Black Crack in the Wall

We also have a video for this song, link at the bottom of this post.

Black Crack in the Wall (2020, Christiane Spruit)

Wheels are turning
now it's all coming to ground
What we needed, we don't need it anymore

Our children playing
while the dust clouds falling down
burned their dreams in the backyard of the mall

Days of laughter
I still hear the echo down the hall
from the good old days we had before the fall

Black crack in the wall
It won't happen again they call
They scale the city walls
burning bridges and the flames are rising tall
We've seen the black crack in the wall

All the answers
they are blowing in the wind
All the songs we heard and all the songs we sing
Words are burning we all saw the writing on the wall
HISTORY repeats itself, for us all

The Band:

1827:Bass, Electric, PopModernGrooveA-B Ev16 075
1839:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm PopModernGrooveA-B Ev16 075
1831:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm PopModernGrooveBrightA-B Ev16 075
1831:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm PopModernGrooveBrightA-B Ev16 075
PopModernGrooveSync16^1-a:Snare on 4, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride

I used EZDrummer2 for the Shaker, tambourine, and cymbals.

I'm playing the acoustic, an electric rhythm guitar track and the lead guitar.

Mixed with Reaper using native plugins, also plugins from Waves and iZotope, mastered with Ozone 9, more detail available upon request.



All comments welcome!

Powerful vocals, excellent backing, different. Not a genre I'm naturally drawn to but this was well worth the listen. Thanks for sharing.

Pro quality vocals, band, and leads. I don't think I've heard a better one from you guys...and you consistently put out high-quality tracks. Loved it.

Wow - what a tune! Enormously powerful vocals, with superb harmonies that are instantly ear-grabbing. Definitely getting a bit of a Pat Benatar vibe on this one, which is definitely a good thing in my books.

Thanks for sharing

Hi, Dave. Christiane really tells the story with such emotion. Your guitars, as always, are perfect. Great tune!!

A STRONG lyric delivered with a power packed emotive vocal and supported by a great lead guitar performance. The outro is
is a great example of vocals and an instrumental solo working perfectly in tandem. The entire production is nailed...everything,
the band, the vocal/guitar performances and the mix.

A song that should be heard by many not just for the message
but for the musicality of it also.

And that acoustic intro...yeah.

The video's sparseness helps drive the message home.

Y'all NEVER fail to deliver!

J&B

Dave / Chris

Loved everything about it! Wonderful vocal, great guitars from the acoustic intro to the searing ending.
Great mix & overall production.

Simply top quality music.

Peter

Hi Dave and Chris
Completely agree with Peter's comments, as well as Bud and Janice's - you never fail to deliver.
Regards,
Leon

Absolutely amazing! Very good lyrics and a vocal performance that is really first level. I truly enjoyed listening to this!

Thanks for sharing such a diamond of a song!

Will

Dave & Chris,
another gem. I guess it is more on the rock side of the blues.
I hear a little more rage in Chris vocals, definitely makes this tune more powerful. Guitar work is excellent. I like raw acoustic feel mixed in. Overall, I can only look up to you two and learn

P.S. Since you mentioned "all comments"... I liked the opening with acoustic, it felt different and good, however it felt like all instruments come in little two soon. A part of me wants to hear more of that acoustic. If it was my choice, I would let vocal and keys join the guitar and then all other instruments come at 0:27 on drum roll. Just 2 cents of opinion

Excellent tune with fresh approach!
Thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Hi Chris & Dave ...

What a terrific song ... in every possible way. The lyric is strong. As always, Chris' voice is strong on emotion and so nice to the ear. And your guitar work, Dave, is so sweet! The tracks and mix are done so nicely. This is strong! What a great listen!


Best to both of you ...

Alan

Dear 'blueattitude' and Ms. Christiane Spruit...

Any performer, ANY PERFORMER -- instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, whatever -- who deliberately and purposefully creates a song that addresses the terrifying presence of racism ANYWHERE on this globe, as directly, as courageously, as fiercely, and with such unapologetic righteousness as you two did in your 'buck-stops-here' song, Black Crack in the Wall, deserves a humble, grateful and respectful bow from me! In fact, I'll 'do you one better': I got your back on this .

I'm gonna give you a moment to read what I wrote so you can feel the truth, the urgency of what I wrote above...

Okay, time's up !!! And now, the 'kudos'. Thank you for your courage. Thank you for your obvious(?) concern about the rise of violent racism in this world. Thank you for not second-guessing your instincts. Thank you for joining the masses of people all over this globe who are trying to calm everybody down so we can clear our heads and start listening to our hearts. Thank you !!!

'blueattitude', you play your guitars as though someone was trying to take them away from you, but I am glad you defended yourself and held onto them . Practice pays off, right???

Ms. Spruitt, Ms. Spruitt, Ms. Spruitt...Listening to you exhorting the message behind the lyrics and the dialogue that appears in the video, caused me to think of you as a singing Joan of Arc. The emotional committment you poured into your voice was utterly striking and empowering (to me, at least). Thank you!

As of this moment, this very moment in time, I regard both of you as musical artists who clearly are not afraid to speak out on what concerns you according to the dictates of your conscience. I mean it. If I had medals on hand, I'd pin them on your breast -- uh, I mean, only on 'blueattitude's' breast, Ms. Spruitt .

God bless you, God keep you, God love you, God protect you, and thank you (yet, again) for applying your musical skills towards the solution of a seemingly insoluable social problem.

As forum members 'Bud & Janice' exclaimed, Black Crack in the Wall is "...a song that should be heard by many not just for the message, but for the musicality of it also". Hearin' ya' loud an' clear, 'Bud & Janice'!!!

With my utmost respect and deepest sincerity,

LOREN (a.k.a. 'bluage')

Is that a pick scrape to accompany "...history..."?
If it's not then you might address the sound or the distortion of the voice.
Terrific song, playing & singing.
No nits other than the above.
COOL.

Dave / Chris,

You have really kicked it up a notch with this one...

WOW! Tremendous song, vocal and production.

You guys are quite the team. Loved it!

Bob

Love the sound from your acoustic. This is an excellent song. As always Chris has an awesome vocal and very cool lyric. Loved your guitar work on this. Took the song to another level. Well done

Amen to that and the message of this song!
For my $ the best vocal yet by Chris - her timing and ferocity are a perfect compliment to the lyrics.

Robert

Thanks for the listen, especially since you don't normally listen to this type of music

Cheers, Tangmo!

Thanks for stopping by, Deryk, we appreciate it.

Hey Marty,

Yeah, I thought Chris did a great job on this. Me? I'm just having fun

Thanks, man!

Chris & Dave,

A great listen.

A powerful song. A powerful vocal to match. And excellent background vocals.

The production adds to the power. The acoustic is really well done. And the electrics and piano are blended in seamlessly as they join. Nice bass. Excellent drum choice. Tasteful percussion additions (you are so good at "the little things" - the art of production). Great mix.

If y'all raise that bar any higher you're gonna make it impossible to get over

Music.

fj

I went with the video. Cool song. I like the beat. Good lyrics and vocals. Good use of BIAB. Well done production. Good work to all.

Thanks Janice and Bud! We both always enjoy reading your comments, means a lot

Thanks, Peter!

Thanks for the listen and comments, Leon!



Happy you liked this one, Will! Looking forward to hearing a new one from you one of these days!

hi this has great passion vocals are fantastic and guitar works is excellent mix is perfect thanks eric

What a fine recording. Shades of Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, U2 -- an anthem to a cause. Out of the loop, I'm not too sure exactly what that message is, but for sure the track made me sit up and lean in close to the speakers. I have been following Dave Bell for a while. This one, I heard last week and right away bookmarked it. Good going. BTW, impressive body of work Dave and Chris are creating -- Go, Blue Attitude!

Nice, bit surprising, acoustic intro leads to a powerful anthem against the dark forces of the world, your loud and strong voice is needed to rise above theirs. Great lyrics, vocals, guitars, mix. I'm amazed how you can be so productive and still produce great quality songs one after another, thanks for this one too.

Janne

Great song and lyrics Dave.

The vocals are especially strong on this and as always great guitar.

Hi Dave and Chris,

After what I read in all the posts on your strong song, what can I add?
What I liked especially is when Chris sings the last line of the chorus and the leadguitar follows like it was glued to her voice. Very nice effect!
The song, the vocals, the instruments all were delicious to listen to, although most of your songs are too!

Cheers,
Hans

Dave and Chris, you have done some great songs in the past but this one is definitely your best to date. I agree with most all of the previous comments: I found absolutely nothing wrong with this.

If I had heard this in a record shop I would have purchased it right then and there. This is definitely air play ready.

Wow. Where to start? 100% agree with all of the great feedback already posted. This song instantly grabbed me and did not let go. I was completely caught up in it. For me as well, this is not a style that I would normally listen to but those vocals and that guitar rocked hard, and pulled me into your world, and won me over. It's still echoing through my head now ...

Thanks for a great song and a super performance!

Hi Misha,

Yes, definitely more of a rock song than we normally do.

Your suggestion about the opening could certainly work. One thing I always do with every song we have ever done is get back to it after not hearing it for a while and listen again with fresh ears, I almost always hear things in the mix/arrangement than I missed the first time. So when I do that I'll try and change the intro and see if it works better, easy enough to do with a couple of mouse clicks.

Feel free to make those kind of comments anytime!

Thanks for the listen, happy you liked it

Well this made my head spin. It's strange to me to hear a song for the first time and feel like "how have I missed this great song?" I mean that as in, it sounds like it was already a hit. It just has the level of quality throughout. Just so great.

Many great compliments have already been said, obviously. About the best I can say is, I will be listening to this for years. I feel like I have heard something really great. It just nails everything soooooo right for me.

Truly, thank you to the two of you for melding all of your talents into such great work. Man, this made me day!

Thanks very much, Alan!

Best to you and Di also.

Hi Loren,

I have to tell you that reading your extraordinarily kind review not only made my day, it also made Chris' day. It meant a lot to her to read your words, and she wanted to make sure that you knew that.

Thanks so much!

Wow. This is how it's done - the write, music and message...

Terrific vocals and great overall performance, arrangement and production.

Hi Ray,

Not a pick scrape and not distortion. That's just the way she sang it, she was digging pretty deep I think. Not perfect, but has passion which is more important (for me)

Thanks for the listen/comments!

Thanks for stopping by, Bob!

Thanks, Scott!

I think she did a great job on this too, thanks, Robert!

Man, I've learned so much about production and mixing from hanging out here over the last few years from guys like you ... I'm just trying to keep up

Thanks, floyd!

Hi Ed,

I didn't realize you were following our music. Thanks for dropping by, we both appreciate it

Cool dark, bluesy rocker!! Love the feel of the track, Dave's tasty licks, and Chris' excellent vocal......all the elements of a great tune!! Take care. Greg

Another goodun from a great collab, enjoyed it thoroughly.

Thanks, Janne!



Thanks, David! Hope you will be back soon with some music, you have been missed!



Hi Hans, thanks for mentioning that part during the solo, that is my favorite part

Thanks, Mario!



One of the things I like about this site is you get to hear music genres you might not normally listen too. Helps you grow as a musician I think.

Thanks for the listen/comments!




Very kind of you, Caaron, thanks very much! And it's time you posted a new one I think?



Thanks for the listen and kind works, Charlie!




Cheers, Greg!




Thanks TuneMonger!