Reading stories of migrants I thought the Coyotes (people traffickers) shouldn`t be the only ones with cool animal spirit names.
I know very little about Latin music; Scott as you`ll hear, is more adept in the genre... still fun to try something outside the box for our final song of the year.
Thanks to all who listen and offer constructive comments!

Butterfly and Jaguar

Style is _GUAJIRA.STY (Guajira Trio)

RealTracks in song: 1717:Bass, Electric, TexasBluesRockStraight Ev 120
RealTracks in style: 1959:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm Guajira Ev 120
RealTracks in song: 692:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming AcRockBright Ev 120 (A:sync)
RealTracks in song: 1770:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm JazzFunkMovinChords Ev16 130
RealDrums [in style:SalsaGuajira^1-a:BongoFills, b:Bells
RT 686 B3 organ
RD Afruche Shaker
RD 1771 JazzFunk Fiery

Scott`s gear:Guitar: Gretsch Duojet
Amp: Purdy(Fender Deluxe Clone)
Effects: OD and Delay processed by two Eventide H9’s





Butterfly and Jaguar

butterfly and jaguar
came to a neon shore
to drink without armour
dance without claws
dance without claws

so soon my mariposa
the coyote will take you away
to the land of myth and money
your tattooed wings will fade
wings will fade

butterfly
Santa Elena`s bells toll goodbye
jaguar
will your black magic reach as far
as the look in her father`s eyes
her father`s eyes

will you return my amadora
I follow on the beat up train
prowl the bars our cloudforest
til night turns to day
night turns to day

butterfly and jaguar
came to a border wall
one will fly one shapeshift
into a brave new underworld
brave new underworld

butterfly
Santa Elena`s bells toll goodbye
jaguar
will your black magic reach as far
as the look in her father`s eyes
her father`s eyes

© Robert Cordrey Dec. 2019

Robert & Scott,

All the hallmarks of a R&S song - cool backing, an interesting story told with an even more interesting lyric and tasteful guitar woven throughout.

The Latin tracks sound good - though the percussion at times is a bit busy for a "story song". And the vocal gets a little lost in them a couple of places.

A very cool lyric. (as always)

Scott's guitar sound great - nice amounts of reverb and delay to fit nicely into the tracks and some sweet playing.

Y'all have had a good year. I'm sure that will continue into 2020...

fj

Robertkc & Scott.
Excellent collaboration. Very musical piece. Smooth vocals. Scott's guitar worked very well! I like everything about it, but one item. To my taste drums are a little busy. Otherwise, CONGRATULATIONS on this unusual and beautiful tune! Enjoyed it a lot.

Misha.

Floyd,
I`m in agreement on the percussion needing a tweak ( and, as usual, it takes a discerning listener to get me hearing drums in relation to the whole mix).Its toned down on the verses now.Thanks for your positive comments- on this and all our efforts this year!

Robert

Shoot me if you will but the vocals aren't loud'n'clear enough given the percussion and delayed guitar surrounding it.
It may be a simple matter of EQing a little presence to lift it above.
I found I was distracted by the stuff happening around the vocal and couldn't focus on it easily.
If I weren't interested in hearing the narrative, and let's face it the preamble made the narrative unmissable, I'd not have had a problem though.

Excellent song to end the year!

I love the latin groove, I used to do a lot of latin instrumentals back in the day.

I agree with Ray, the vocal is hard to hear in places. Might be too much competition with Scott's (excellent) guitar, not sure.
Ray mentioned EQing to lift the vocal, another technique is to EQ the lead guitar, you could have a dynamic EQ that cuts the frequencies in the guitar that conflict with the vocal, and side chain it with the vocal so the EQ cut only happens when the vocal is active.

But, great song guys, enjoyed!

Hi Rob,hi Scott,

that is a truly great tune. A very good write, well-sung, very nice work on the guitar. Yes, maybe the voice should be a bit more forward, but that's a matter of taste, I think. And I always find it very difficult to find the perfect level for the vocals, too.

A very good song and a very good post at the end of the year.

Merry Christmas to you and yours and, of course, a happy and healthy 2020.

Take care,

Stefan

Thanks for listening...and especially for noticing the tune is unusual, Misha!
I`m sure there are lots of songs in Spanish which take on the thorny migrant subject with more realism... I have a long distance and view that makes it easier to add the romance.
p.s.drums not so dominant now.






No shots fired...you are out of range over in Oz!
Being a new genre for me I processed the vocals very differently than usual- trying for smooth I may have ended up with fuzzy.
There`s a revamped vocal on the take now-I think its easier to hear the lyrics.
Glad you were interested in where the story went.




Dave,

Both Scott and I wanted his guitar to be heard on the verses ( glad you think its some fine work), but yes, there`s some conflict with that guy singing!
As mentioned to RayC I`ve reworked the vocal - gone back to my regular chain- it seems improved,though I didn`t change anything else in the mix.
That idea to filter out EQ clashes with the guitar sounds good; I`m not at that skill level yet.
I`m pleased you liked the song and appreciate your comments.

Robert

Robert and Scott, by the time I got to listen I think you had already tweaked the vocals and couldn't hear any issues! Latin percussion is a hard thing to work with, it seems to either be too little or too much! It may be a little "busy" in places but overall I felt it sounded pretty good! Great performances by you and Scott! Thanks, Torrey

Very nice rhythm, vocals, and lead guitar. As far as I'm concerned everything sounds great.

You both should be very proud of this one.

After listening to your song & reading the posts of others...
I must admit I didn't hear the imperfections mentioned...
Maybe you fixed them...
Or maybe I was so involved with following your fascinating vocal & lyrics...
And listening to Scott's guitar work...
That I missed them.

Even now, listening a 2nd time...
I'm so caught in the performance & story...
All I can say is...
Its a good collaboration.

Robert/ Scott

Listened to the remix - sounded very good to me. Good vocal,
poetic lyrics and some pretty playing over a nice latin beat.

Enjoyed it - happy new year to you both.

Peter

Hi Stefan,
A clearer vocal track is posted now. Yes, its a tradeoff sometimes between clarity of lyrics and overall feel of the song.
Thanks for listening, commenting and your good wishes; all the best to you too!





Thank you Torrey.
I sure hope folks can still hear how subtle and melodic Scott`s playing is on the new mix; he puts together some lovely passages both behind the vocal and soloing.

Robert

Esoteric, Robert.
Scott C. knows just how to flavor a song like this with mystery.

The song got off to a rocky start. This was allot of fun to do and required a little research as the Latin genre is an art form in itself.

Thanks so much for the awesome comments on the guitars contributions. Ed you are too kind.

Loved Roberts lyric and vocal on this. I think he did and excellent job on the mix and instrument selection.

Happy New Year everyone

Mario,
Thanks for the thumbs up on the mix!



Jim,
Yes,you heard the revamped version.
I appreciate your comments-especially glad you liked the lyrics.



Peter,
Latin lite is how I feel about it now.
Thank you for your positive comments and wishing a Happy New Year back to you!


Robert

Nice feel. Good mix.

As usual, musically and lyrically interesting. I enjoyed the song.

Listening through headphones was a bit of challenge - there was a lot going on at the same time, especially during the vocal. That made it a bit difficult to focus, as everything seemed to compete for my attention.

In contrast, the instrumentation during the guitar solo made it easy to focus on the guitar, and not be distracted by the other instruments.

Clearly, other listeners on this forum handle musical complexity better than me.

Thanks for listening and commenting, Soundchaser.
David- the mix could be simplified more though we might lose that Latin feeling.
I appreciate you letting us know it still sounds busy in places...have to leave it be for now though.

Robert

Interesting changeup for you, but still your wonderful insight and words show through. Enjoyed it a lot. "Tattooed wings" was my favorite image among many.

Experiments are fun.

Collabs are fun.

Experimental collaborations are super fun!

FWIW, we used to think a lot of latin oriented percussion was busy but the more
we worked with some and the more Janice plays her cajon the
more we like it. We think it works fine but as we are late to the
party we are hearing the tweaked version.

"Butterfly and Jaguar

butterfly and jaguar
came to a neon shore
to drink without armour
dance without claws
dance without claws"

Man, does that ever set up what's to come.

It's already been said but the mysterious write,
the production, vocals and the fine guitar all work together
to so well tell the story.

A great listen y'all!

J&B

Very nice to hear something different from you, interesting combination of great Latin groove and your folky interpretation. Dream like images in the lyrics - an interesting nighttime story... I especially like the chording, has some nice 60's melancholy vibe which the piano arpeggio highlights well. Scott's guitar is ethereally beautiful giving wings to the butterfly, some black magic Santana. I like the percussions, maybe still bit busy in the verses, but I enjoy them in the chorus.

Janne

Thanks everyone for checking out the song. Was a step into new territory and we had allot of fun with it. Glad you liked it

Hi Robert and Scott,

You done it again! These words and the music had me mesmerised. That Latin beat was quite hypnotic and it led me along wonderfully well.

Everything worked for me. Terrific lyric imagery, great guitar work, very comfortable BIAB backing.

Well worth the listen!

Regards,
Noel

P.S. Great photo on Soundcloud

TuneMonger,Janice & Bud,Noel:
Thanks for those positive comments- this song is in a style I rarely hear on the forum
(maybe there are Latin style instrumentals I haven`t heard) so not surprising it divides opinion. You`re supportive ones are most appreciated.

Jannesan:the shaker is the most noticeable percussion on verses now - if anything that sounds busy to me now its those piano arpeggios ( which I also like).
Thanks for taking the time to listen and share your response.

Robert