part? Did he play the recurring acoustic motif that started everything off? Or the electric decorations later in the song? Doesn't matter... it's all good!

Y'all sound so good together, if you moved to Florida in between Floyd and Tommy y'all could be a band! I Knowwww... you don't want that... but I had to say it)

It is a touch of irony that the date of the speech from which you took your title was the same date as Tommy and Floyd's birthdays. Interesting.

Great job everybody!

Janice / Bud / Floyd / Tom,

This is my new favorite of yours - just great stuff. Loved it.

Bob

Thanks! Glad the theme worked for you.

J&B




Thank you Alyn. We liked the way you phrased that.

J&B

Mystic.

How about that March 4th thing...

All my favorite people in one place - always such a pleasure...

Bud - thanks for letting me tag along...

Later.

Thanks!

J&B




Thank you Rob -- we much appreciate your remarks. Hey, get that Martin! It's a life time purchase that will bring joy every time you pick it up. I was very lucky to purchase Janice's 1943 martin about 25 years ago back before collectors and investors ran the prices way up.

J&B

Every new song is better than the last.
This is very nice!!

Sergio.

Charlie, Rob, Trevor, Sonny - thanks, y'all for having a listen... we had a great time with this one...

I love the melody, I love the words and story, acoustic guitar parts, harmonies, Janice makes me kinda think of Bonnie Raitt (as Greg mentioned) and that's a great thing to me. It's just so good and enjoyable. Bud, wonderful mix, it's all there.

Kenny

Richard, Alyn, Peter, RnAM, Herb - my thanks for dropping in for a listen...


Tom - LOVE your guitar work on this!!!


Janice - love your singing - on everything!!!

Thanks Herb! We all appreciate that.

J&B



That might be the most exciting bout of applause we've ever gotten -- including decades of the gigging years!!

Thank you!

J&B

I am late to the party but I'll super glad that I did!

I think this is the best of the best! Everything about this is perfect!

Everything that I wanted to say has already been said so I will add my usual "why in hell haven't you been signed yet?"!

Thanks Guenter. Glad you liked it!

J&B




Thanks! Tom did a great job with those fills. Really accented the whole hook.

J&B

Bob, Guenter, Chris, David, Greg, Pat - nice of y'all to stop by...

Thanks Tom and a huge thanks for the guitar tracks. Man how cool is March 4th? Wow.

J&B

Janice, Bud, Tom, floyd...

I reckon that this is in the top 5% what you've ever written. It's brilliant. The images are eidetic. In my mind, they were so vivid that the whole lyric unrolled like a scene from a movie. Janice's outstanding vocals captured the mood and she was the perfect narrator for the story. "Mystic Chords of Memory" is such a fantastic phrase - you have a great ear for titles, Bud.

...click on image to view full size

Just in case you're interested...

... after I read the phrase 'Mystic Chords", I ended up going on a little bit of a journey. I've only ever known 'chord' to mean a harmonious group of musical notes or a straight line connecting two points on a circle's edge. When I read Lincoln's speech, though, the context in which he used the word (stretch, strain, break) indicated that he took 'chord' to mean a thread or string. In this sense, I would have used 'cord'. Interesting. So it was off to the Oxford English Dictionary.... there I discovered that 'chord' in the sixteenth century did mean a string or small rope and it was still used with this sense in the 1800s. It also meant the string of a stringed instrument (such as a harp, lute, etc.). From there, it's more modern meaning developed, I guess.

I mention the above, because it's outstanding how 'chord' in these lyrics simultaneously has musical overtones (pun not intended) as well as strings of thought that link the character's memory to the past. Very, very excellent lyric writing

Also... I thought the chorus was spectacular.



I really like the line "radio up...downs a few more beers". The back-to-back words with opposite meanings is cleverly conceived. Equally skilled, though, is the personification of the Martin guitar... battered and left for dead. In my head, these words created an image of a well used guitar tired and gasping and worn out by the years - so much information in so few words!

Overall, this song truly is outstanding in every regard.

All the best to you all,
Noel

Thanks David. And thanks also for mentioning the production as that was also a collaborative effort.

J&B

Hi there J&B

Late as usual, but back in time to say OUTSTANDING !

The lyrics in the chorus are magical and inspired.

Well done all.

ROG.

Thank you Greg and thanks for that description of the vibe as we were definitely trying to achieve that feel! Thanks for the comment very much.

J&B

One of your best collabs imo hitting all four cylinders.

Great job by all four of you!

Pat thanks for listening and taking your time to write such a wonderful response. I gotta mention though that this ole bass player was not responsible for those chords. You can thank mr jane for that!

Tom played the acoustic riffs and the electric accents. The only other guitar was the RT.

The way this came together was both surprising and fun.

We always appreciate your insight and are happy that you liked it!!

J&B

Hi Janice and Bud,

When I saw mystic chords my eyes lit up and my mouth started watering. I like my chords mystic, the more mystic the better! Well, I had to settle for - and was very happy with - a well performed and produced country ballad. Floyd did a beautiful job with the harmonies. Bud, is that you on bass? Janice tells a good tale.

OK, the chords were not so mystic, but you got all the mileage you needed out of 'em.

Dean

Thanks and we're glad you liked it!

Bud




Tag along! Hahaha. What would this tune be without that melody!
Thank you mr jane.

J&B

Wonderful work, Tom, Bud, Janice and Floyd. A formidable combination that just keeps on delivering.

Sergio, thanks for your comment. Glad you liked this!

J&B

Bob, Sergio, Kenny, Mario, Noel, ROG, Josie, Dean, Joanne...
Just wanted to throw a little "thanks for listening!" out to all of ya...

Kenny, thanks for the kind words. Janice thought it was neat to be mentioned in the same sentence with Bonnie!

Bud

Thanks and much appreciated. If somebody tried to sign us we'd run for the hills! Too much fun 15 years into retirement and no interest in going back to work for sure. Glad you liked it.




Noel, we always look forward to your observations and insights. Yes, when I first read the Lincoln quote I thought of threads of memory weaving back into time. The idea of guitar chords was an attempt to turn it into a bit of a double entendre. I'm delighted that you noticed that. And thank you for the the great links that you included. We are also excited that you pointed out the chorus and the he "up down" line. I felt perhaps I was on to a decent write and we hugely appreciate all of the nice things you said. And thanks again to floyd for his huge contribution. And to Tom for the perfect guitar tracks.

J&B

Hey ROG, thanks for those kind remarks. We appreciate you support!

J&B




Thanks Josie! Glad to have 'em all firing for sure.

J&B

Thanks Dean. No, not me on bass. I was originally going to play acoustic on it but it evolved into more of a different sound and I went with an electric RT. BTW, the chords were mystic in the sense that they represent threads (chords) of memory back into time. That was Lincoln's intent when used the phrase in his speech. I just added the notion of it also representing a music chord.

Glad you like the song. It was fun!

J&B





Thanks!

J&B