The Slide

floyd and I (Bud) wrote the lyric while floyd alone developed the melody, chord progression and arrangement. As always floyd took what I thought was a decent idea and transformed it into IMO a fine song. Thanks!

Peter joined in with an intro lead and fills. He sent us a cornucopia of riches to choose from Thanks!

OK, it’s not about the “current situation(s);” rather, it’s a broken relationship tune told by a lady - perhaps a little twist on the old theme.

Your time to listen and comment is always appreciated.

Thanks. Be safe.

Janice: lead & harmony vocals / vocal arrangement
Rodes NT1 > Scarlett 212 > Logic Pro > Nectar 2 or CLA Vocals

Peter: guitar lead and fills

Drums: RD NashvilleEven16^3
Logic Pro EQ > Waves CLA Drums

Bass RT: 1036 Electric, NorthernRockBallad Ev 065
Waves Bass Rider > Neutron 3

Piano MIDI SuperTrack: 2101 PopModernGroove
Logic Pro Grand Steinway > Logic Pro Direction Mixer >
Waves ClA Unplugged

Guitar: RT 829: Electric, Rhythm PopModernGroove
EMT 140 Plate Reverb sim

DAW: Logic Pro X
Mastering: Logic EQ > Waves LinMB > Waves L2 > Ozone Tonal Balance > Logic Pro Loudness Meter

Thank you PG Music!

The Slide
© 2020 Bud Merritt & floyd jane / All Rights Reserved

i know i should have drawn the line
a drink or two before closing time
but inviting looks washed in neon
were more than enough to lead me on
 
a slippery slope a wayward path
so i was bound to face an angel's wrath
my demons determined to drive me mad
betraying you and all we had
 
   so many years out on the edge
   i’m still crawling through my wreckage
   always hoping you'll be on the other side
   and desperately hoping to stop the slide
 
a few hours with a stranger erased
a love that I can never replace
a fool opens dangerous doors
forgiveness has its limits, you reached yours
 
   so many years out on the edge
   i’m still crawling through my wreckage
   always hoping you'll be on the other side
   and desperately hoping to stop the slide
 
callin', callin'
fallin', fallin'
 
  so many years out on the edge
   I’m still crawling through my wreckage
   always hoping you'll be on the other side
   and desperately hoping to stop the slide
 
i know i should have drawn the line
a drink or two before closing time...

Floyd Jane's influence can clearly be felt throughout this song. I can't quite point it out in words - maybe it's the soaring melody lines, who knows. But, without being able to articulate why, I would nevertheless spot his influence a mile away.

Yes, a new "twist" indeed to the genre. In my experience (disclaimer: I'm only joking!), a woman rarely admits she's wrong in such circumstances ... at least when she has to deal with someone like me, haha. Again, only joking ... but my point is that this is indeed an unexpected twist to the usual way these songs seem to go. In any case ... I love the lyrics.

And, of course, Janice sings the lights out of the song, so to speak ... with her usual-by-now-to-my-ears emotive communication. I love the ending, too ... a question which seems to remain hanging in the air ... a beautifully sung "ritenuto" :-) And that guitar ... :-)

Congratulations to all!!!

I'm speechless.

You guys and gal are so talented. It is amazing to me how you come up with one winner after another. Get lyrics and of course super vocal as usual. Love the mix. Peter's guitar is icing on the cake.

Thanks for ALL the kind words. And thanks for mentioning the tag. That also has the fj stamp on it!

J&B

Such a nice collaboration!
Very fluid. Seems like everybody pitched in from the heart. Very rich arrangement. Janice vocals are a treat, loved the repetitive vocal solo from 2:30. Co-writing lyrics can be a tricky task.. Bud, FJ great job, very smooth! Peter's guitars add extra shine. P.S. Ending was super cool.
Congrats to all and thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Absolutely wonderful.
My only err umm is that the rim shot is a little aggressive in the intro ...could be my head though.
Fabulous fourth corner on a three cornered hat and the hat fits.
Love it.

A fine song indeed, Bud and Floyd. Janice's vocal is splendid, as always.
I particularly like the 'crawling through my wreckage' line in the lyrics.
Regards,
Leon

Yes, what Mario said ... in spades. Superb talent will always find a way to rise to the top. This is superb talent. I really like how the last word doesn't resolve to the tonic ... leaves a nice edge. A real sweet listen. Congrats to all!

Best to yous. Be safe ...

Alan

Wow, this is great!

Really good writing and of course the vocal/harmonies are spot on.

The treatment on:

"callin', callin'
fallin', fallin'",

not exactly sure how you did that, but it's superb!

Outstanding from the intro with Peter's guitar to the ending with just Janice. Loved it!

Very cool collaboration. Everything is perfect. Awesome lyric and vocal. Loved Peters guitar. Professional level production. Well done

A good write with some subtle self examination, avoiding cliches.
Lots of mentionable lines; I like these:

a fool opens dangerous doors
forgiveness has its limits, you reached yours

The way Janice bends the melody adds to the hurt of the theme and Peter`s guitar has just the right edge.
I agree with Dave;that little vocal treatment on "callin` callin" is sublime!

Very good work from all four collaborators.

Robert

Thanks y'all!

J&B

Excellent write. Janice snakes around those lines with that world-weary sense. Band sounds good. Peter's fills extremely tasteful...good sense of "song". Really, really nice and effective ending that fits the theme to a tee. Much enjoyed.

Thanks Misha. We always look forward to collaborating with floyd. It’s been a fun eight year run. Thanks for mentioning all the aspects that we hoped folks would find pleasing!

J&B



Thanks Ray. I (Bud) wish, and I mean this sincerely, that I had acuity of hearing that you have.
My long standing high f loss (even with high tech aids) gets problematic on some mixes for sure.
Janice has stunningly good hearing! So I need to get her more involved in mixing but she's not excited
over that prospect.
Love that hat analogy! We appreciate the response.

J&B

This is a great song y'all. You never write bad one.



Loved everything about this. Great lyrics, vocals, production and parts. Super job.

I got a strong Jackson Browne feel from this one, with lines like 'inviting looks washed in neon' and the general conceit of 'wreckage.' Fantastic work, hard to outdo your usually exceptional norm, but I think you did it here.

Thanks Leon! You are a wordsmith and we always appreciate your comments!

J&B

Thank you Alan!

J&B

James, Ed, Mario, Misha, Ray, Leon, Alan.... thanks for listening to our song (of course, Janice makes that a pleasure!). It is always a wonderful experience to write with Bud.


Leon - that 'crawling through my wreckage' line was from Bud's original draft - as well as the clever rhyme (with "edge") - he is quite good at that stuff...

Thanks Dave. We are glad you like the little bridge. floyd arranged it and I applied different amounts of Nectar's reverb, delay and compression on each the three vocal parts that make it up. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't but thought in this case we felt it sounded pretty good.

Dave, Scott, Robert, Tangmo, David, TuneMonger...

Thanks for stopping in for a listen...

Hi Team,

Your stuff is SO consistently good that I'm running out of things to say.

Having said that, this has to be one of my favourites.

The mood is established from the very start by Peter's delicate guitar and than carried
through beautifully by Janice's emotive vocal.

Clever, well crafted lyrics, a super backing track and an excellent mix complete the package.

Loved the whole thing.

ROG.

Hi Janice and blud,

It's a beautiful ballad song. The instruments are all in their place and the perfect mix. Nectar is a good fx.

Best regard

Dero13 alias JaniJackFlash

This is another excellent song from all of you. The vocal is very fitting with the lyrics. cornucopia, ok Bud, is that a real word or a scrabble bluff one? HA. Enjoyed thoroughly!!! Cliff

Hi Bud, Janice, Floyd and Peter,

Your band is becoming more and more impressive with all those musicians participating in this cool song.
You sing beautifully subdued, Janice! And the chorus is very nice.
The composition and lyrics are also strong, but who could even think it wouldn't with this buch of gus working on it.
I can't find more words to express how well you performed in this song.
Oh, one thing... I haven't heard something wrong on the drums. to me all is a plus!

Hans

Thanks Scott. We loved that guitar also!

J&B

Somewhere in heaven Janice, Bud, Floyd and Peter lives.
I sometimes get pleasantly surprised by the soft diamonds that drops down from heaven.

Will

Thanks to those who mentioned my small part on this fun project.
Always a privilege playing on these tracks.

Peter

Thank you Robert. All credit to floyd for those lines. And, yes, we feel the same about Peter’s guitar. And we appreciate that mention of the vocal treatment. Glad it worked for you!

J&B

ROG, Dero, Cliff, Hans, Will...

Nice of y'all to stop by for a listen...

Nice to hear another angle to the old subject. I almost wrote 'angel', because Janice sings like an angel interpreting the fallen angel really credibly, her voice is pure magic at the closing time. The open ending is very nice addition. Perfect sounding mix and enjoyable guitar playing.

Janne

Nice work everyone. A well produced and recorded "real" country song. Great vocals Lyrics tell the story well. Outstanding guitar work Good one Congrats to all.

Thanks for everything and for mentioning the ending also. And we agree Indeed that Peter did a great job. We appreciate your support.

J&B

Yes, definitely a Floyd write: "a slippery slope a wayward path/so i was bound to face an angel's wrath" --Gold!

Vocal and guitar, both excellently performed. I like Janice's slide up into "side."

Solid production!

Thanks David. Glad it worked for you.

J&B

Thank you for the positive and thoughtful comments. Hats off to floyd for that line and the mention of Jackson Browne is humbling. We appreciate it!

J&B

As someone who has messed up a lot of things, to include relationships, I can have empathy with who ever this song is about. The music and vocals were, as I expected, really well done. The lyrics were as I said, something I unfortunately can identify with. Also, something that I haven't seen mention is that the songs vocal rhythm (cadence?) sounds like (to me) Don McLean's American Pie. Really thoughtful and well put together.
Thanks for posting it...

Brilliant guys , I never know who to praise Except Janice for vocals , but I guess that's the music industry for you !!.

Great write and as always mix/production in my cans sounding awesome, your over all sound is in a sense pure !!.

I did feel the lead guitar a bit distracting during Janice's vocals in the verses , as I just did not see the reason for it too be there ?.

Great to hear another from you and bud setting the bar even Higher !!.

Take care.

Thanks

Thanks Rog. We always appreciate your supportive comments. And we love your recent song post!

J&B

Thanks! We’ve been using Nectar for years - just a simple preset we created.

Jr




Thanks Cliff for that cornucopia of nice comments!

J&B

To say it's a "fine song" is a major understatement! Such a pretty tune with excellent vocals and harmonies! Everyone involved in this one deserve high praise for their contributions! Thanks, Torrey

Thank you Hans. We very much appreciate your kind words.

J&B





Will, that is very eloquent and hugely appreciated. Thank you so much.

J&B

J&B

Janne, jpt3, Scott, Bawb, beatmaster, Torrey - nice of y'all to stop in for a listen...

Thank you Janne. Janice very much appreciated you saying that!

J&B



Thanks!

J&B



Glad you liked it! And, yep, that was a floyd line.

J&B







Thanks for listening and the thoughtful review. Glad you liked it!

J&B




Thanks a lot Torrey. Good to see you back!

J&B

Good voice , up there with Lucinda Williams and Chrissie Hynde.

Thank you for listening and commenting. We are Lucinda fans and also like Chrissie - check out Blueattitude on this forum if you get a chance. Their singer sounds a LOT like Chrissie.

Welcome to the forum!

J&B

It's all been said..all-around first-rate...love the idea that it's a collaboration, great talent all the way around..++on the ending.

Thank you!

WOW! This is definitely one we could push the Like button before Play. What a great team for developing great magic. Brilliant!!!!

Janice, Bud, floyd, Peter,

Great Collaboration!
I think it's a very high quality pop song.
The melody is especially fine.
And Janice sings the melody really really well.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi