Love can't be taken for granted...

The Band:
Style is _BALADE.STY (Ctry Ballad w/ el. guit (85 RS))
RealTracks in style: 366:Bass, Electric, Country Ev 065
RealTracks in style: ~~365:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking Ev 085
RealTracks in style: ~~362:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Ev 085
RealTracks in song: 1767:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm Pop16 Ev16 085
RealDrums in style: NashvilleEven16^5-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride

I played the lead guitars.
And vibraphone (it mirrors one of the guitars in spots).

Background vocals and harmonies: the janettes! (Janice Merritt & me).


STOLE HER

i found her crying outside the park
the tears on her face would break anyone's heart
he hadn't shown up....she needed to talk
i listened over coffee and a two hour walk
in time i made that girl mine
'cause some other fool was blind

   i stole her from somebody who didn't treat her right
   (how could he let her go)
   i stole her.. he got what was coming for not holding her tight
   (when she needed it most)
   love can't be taken for granted
   her heart can't take being alone
   i stole her from somebody who didn't care
   until she was gone

life gets hectic, out of control
that day-to-day taking its toll
doing the things that had to be done
neglecting the most important one
when she needed me i wasn't there
somebody else showed they cared

   he stole her from somebody who didn't treat her right
   (how could you let her go)
   he stole her.. i got what was coming for not holding her tight
   (when she needed it most)
   love can't be taken for granted
   her heart can't take being alone
   he stole her from somebody who didn't care
   until she was gone



Janice - Thank You!!! (you, too, Bud!)

Have at it.

floyd

Hi Floyd,

this is one of your stories I love so much!
First thing that hit me was the excellent
drums sound. And second the vocals and the Janettes.
So beautiful. It was an adventure listening
on my Stax for several times.
Your guitars give the song a nice recognition value.
Thanks a lot.

Guenter

Like the song, love the lyrics, great choices of instruments and a quality lead guitarist....
Background vocals are excellent and set well in the mix.

Small nits - The overall mix lacks high's and sparkle, the overall mix comes across too hot on my system mildly distorting the lead vocal.
At the 1:02 mark - the word 'love' is lost in the mix.

Overall impression. A really good write and arrangement. This is another of your really strong songs that leaves me wondering how you aren't in Nashville writing for everybody and your writes occupying 5-6 spots on the top ten....

Guenter - Thanks for your continued support. We certainly appreciate it...

Hi, Charlie... I've put up a new mix. I fixed the lost love (HA! who would have thought!?). I've attempted to add a bit of sparkle. I'm not getting the distortion on anything I'm listen on - so let me know if you still hear that...

We'll sit and talk some day....

The mix stole love, you treated her right and stole her back. Ironic?

Your changes improved things. Sounds better on my system. Distortion may have not been the correct word, seems it was more of saturation. Things are better now as I listen. Never was bad, just wasn't quite tweaked first go round for me.

It would be my pleasure to chat with you sometime.

Hi Floyd,
You always entertain me with your songs. I have enjoyed every song that you have posted since I have been on the forum. You have such a unique voice that just reaches out and grabs me and totally absorbs me into the world that you have created with your song and because of that unique voice, it is always the focal point when I listen. Your writing skill (and particularly this song) is just outstanding. The Janettes did their job to add spice to it all. Everything is just is excellent.
Sonny

Another great song Floyd and Janice!
We love the music and the way you're playing the guitar Floyd.
And especially the chorus is wonderful.
Good lyrics too.
Enjoyed it very much.

Rob and Anne-Marie

Very great.
One of your best.

Sergio

Floyd and Janice
Sounds very nice on my system lovely production. The guitar layering (and vibraphone) was superb and reminded me of Dan Fogelbergs playing.
Pretty melody and great vocal production all round.
Another good one.

Hi, Floyd !:))


I got a new Floydfav right now!

I simply can´t recall you´ve been
better before ! and that goes for
Janice too ! Somehow this feels
like the smoothiest I´ve heard from
you so far ?

Cheers
Dani

floyd,

Brilliant song... yet again!

Your performance is outstanding and perfectly complemented by Janice's backing vocals. The thing that really stood out is just how incredibly professional everything sounded. The instruments you've used and the way you've mixed them just couldn't get any better. The melody and the chords... fantastic! This work could stand proudly beside anything coming out of professional studios. This song is definitely at the 'champagne and caviar' end of the spectrum of material that passes through this forum. Once more you've left me sitting here pondering.

All the best,
Noel

floyd,

you write a good love song straight from the heart.
You sing this with feeling, almost as if it is auto-biographical, which adds so much to the delivery.
nice harmonies from the janettes.

That bar goes up again, I need to be in the International space station to see it now

wonderful

Alyn

WOW, what a song!! Very passionate delivery. I love songs where the groove just grabs you. This could have easily made a great Eagles tune with that hypnotic beat, the smooth BGs and the beautiful lead vocal. And the concept being turned around to the singer was really cool-crafted yet real. You are the Zen master Floyd!!! Loved it!! Take care. Greg

floyd. Great opener-" i found her crying outside the park
the tears on her face would break anyone's heart
he hadn't shown up....she needed to talk
i listened over coffee and a two hour walk " I was completely hooked from the beginning. Great lyrics, story and melody. The vocals are very strong. Nice arranging on the background vocals. Janice nails her part again. I am glad to hear you putting in your own custom guitar parts. As good as the real tracks are, it is very difficult to find those fills and lead parts that compliment the song. The mix sounds good to me. You can add this to your ever expanding list of well written and well produced songs. Tom

Hi Floyd.

You really have the formula for producing this sort of stuff.

Superb backing as always. Did you actually play a vibraphone (much respect), or are we talking keyboards, here? (Still respect, but a real vibraphne? I'd love to have one of those.)

Your vocals are perfect for this song and I particularly like your voice when you stretch into the higher regions. Janice? Well what can I say that I haven't said before? Amazing.

Wonderful song.

ROG.

Charlie - thanks for the second go-round...





Sonny - thanks - for all of that. It is getting to the point that the best listening I can find is right here on this forum... You have added to that... glad you found your way here...



Thanks to both of you... Merry Christmas to y'all...



Thanks, Sergio...

Wow another excellent tune. Very cool lyric. Vocal and harmonies were awesome. Loved the way the guitar danced around the melody.

Pretty song and very cool call/response chorus. I love that kind of stuff.

Thank you, Peter. Been a while since I heard any Fogelberg... may have to call some up....



Thanks, Dani - you always say such nice things...

Hi Floyd
Another 3 minute Marvel!!
Awesome lyrics. What a Talent. I love how you turn it on its head in the second verse - caught me out! Wonderful!
And a great Mix too. I listen on quality monitors (shouldnt be in a small room like this!!) and although its a Full Master, its parts are individually targetable - if you know what I mean. Great backing from the Janettes too.
Another Winner.
cheers
ian

Another classic.

"love can't be taken for granted
her heart can't take being alone"


Love that line.

Regards,

Bob

Noel - thank you for such a nice review... especially that "'champagne and caviar' end of the spectrum... " Such a nice thing to say... (that almost sounds like a it should be in one of your songs)




Thank you, Alyn. I think writing "a good love song" is one of the hardest things to do - but, an essential skill...

Greg - I do appreciate that! Always pleased to catch your "songwriter's ear"...

Tom - nice words from the guy who is raising ever bar there is... I do appreciate that...

You are certainly a song writing machine. Another good song. And another good mix.


I think it was Charlie who pointed out your song was on the "hot" side. So I compared it to a random sampling of other songs here because I have also noticed the levels in your songs are louder than most others, some by a considerable margin. This is the case as determined by me in a non-scientific sampling of a few other songs posted on the forum page. Compared to my mixes, yours are clearly louder.

Not necessarily a bad thing, because for the most part, it's well mixed. But I have to wonder if backing off the levels in the final stages of production, not squeezing every dB out of the mix would yield a more clean and open top end? I've heard the distortion that was mentioned. It's very subtle. I had been attributing it to my speakers for the most part.But if others hear it maybe it's not the speakers... (crappy little computer speakers)...

just thinking out loud here. I'd be curious to see the wave as it came out of your studio and was posted.... or the mp3.

The levels thing is just a nit. The song, the lyrics, the mix... all are mighty fine examples of how it's done.

Another masterpiece from Floyd!

Not only are you a songwriting machine you are an outstanding songwriting poet! Your lyrics were perfect here, including the mid-song twist. Loved it!

Noel said it the best:




This is an outstanding piece of music!

Floyd,

I would say that you are on a roll, but then you've pretty much been on one since I heard your first posting here, so I guess this is just another normal every day great song from you. For some reason, this one kind of reminds me of Christopher Cross (that's a good thing). I like the vibraphone mirror. Very subtle, but really sweetens up the guitar. And love the bgv responses.

Really like this one!

Steve

ROG - thanks for the nice comments.... The "vibraphone" is a patch on a keyboard (Yamaha SY55 - early 90's synth - worse music money I ever spent - bought it new)...





Thanks, Scott - I appreciate the "guitar mention"...




Thanks, Josie...

There is nothing to add to all the aforementioned
accolades - other than we completely agree with them.
Listening to this production in itself is really rewarding
and Janice was thrilled to be asked to make a small
contribution to it.

I can tell you that she is a happy girl being a member
of the janettes. I can remember 30 years ago (before
I ever heard her sing a note) her mentioning how cool
it would be to be a backup singer for a great band.
Well, she's there! And thanks!

Bud

Thanks, Ian. Always enjoy seeing you drop by... Hope you get your issues worked out soon... You should be able to do some cool stuff with the new surf RTs...





Thanks, Bob. Appreciate the noting of the lines. Sometimes the straight-forward simply-stated ones are the best...

Great great song, chord progression, internal voicings, lyrics, production, everything. Just stellar. Another classic.

The only minor comment I had was the mix seemed just a little, teeny weeny bit hot on the treble side (very small) in an otherwise spectacular production.

Floyd,
Another great song for your long list of superb works. The guitars really do it for me. Awesome.
SD

Hi Floyd ...

Why is that every time I (Alan) listen to one of your songs, I suddenly feel inadequate? Gosh dang, man ... you just pour out on super composition after another. That powerful voice with the sweet Janettes is fabulous. Love the musical bed and original guitar work. Nothing short of awesome!

Alan & Di

Thanks, Herb. This one may have ended up a bit louder than most because the tracks were mixed together and then processed to increase the tempo and then the vocals added after that. I had created the tracks at 85 and decided (after recording vocals) that it was too slow. I didn't care enough about the song to re-do all the tracks, so I mixed them and bumped the tempo to 92. Then recorded new vocals. The overall sound was created to sound like "top 40"...

However, I have listened on computer speakers as loud as I can stand to listen - really crank! - really LOUD - and I don't get any distortion. I cranked the monitors as loud as I dare (do NOT want to blow those) - and listened in earbuds as loud as I dare (don't want to blow the ears either) and, again, don't get distortion.... As comparisons go, a lot of forum song could stand to be louder... and mine are never as loud as Tom's (I always reach for the volume knob before playing his). In rotation with current country CDs (on an iPod) this song is at the same level. No discernible volume change one way or the other...
Thanks for the listen and the thoughts.....

Here is the mp3 that you are listening to through the middle of the first chorus...


..and for comparison, here is Lee Brice's "That's When You Know It's Over" - a similar slice:






Mario - I certainly appreciate all that... you are most kind...

Steve - thanks for dropping in on this one.. If I can ever remind anyone of Christopher Cross, I'd have to say I could not be more pleased... not something that I ever aspired to - but that debut album is a CLASSIC - records don't get better than that... and I do appreciate the mention on the vibraphone addition... those little subtle things are often so important...

Thanks, again... to both of you!

Thanks, David. Not sure about that "treble" thing - Charlie thought that was lacking originally, so I did add some hi EQ - though, overall, I think this one is not overly-bright... but as I described earlier, this one is different than most and to make any further changes, I would have to re-do the entire production... perhaps someday when I run out of things to do...




Appreciate that, SD...

Alan - thanks. I hope your guys are doing well... keep coming around, keep making music, and most of all keep holding tight to one another! Have a Merry Christmas...