Boy, when I'm gone a while, I'm gone a while, no?

Hope everybody had a great Holiday Season, I know I did, and I got NOTHING done music-wise (not quite, I did write a second verse for my original "Christmas Eve" which you have not heard -- not a BIAB tune, either)

Ok, Ghosts. Finally got back to working on my CD compilation, and this is the title track. I think I finally found some BIAB trax that work toward the mood I was going for.

It's a look back at some of my romantic life in my college years. It's actually a mashup of three relationships. Inspired by the fact that certain, often incredibly mundane places around town trigger certain deeply significant memories from those years. When I see these places, I can practically see us standing there, and it's all happening again. Since I still live here I see these locations all the time, driving to work, walking across campus or down Broadway.

I was riding my bicycle into work one day and it hit me that there's this place, by a chain link fence in a parking lot by the hospital that was the far point of a walk I'd taken with a young lady ... well it's a long long story, but we got there and she told me how it was, and it crushed me, and EVERY TIME I see it I can see our former selves standing there, well over 30 years ago, perpetually having that talk. And I realized I had similar memories tied to other places around town. They were my ghosts, and their ghosts, and I thought to myself ... "There's ghosts around this town"

Now I know it ain't proper English, but that's the thought so I left it that way in the lyric because that's how the song started. From that seed. And here it is, for better or worse.....

The sound ... I wanted something moody and brooding. I'd picked a cello and a bowed bass (love that bowed bass) and some simple strumming guitar (I write everything on guitar so far) but it was too... I don't know. Stiff. That was last fall. I decided maybe I wanted some moody Mark Knopflery sounding guitar, but everything BIAB had under "Dire" was too busy. But I kept playing, and stumbled on the "Dreamy" guitar bits, and SHAZZAM!!

I think this is what I was looking for. Lyrics below.

****** Song Summary *************
Title: Ghosts
File:Ghosts_With Bridge in E.SGU
Key=E , Tempo 80, Length (m:s)=3:36 intro. 70 bar chorus, from bar 1 to bar 70. Repeat x1 chorus
No Melody
Soloist track has 294 notes, Soloist harmony is < no harmony >(0)
Song is saved with Volume, Pan, Reverb, Chorus, Bank0,
Song is saved with bar changes for Volume Changes,
Style is _GETAMP.STY (Ev Pop Country w Amplitube Solo)

RealTracks in song: ~2483:Bass, Acoustic, Bowed HeldSimple Ev 085
RealTracks in song: 2558:Cello, Background SlowSwing Sw 065
RealTracks in style: ~362:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Ev 085
RealTracks in song: ~542:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm Dreamy Ev 085
Loop in Song: Drums\SmoothJazzBallad^5-XStRd,SnrRide
RealTracks in song: 2448:Guitar, Electric, Background, PopDreamyBrent Ev 085
RealDrums in Song: CountryEven8: a: Brushes, HiHat b: Snare, Ride

*******************

Ghosts
Phil Leith

There's ghosts around this town
I see them every day
Echoes from the past
Leave traces here today
They're tied to the locations
Of epic conversations
Brooding ruminations
Over shattered expectations
Like tincture on a tintype
I can pick her in a crowd
In a moment she is gone again
And I never turned around

On this very corner
She asks if I will stay
But self-doubt gets the best of me
And I turn and walk away

I can see her in the window
Where she hasn't been for years
By the fence around this parking lot
She confirms my greatest fears
There's a room were she is holding me
And my worries melt away
There's the bar where I will go to bleed
When there's nothing more to say

There's ghosts around this town
I see them every day
Echoes from the past
Leave traces here today
Echoes from the past
Leave traces here today

https://soundcloud.com/phil-leith/ghosts-2019

Video: https://youtu.be/2o9NfKZOgBk

The forward vocal and reverb remind me, oddly, of Honey by Bobby Goldsboro.
You've addressed the plural disagreement of the title and hook and fair enough as you're the writer.
To my ears it does clunk each time I hear it.
There seems to be some clash underneath the end of this line "And I turn and walk away"
I know the sense of what your mean when you sang
"There's a room were she is holding me" struck me as suggesting restraint/kidnapping and took my mind away from the narrative.
Finally your voice lacks the certainty of the rest of the song when you sing the last word in "I see them every day".
Excellent narrative, well supported by the arrangement and a cool melody.

Nice backstory, it really opens the story behind the lyrics and gives strong imagery. I like the melancholy in the beautiful delicate arrangement and 60's type of chording and melody. Great work!

Janne

My two favorite lyrical parts are, "There's the bar where I will go to bleed" and "Like tincture on a tintype." The latter creates an image that complements your theme of ghost around the town. John Gorka broke the same grammar rule when he sang "There's houses in the fields." I don't have a problem with breaking the rules--"She's got a ticket to ride/and she don't care"--however, your language is elevated and more sophisticated (which is good!) than a persona who would say, "There's ghosts..."

"There seems to be some clash underneath the end of this line "And I turn and walk away" "

Ok, so it's not just me. Good to know. I've heard it, too and wondered if I should get rid of it. I will.

I tried singing "There're ghosts around this town". But just sounded square.

The other thing is, with this latest version I tried harder to enunciate more, and I think it lost some flow.

" "There's a room were she is holding me" struck me as suggesting restraint/kidnapping and took my mind away from the narrative. "

Now that's funny! Never crossed my mind someone might hear it that way.

Thanks for the feedback, I will put it to good use.

A pleasantly sounding tune with vivid lyrical images...
I enjoyed listening to your composition.

Good feedback, Ezekiel! Thank you!

Ok, I've re-recorded vocals, killed the wonky dissonance in one particular part of the instrumental track, and it sounds muuuuuch better now. :-)

Thank you people for your feedback.

I like this song a lot. Good lyrics, well sung, nice arrangement.

Like tincture on a tintype

Nicely done!

But... I think there's room for improvement on the mix.

There's a lot of reverb, and I think if you cut back on it, that would help.

Most problematically, the lead vocal volume drops in volume at various places, like at 3:01.

There are some automatic tools to fix this, like using a compressor or something like Waves' Vocal Rider, although I haven't used that myself. What I have often done once I've comped together a final vocal is to normalize all the takes so they are at more or less equal volume. Sometimes that meant slicing phrases into parts as well... I guess I get a bit anal about these things.

Since I'm in super-picky mode, there are dissonances in the vocal at 1:10 and cello at 3:17. Not a big deal.

And since my nit-picking is much longer than the complimentary portion, I should again emphasize: I really like this song. I just think it's worth another pass to keep the vocals front and center.

Mr. Leith...

"Ghosts" is a completely involving listening experience that imparts strong emotion, its painful lyrics setting the tone of deep regret, and a sense of loss in the subject's heart. It is powerfully atmospheric. Your singing has the sound of a man viewing his past from a distance, which has the effect of lending a visual feel to the song that enabled me to picture vividly the scenes described in it.

I can hear Kris Kristopherson crooning this lonesome ballad.

LOREN (a.k.a. "bluage")

Reminded me a bit of Lobo, nice and easy to listen to. I also liked the harmonies (I have always been a fan of good harmonies).

Well done.
Tony

Yeah, David ... I brought it out to my living room stereo this morning and listened and I have to say, though the vocals are better now than they were, they sound muddy and are still too stiff in places. I've never really sung until recently except for my own amusement, and I'm finding especially with more challenging material (for me - I'm probably better with faster paced tunes where you can't hear my pitchiness so much) trial and error involves a lot of trial. I know what I want to hear, and in places in this song, I'm not there yet. You're giving me some hints. That's good.

I do want reverb especially on the background vocals as I want a dreamy, ethereal sound, but it might be contributing to the muddiness as well. Also need to eq my voice with a little more on the high end. It was sounding a little harsh to me and I'm afraid I overcompensated.

Always appreciate fresh ears. I will be re-mixing and probably re-tackling inflection on a few phrases to loosen it up a little.

Thanks for the encouragement. Since this is the title track, it needs to be more than just "meh". I know it's not anything approaching sounding like a hit, but it still needs to sound as good as I can make it sound.

Thank you, bluage -- that's what I'm going for, so I must be on the right track.

True stories, and after 30 years, I'm "over" them, but I still remember them very well. They helped shape me.

It would be awesome if I could just channel Mark Knopfler's voice in "Piper to the End" (look it up on YouTube). That voice has character.

Lobo. Of Me and You and a Dog named Boo fame. Always liked that song. Bubble-gummy, but in a good way.

Right, then. So I completely scrapped and re-did the lead vocal. I had sliced it 9 ways to Sunday and boosted this little volume and cut that little volume and I decided today after reading David's comments and listening to it in the living room that starting over would be best. I had some other ideas anyway. So that's what I did.

I cranked the verb down on the background vocals and knocked some of the edge off of it on the leads, and toned down the verb on a few other tracks just as well. I think there's still enough verb on the guitar to give it that dream effect. I also took the EQ out on the vocals and let the ACON Digital Multiply do whatever it thought was necessary for "Dimensioner 2" which I thought sounded best.

A little dissonance in the cello is ok ... dissonance implies conflict. Too much would suck, and there was too much earlier at the end of the verse right before the break ... on the lead guitar, so I replaced that with another bit of lead which was more in line with that part of the song.

Happier, I think, now.

Thanks again for everyone's feedback. It pushes me.

Now that it sounds better....

I made a video for it

https://youtu.be/2o9NfKZOgBk

Lovely vocal and backtrack. Excellent listen Well done

Re-uploaded video after I altered the beginning so the rustling leaves and crows stand out more ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L54qEcnohOM

This is REALLY nice Phil!! The lyrics are really fresh and original, the melody is simple and sweet, and the band is perfect (may steal that band for a song)! REALLY enjoyed this!! Take care. Greg

Nice folklore song, arranged they way it should be, and knitted well together with the vocals.
I enjoyed my listen.

And I also like to bleed in a bar.

Thanks

Thank you. If you hadn't guessed, it's a pretty deeply personal song. But I'm sure other people have had similar experiences. I worked hard on it and got several good bits of feedback to push me to make it better here. I think it's about as good as my talent, at this point, can make it.

The "bleeding" in the bar. Yes. I was pretty much licking my wounds, alone at a table at Maxi's downtown. One particular night, after one of those rejections. I was "Licking my wounds" that idiom is what led to the line "I will go to bleed".

"There's the bar where I will go lick my wounds" just didn't have a ring to it. :-)

Building's still there. It's not Maxi's anymore. It's been several things since then. I think it even burned once.