A new song about the awkward moments that come when you have feelings for someone but aren't sure if the feelings are mutual.

Say I Do


****** Song Summary *************
Key=G , Tempo 105, Length (m:s)=4:43
Style is _SOUL70S.STY (70s Soul, full band,16ths(100RS))

RealTracks in style:
1398:Bass, Electric, Soul70sA-B Ev16 100
RealTracks in style: 1407:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm

Soul70sA-B Ev16 100
RealTracks in style: 1401:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm
Soul70sBrightA-B Ev16 100
RealTracks in style: 1404:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm
Soul70sWarmA-B Ev16 100
RealTracks in song: 1442:Sax, Alto, Soloist
JazzFunkGroovin Ev16 110 (Bluesy)
RealDrums in style: Soul70sEv16^1-a:ClsdHHtSn,
b:BusyBss

EDIT: RT1650 -Guitar, Electric, Soloist JazzFunk Groovin ev16 110
*******************
LYRICS:

my heart began to fall, when you walked into the room
I watched the night fade away, alone with the moon
talk comes hard, I never said a word
frozen by your gaze, I didn't have the nerve
do I stand a chance with you
please say yes, say I do


walking along the beach, I reach to hold your hand
thoughts race through my mind, oh I wish I was your man
then you turn and look my way, your eyes all aglow
can you tell what's in my heart, do you really know
do I stand a chance with you
you say yes, you say I do
say I do

-----

Hope you enjoy.

Charlie...

A very enjoyable "I'm falling in love" song...

Nice opening. I like the build. As each instrument joins in it grabs you a little more... Sounds great loud!

You did a nice job on the vocal. Well recorded, very clear and present.
(Opinion, here) - for this type song, the vocal is a bit "too present" because it is relatively dry. Personally, I think it needs a good deal of reverb to match the style - it should be "dreamy"... (that would "set it into" the mix more).

The mix is excellent. (though, as above, I think the vocal should sink in some).

The guitar solos are really tasty (he deserves some credit above).

You sang this well! It would sound nice with some harmonies. I enjoyed several listens.

"talk comes hard, I never said a word
frozen by your gaze, I didn't have the nerve" << nice lines!!

floyd

Hi Charlie,

nice song. I like the build up.
You forgot to mention the great
lead guitar.
Enjoyed this.

Guenter

word/nerve....now that is an unusual but effective rhyme!

Tasty solo guitar!

I agree with fj that the vocal is well deserving of the right
reverb to spread it a bit through the mix.

To our ears this is an all around upbeat, well written and
well sung tune.

Forgot to mention...the intro sets things up very nicely.

WTG!

J&B

I forgot to mention my guitar soloist. He worked very hard and got through without consuming to many diet pepsi's...

He came over to set in with the BIAB style band from the club next door, RealBand. Kudo's go to RT-1650 a jazzfunk groovin guitarist who was able to slow his 110 tempo chops down to 105 and give us some RnB licks.

The solo guitar track was added in RB and each area of work added in 11 individual sections of multi riffs. Several of these sections were split and one of the split portions regenerated with its own multi riffs for a total of 18 individual guitar parts for the track. The guitar solo track was comped from 126 different selections. The 1442 sax originated from BIAB but in RB was cut/pasted and a few multi riffs generated to fit better with the guitar solo. The fade out became extended to include one portion around 4:18 where the sax and guitar play especially close together. I couldn't bring myself to leave that part on the cutting floor.

Charlie - very nicely done song! love the solo guitar, sounds like it was a lot of work to get it that way.

I also would like to hear some reverb on the vox.

good work!

Excellent song Vocal and lyric well done

Floyd, thanks for your review and recommendations. I've made some changes in the lyrics and the song now sings much better. I've recorded a vocal track with the new lyrics and added some reverb as well as lowered the vocal track just a bit.
This work in progress will likely get a repost once everything is tightened up.

Vocal harmonies??? We'll have to see about that.

Thanks for your kind remarks Guenter. That lead guitar wasn't included in the BIAB style band and I overlooked him. But I noticed when I went back and added him in the credits, the guitar and sax are matched together and played nicely together without too much stomping all over each other. Choosing the right guitarist was very much an accident as I did not notice the two matching in the beginning.

J&B, thanks for stopping by for a listen and I appreciate your kind words.

As for word/nerve rhyme, that's a benefit of my southern accent. A perfect Carolina rhyme...

Hi Beagle, welcome back to the forum... and thanks for putting Herb onto Biab all those years ago. He's a special guy and a great contributor here on the forum.

Yes, the guitars transformed this song from my ordinary, always the same type song I write according to my wife and also a good friend who was the keyboard player in a past band.

Reverb has been added and the vocal level tweaked as well as some lyrics changed to make the singing flow better. The changes are dramatic enough that I will probably post an updated version in the near future.

Thanks for your kind comments Scott.

What they said^^^^^

Nice guitar solo and fills.

I think the vox sound good, but like has been said.... make it set in the mix better by dropping the levels a tiny bit...a dB or two.... and finish it with a smooth subtle verb.

Charlie, Great intro with the build. The guitars sound especially nice together. Love the line "talk comes hard, I never said a word frozen by your gaze, I didn't have the nerve ". Really well sung. Great guitar solo- nice editing. How many diet pepsi's is too many? Nicely recorded, arranged and produced. One of your best recent ones. Enjoyed very much- multiple listens. Tom

One

Charlie everything that I wanted to say has been said so all I can add is this is your best to date.

Keep up this excellent work!

Charlie,

Real nice song! Great job on the arrangement. Just a personal opinion: I really like the solos, but when they are not "playing off each other", I would have the guitar and sax more centered. Not necessarily dead center, but close. Then separate them out more when they are trading off. Like I said, just a personal opinion, and not a deal killer at all. I also agree, the vocals could use a little reverb and some harmonies.

Great job, though!

Steve

Really nice tune Charlie!! The upbeat feel reminds me of some of those happy 70's songs, like "Beginnings" by Chicago. Well done all the way around!! Take care. Greg

Hi, Charlie!

Love those maj 7 ths !:))

Cheers
Dani

Thanks for listening and commenting Herb. Reverb tweak duly noted.

Thanks Tom. I appreciate your comments.
How many diet Pepsi's is too many? Well, with you being one of the top contributing guitarists here on the forum as well as sliding all over the road in a hot 4x4 pedal steel, I was hoping you'd know and set the standard for the rest of us...

'Nuff said Mario. I appreciate your kind words and encouragement.

Steve, thanks for taking time to listen and offer your opinion. You are one of the most respected mixers here on the forum and I respect your insight a lot. Lowering the lead vocal a bit and adding a touch of reverb was an obvious miss on my part. I've addressed it and remixed it in the song.

As for panning the solo's sections more center. Good suggestion and I'll experiment with that. I will say I got the opportunity to hear the the song on a PA system in a big room and the separation seemed to add a 'liveness' energy. Currently the panning of the sax and lead guitar are panned L&R and inside of the wider panned rhythm guitars.

Outside the great recommendations, feedback and suggestions I've received from forum members, I've enlisted help from a member in a NC based carolina beach music band. I played the song for him over his PA system yesterday and we ended up in my home studio and he worked with me more than 3 hours as I recorded a new lead vocal track. It has updated lyrics that others had suggested and some he suggested as we worked and I also addressed the vocal level and reverb issue. I'm delivering the new mix CD to him today to possibly be auditioned for the entire band. No guarantees or elevated expectations, but .....
It's hard not to get ahead of myself and I hope I haven't spoken too soon but I'm hoping the band members will do the vocals and add backing vocals.

Thanks Greg. I always appreciate you stopping by for a listen and your kind words.

Favorites of mine too. Glad to see you here again.

Merry Christmas my friend.

Hi Charlie,
Your lyrics relate to something that I would think most of us would encounter at least once in our lifetime. I like everything that you put together to come up with a good mix and I enjoyed the listen. You did a great job!
Sonny

Charlie
Mostly already said - nice song, well produced very enjoyable liked the end jam.

Hi Charlie,

What a great intro.... I really like the way it grows instrumentally. Now I'm a bit further into the song and I have to say you've pulled out all the stops in arranging this one.... it's fantastic!

Everything about this appeals to me... memorable composition, skillful lyric simplicity, fantastic arrangement, great singing...

I really enjoyed this!

All the best,
Noel

I love this Charlie! I could listen to beach music 'til the cows come home. The whole arrangement on this is wonderful. And I also want to say that, imo, you've done some the absolute best sounding and most musically interesting intros on this one and also "Can't See The Light" is another standout intro. Can't wait to hear what happens with the band and this song.

Charlie,
Well there is nothing left to say as it as all been said, that was really good.
Nice intro and nice solo, he was going for it.

The sax/guitar fight at the end is good

Good stuff
Have a good Christmas


Alyn

You're right Sonny. My first marriage lasted more than 30 years and I was very nervous and awkward getting back to dating.

This was a fun song to do. Glad you enjoyed it.

I appreciate you stopping by for a listen. Glad you enjoyed the song and the jam.

Noel, thanks for such kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Band in a Box is such a wonderful tool and a great hobby. I wish I was as good a musician as it makes me appear.

My wife can take credit for me doing a beach song. This is so different than the first music I did for the song. She encouraged me to get away from the same old sound I've been doing.

I enjoy beach music too and my wife has danced the carolina shag since she was a teen. She grew up just outside of N. Myrtle Beach and was out dancing every weekend.

Thanks for noting my recent intro's. Not sure how I was able to pull those off. I was glad to see you use the slowing the tempo technique in your last song.

I always look forward to your comments and value your opinion. This time you made me smile.

Hi Gibson. Thanks for stopping by and taking time to comment. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Hi Charlie,

Very,very nice song and good lyrics.
Your vocals are fine, but we agree with Floyd, that adding some reverb and harmonies would make them sound even better!
Good job!

Very nice arrangement!! A true pleasure to listen to. Love the vocals.

I appreciate you stopping by for a listen. I've completed some work on the vocals and changed a few lyrics and the changes have improved the song quite a bit from what is posted here. I'm biting at the bits to repost but I have a band that performs this style music looking at the song and there's a chance they may do the vocals and add some backing vocals to the song for me. If that happens, a repost will be appropriate as I anticipate it to transform the song for the better.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

I always look forward to your thoughts on my posts.

Thanks. I appreciate you taking a listen.

I like it

Nicely done loved the lyrics on this one, and thought your vocals worked perfect as a delivery system for them. I enjoyed the arrangement overall - really lush, and professional.

Great work and thanks for sharing!

Love this, Charlie! Great band selection. I like the work of the guitar and sax. I like the vocal, too, but agree with floyd about adding some reverb. Also, the harmony suggestion was right on. I'm a sucker for the Major 7th, too. Thanks for sharing.

Me too. Thanks for waking this up and taking time to listen and comment.

I appreciate you listening and commenting. I wasn't expecting this blast from the past today. This self isolation we're going through has folks thumbing through the pages I guess.

Thanks. I appreciate you taking time to listen and offer your suggestions.

I like it, and agree with all the positive remarks.

Well, except for that bit about Diet Pepsi.

I had minor thoughts about the vocal (mostly the level), but since there's a new one on the way, I'll just say I'm looking forward to the new version.

Mighty nice, Charlie. As they say, "Tasty!"

This is a song that resides out of my vocal wheelhouse. One day, I'll have a real singer give it a go.

This is a bump of an old post and this song thread was back in 12/2015 -- until today. It's long past my update window...

I'm really enjoying the renewed interest and comments. Thanks for listening and posting your thoughts.

Thanks Ed. According to you profile, this song predates you joining the forum... I'm feeling old....

I appreciate you taking time to give it a listen.

Very nice.

I'm not sure all the lyrics are posted b/c this line really stood out as a great one, "Will love draw two hearts crossed in the sand?"

but I couldn't find it in the post.

Thanks for sharing.

James

You're right. The lyrics in the first post are original to what they were initially back in 2015 when this thread started. The version of the song you listen to now has been edited, updated and recorded again from what many of the earlier posts reference. Here are the updated Lyrics that match the current version of this recording you hear today. Thanks for listening and commenting as well as prompting me to update the lyrics.

UPDATED SONG LYRICS TO "SAY I DO"



NEW INTRO - Beach Waves and Seagulls with single guitar that fade-in to the --

(Instrumental Intro)

my heart skipped a beat, when you walked in the room
the night faded low beneath the lover's moon
talk comes hard, I never said a word
frozen by your gaze, I didn't have the nerve
do I stand a chance with you
please say yes, say I do


A Carolina beach, I reach to hold your hand
will love draw two hearts crossed in the sand
you turn and look my way, your eyes all aglow
can you tell what's in my heart, do you really know
do I stand a chance with you
you say yes, you say I do

say I do

(Instrumental Break)

you turn and look my way, your eyes all aglow
can you tell what's in my heart, do you really know
do I stand a chance with you
you say yes, you say I do

say I do


(Instrumental Outro with fade)



Diet Pepsi -- *** FOREVER !!! ***

Pretty song Charlie!! I like the innocent feel of the lyrics and the optimistic feel of the music! Always like your vocals! Nice!! Take care. Greg

A great relatable subject, with a cool sound is hard to be. It gave me a bit of the "feels" of days gone by. I really like the Little River Band and feel this could it well in their catalog. You could say you had me reminiscing.

Thanks for sharing such a great song. I really like this one!

Nice song. I enjoyed it. Easy Carolina beach song. Great guitar playing. Good use of BIAB.

"...have feelings..." always reminds me of my wife watching The Bold & The beautiful.
The phrase didn't have currency in Australia until about a decade ago when TB&TB became an arvo staple.
Luckily this song isn't cliche' ridden.
The alto really throws the song into Isaac Hayes territory - funky story telling.

Thanks for stopping by Greg. Regarding the lyrics, there are many here on the forum to thank for providing great suggestions to shore them up from my original version, particularly Floyd Jane. There were also valuable comments to help make the instrumentation better from several members. This is a great forum and it's a lot of fun to be here with such a great community. Thanks for listening and posting.

Glad to share and if you have any connections for contacting one of my all time favorite bands, The Little River Band, you are more than welcome to move forward with my full blessings... Your comments have me reminiscing about this dream I once had of being rich. Glad you enjoyed this revived song.

Thanks for pointing out the great guitarist. I must also credit how well the guitarist played with the 1442:Sax, Alto, Soloist
JazzFunkGroovin Ev16 110. The two grooved together wonderfully with little effort from me. That being said it's a testament to BIAB RealTracks. If my memory's correct, that lead guitar was comped in 18 sections of Multi Riffs in RealBand. That's 126 total takes available to comp and punch-in into this recording. Imagine the cost and time for that to be done with a live session player in a real studio at the real cost of studio recording time. It was done at no extra cost than the cost of the program purchase price and was accomplished in minutes, not hours... BIAB is secret sauce in my studio.

I appreciate your comments and listening to this project.

Thanks for noticing and giving recognition to the sax player. At times, it seemed the sax and lead guitar were recording in the same room at the same time and playing off each others work. The result of those two make this one of my favorite BIAB projects. Other forum members chimed in back when this piece was first posted and helped me clean away obvious and pitiful cliche's. I'm forever thankful to them and this forum.

Great use of RTs, you had some things going on but none of them distracted from the vocal, which is always the star. Guitar RT was incredible on this. Nice job on all fronts here!

I appreciate you listening and taking time to comment.