Hi Folks.
 This is my October contribution to User Showcase. Political? Maybe. I was thinking of a completely different motif when I was making the arrangement, but it came together as it did. If you don't like it, you know where the "stop" button is. If you are willing to give constructive feedback, that would be very much appreciated! Thank you for tuning in!

Amnesia


Song of a broken string,
Words to a tale that never was written.
Aging guardian lion
playing with ball, just like a kitten.
Oh, those wonderful virtual worlds,
dripping colors of rainbow.
Digital trolls are greasing their elbows.

Who are all the creatures hiding in the Dark House?
Muscles of the titans, hearts of a lab mouse
Gold cage confinement, binary choices
voice of tsunami, mosquito voices,
well oiled destiny, eaten with pepper
I am a silicone coated bell clapper

Agony of gutted truth,
Darkness unleashing it's soldiers
aging Atlantis tired of holding the world on tired shoulders.
Oh these miniscule, innocent lies,
rapidly spreading like cancer
Sad little people building tall fences.

Who are all the creatures living in a Dark House
with fangs of a carbide with a will of the mouse.
Indigenous fright, meaningless fights,
Fractured magnets choosing their sides.
Answer is water, answer-chimera,
A call girl with heavily put on mascara

Fires of distant wars, nobody left
to count dead comrades
Ailing turtle-time
stuck between boulders
Nobody felt wind changing
Nobody seen ash falling.

Deep in the ocean, where the sun don't reach
lives a fish that don't judge, don't preach
It sees no evil, cause it got no eyes.
It doesn't care for the truth or lies.



Tech stuff.Band:2474:Bass, Acoustic, Held Ev 085
3438:Guitar, Electric, Soloist BritPsycPopBallad Ev 065
2666:Pedal Steel, Rhythm LushChordsSlow Ev 075
910:Piano, Electric, Rhythm SmoothBallad Ev16 065
Loop : HipHop\Old School - flybeat_76b drums ev16.wav
2447:Guitar, Baritone Electric, Background SpaghettiWestern Ev 065 (CustomFX)
3545:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking CelticBalladSoft Ev 075
RealDrums:Americana16thsBrushSyncFred^1-a,b:Kick13
me: Strings + wind synths /vocalsVarious synths of Halion and KontaktRecorded and mixed in Cakewalk.

Misha,
Those who already know they are in for a wild Rustyspoon ride will love this...including this fan!
Perhaps your most complex image-twisting lyric? The leaps of imagination hide some of the political references for me, though your vocal carries the feeling of intrigue and foreboding.
I like the gentler chorus melody- a good contrast with the verses.
I listened to the intro a couple of times- what is the acoustic guitar there? Its very hypnotic and I didn`t think the baritone guitar was really needed.
Likewise, the psych guitar solo on first chorus distracted for me ( its a little better balanced on the last chorus).
The doubled vocal sounded good.
That`s your feedback, and a reminder; I very much enjoy your music!

Robert

Loved the intro. Harmonics were very cool. Some very cool lyrics. So descriptive and creative. Super vocal. Excellent message in the lyrics. Well done. Some very cool guitars in the background

Excellent work, Misha. Love the very creative and evocative lyrics.
Regards,
Leon

Hi Misha,

This is extraordinary. I haven't got a snowball's chance in Hades of writing something even a tiny bit like this.

Your production is incredible. It's easy to hear that many hours have gone into finding instruments and sounds, and then mixing them with just the right effect to create such magnificent aural textures and such an intriguing musical journey.

You had me transfixed. I sat here trying to work out how you did things and I wasn't too much wiser by the end of my travelling.

Your lyrics are amongst some of most vivid I've listened to. The images flow freely like a bold and very colourful abstract artwork.

Totally enjoyed it.
Noel

No question, this is exceptional.

"Who are all the creatures living in a Dark House
with fangs of a carbide with a will of the mouse.
Indigenous fright, meaningless fights,
Fractured magnets choosing their sides."

Yes, exceptional, powerful, evocative.

The further I listened, the further I became totally enthralled both musically and evocatively:

"Deep in the ocean, where the sun don't reach
lives a fish that don't judge, don't preach
It sees no evil, cause it got no eyes.
It doesn't care for the truth or lies."

Prophetic, brilliant.

All delivered with a superb discordance. Genius. Award worthy.

Misha,
SUPERB.
The final stanza encapsulates the amorality of nature.
Things are or aren't.
This song IS
You ARE
I'm impressed.

Misha, I was going to write something about how imaginative, creative, free-flowing, etc. is this work, but my forum friends beat me to it! As I was listening and reading along, this made me think of how bound up I am in the world of cohesiveness, logic, structure, convention, etc. The positive of this reflection is to be amazed at the unlimited domains of songwriting--the dimensions of harmony, melody, lyric, performance yield endless possible combinations, and folks like you remind me of how wonderful this is. I would love to sit alongside of you and understand your creative process, but I think I would get quickly left behind in cosmic concepts. Great work, but I should not listen to your songs so early in the morning--I'll need strong coffee first!!

Apply the above to the lyric, the melody, the vocal, the arrangement, the band and the mix.

What came immediately to mind was "creatively dystopian" (and close to home).

The "right" video for this would be awesome indeed.

Our button will be Rewind rather than Stop

As already mentioned above we feel that the band and arrangement are outstanding.

That spaghetti western baritone guitar well paints the landscape throughout.

We could suggest no vocalist we'd insert other than you.

Wow!

J&B

Hello RustySpoon,

I appreciated your lyrics on your vision of this world that we do not understand. A world that seems absurd and cruel to us but which takes us from birth to death without having answers to our questions. It's well written and the melody is well suited. After listening, it allows us to stop time and to meditate. Well done.

Kindly regard

Dero13
aliasJaniJackFlash

Misha

That was some ride. Some wonderful touches in the backing tracks, so very clever.
Superb vocal and vocal arrangement, and a strong interesting lyric.

Excellent.

Peter

Robert,
Thank you for your kind comments and suggestion on bari. and other guitars! I believe you are right, and some guitars should be trimmed a bit or lowered. The non-PG guitars are Kontakt "picked" guitar instrument. If you wish to know more, please p.m. me.

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Scott,
Thank you for listening and your comments!
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Leon,
Thank you for giving this time and your feedback!
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Noel,
Thank you for listening and your amazing feedback here and on SC!! This one did take a bit longer than my "average" to complete, but I did learn a few new techniques Will gladly share if you want to know more.

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VideoTrack,
Thank you for tuning in and your kind comments! I was actually thinking of you when I did "intro" You gave me some very good points couple of years back on my tune. I did not forget about them.
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Ray,
Thank you for giving this time and your feedback! I know there are some linguistic issues in structure, but I tried

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Tano,
Thank you for listening and your wonderful feedback. That is strange, I think quite opposite, if to compare what we do.... It is I, who try to over-think some trivial stuff and your tunes are very well flexed and improvised. I think you would get board seeing the process. It is like mushroom picking trip. (I love mushroom picking btw). Cofee time... sure, that is a must prerequisite

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J&B
Thank you for listening your support and your uplifting comments!

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JaniJackFlash,
Thank you for listening, your kind words and for sharing interesting outlook. Very true.

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Peter,
Thank you for listening and your support!

Misha.

Strange, mysterious, baffling - but somehow intriguing and engaging. Held me captive right to the very end.
The lyrics, dripping with simile and metaphor, are woven together with consummate skill. Well done, Misha.

Hi Misha,

hard to add something new to what the other guys already wrote....
An amazing poece of work in all aspects. Right from the start that intro flashed me - what a blast. Amazing arrangement, great lyrics, wow, wow, wow...

You're so incredibly creative !!!

Take good care,

Stefan

PS: And nice to finally see your image- I'm afraid I'm as wrong as it gets when it comes to picturing people from their voices and works.

Hard to add much to the earlier comments because, after those lyrics, I feel my vocabulary is inadequate.

Quite a montage of thoughts, ideas and observations.
I feel as though I just took a sprint through a fine art museum turning my head to get a quick glimpse at all the painting on the walls as I ran by.
Catching enough of each to grab my attention just before the next piece of art entered my view.
Feeling out of breath and overwhelmed by what I experienced.

Great music with lyrics that make you think.

Fantastic!

Hi Misha.
Love those lyrics. If I was to nit pick I would say that sometimes there seems too much going on so the vocal is crowded out. Still, it's imaginative and creative.
Held my interest.

Vic

Hi Misha,

I was more than pleasantly surprised by this october-contribute of yours. Very, very intriguing and more than that; a splendid song! That means it is beautiful.
I more than often wrote you how you come to all these musical ideas, but probably you don't know that yourself. It is just there. That's why you were so humble in your post; 'If you don't like it, you know where the 'stop' button is'.
Listening to this song, with these nice, dark voices in the chorusses, I totally forgot I had a such a button. You got me totally in this song. I think it is your best song ;-)

Nice day,
Hans

Misha,

Have to say right off the bat - LOVE the opening!!

And it gets even better from there...

A stunning lyric. Wrapped in even more stunning music. An exquisite production. One of the most creative ever presented on these forums.

The vocal fits perfectly. It is as creative as the instrumentation supporting it.

INCREDIBLE music.

Standing O. Bravo. Big, big WOW.

fj

Wow – this was creative!

The lyrics are very good – and a good reminder of 'who we are/wanna be' – in real life and on the digital platforms of today.

Loved the intro and the composition! According to my ear, the mix would benefit with more space. Put the vocals up front and push the instruments backwards.

Great job – thanks for the ride!

Mesmerizing. I love your lyrics and vocals. The music in so well done. Great production, great song.

Brilliant!! Intro with the harmonics is awesome, over used word but it fits.

Music is an absolute pleasure to listen to from start to finish.

And the lyrics!!! "I am a silicone coated bell clapper"?! To mention just one of many great lines.

Favorite verse is how you ended it:

"Deep in the ocean, where the sun don't reach
lives a fish that don't judge, don't preach
It sees no evil, cause it got no eyes.
It doesn't care for the truth or lies."

Loved it, well done.

Misha - I hope you felt as inspired when creating this as I felt listening to it. This is exceptional. I 100% support the other comments - there's very little to add. You know when you're listening to a song and there are parts where it just takes you to a new place, that you didn't know existed? That's exactly what I experienced at several places. The combination of the wind synth, the strings, guitars and other instruments would just merge into this glorious swirl with the words floating through them.

Wow - brilliant!

Misha,
How does your dystopian masterpiece slip to page3 in a week... darkness unleashing its soldiers??
My earlier comments I mostly agree with; though I`m getting used to the guitar choices. Your listing the song as R&B Soul ( rather than Dystopian Masterpiece)in genre, I find odd... otherwise BRILLIANT.

Robert

Ghostgum,
Thank you for listening and your kind words!

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Stefan,
Thank you for giving this time and your support!
Did you expected someone looking like Dostoyevsky?

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Captain,
Thank you for giving this time and your wonderful feedback! The vocabulary thing, lol!

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Vic,
Thank you for your support and your constructive comment! You are probably 100% right, sometimes I get greedy and leave "extra" tracks in place.
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Hans,
Thank you for giving this time and your support! The stop button comment was only for politically "determined" ones, who might find it offensive... in some ways. Lately I have seen families with such deeply dividing beliefs between husband & wife, parents & children that avoiding certain topics seems to make more sense than discussing them at this point in time to avoid breakages in relationships.
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FJ,
Thank you for giving this time your heartwarming feedback!

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Molsenhouse,
Thank you for listening, your positive comments and constructive suggestion!
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jptjptjpt,
Thank you for listening and your support!

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Dave,
Thank you for giving this time. Your feedback means a lot to me!
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EdZ314,
Thank you for listening and your support!

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Robert,
Thank you for stopping by and your support! Unfortunately last two weeks were full
of unexpected projects, that needed urgent attention, so my forum participation was low. U.Showcase seems to be blooming with creativity, which is a VERY good thing. There are tons of material in my "to listen" list, including a new SL with Ray tune

Misha.

What a wonderful musical texture!! Never heard anyone put together something like this with BIAB! Fantastic!! Always love your vocal!! Brilliant job putting this together!! Take care. Greg

Misha, this is fascinating on all counts: lyrically, musically and production-wise.
The psychedelic intro got me in and I was hooked.
Your lyrics reminded me of John Lennon's writing in his "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Happiness is a Warm Gun" days.
The band is sensational and your vocals are perfectly ominous.
I loved if from go to whoa.
Cheers,
Mike

Misha,

I love your songs, and this is no exception. The music exudes mystery, tension, other-worldliness. Your lyrics continue to amaze me. I love the chorus, and I am afraid it will be playing in my head today as I try to teach my classes.

Wow Rusty what a totally different (to me anyways) and creative song, great opening and exceptional lyrics,

Digital trolls are greasing their elbows

and

Muscles of the titans, hearts of a lab mouse

Really stood out for me, how you think of cool lines like this I don't know.

Nice vocals and everything worked great, can see a song like this this in a sci-fi movie.

really enjoyed the listen.

Loved the whole thing, it's full of wonderful touches, but especially liked the intro. This was more accessible than many of your tracks and it may be the best I've heard from you. Flat out, you got yourself a hit!

Greg, Mike, Scott, Musiclover, TuneMonger,

Thank you for listening, your kind comments and your support! Your feedback means a lot to me.

P.S. Sorry for being late with replies. A seasonal flu got my attention for a few days and there was a lot of catching up to do.

Howdy Misha....

Yep...that's how my last one turned out too...it somehow evolved (stylistically) on it's own into a "Good 'ol boy" country tune which is not my default writing genre.

I gave it a listen even though I don't gravitate to any political songs for listening.
I checked it out because I knew your very personal style would have it's captivating appeal.
Moody, well delivered.
I gladly echo all other comments.

Be well...keep up the good work.

Misha, I'm glad somebody gave this a bump to the first page today! Otherwise I would have missed it. This is excellent work! That delayed instrument in the intro is very effective and really sets the mood! Complex lyrics that had to take some time to develop....Reminds me a little of something Robertkc would write and he is great at that stuff! Impressive!! Take care, T

There's definitely no need to push the stop button here. This is really one of the finest work of art on this forum. This is your best, although I wouldn't call it my favorite because of the dark tone

Fantastic arrangement, very lush and cinematic, creating nice underwater mood of the sinking world. Full of small details and effects. Great melancholy chord progression. Intriguing intro keeps the attention, Baritone guitar's sad tone fits excellently with your vocal tone which has strong Leonard Cohen vibe. Rhythm bed is enjoyable.

Not nearly as cryptic metaphors as in some of your other works because I could spot many references Or maybe I misunderstood them, but still lines like "Fractured magnets choosing their sides", "Digital trolls are greasing their elbows" and "Muscles of the titans, hearts of a lab mouse" talk to me. The last lines summarize the story perfectly. Just wondering, are you using Atlantis instead of Atlas on purpose?

Janne

Misha ..

I could not said it any better than Floyd did. He hit every nail on the head. I'm only going to add that it's a fantastic song in every possible way you disect it. Simply excellent!!!

Wishing you the best, Be safe.

Alan

Wayne,
Thank you for giving this time and your support!
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Torrey,
Thank you for listening and your kind comments. About the lyrics... You know, "you are, what you eat"

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Janne,
Thank you for listening, your SC feedback and heartwarming comments!
Good catch on Antlantis... probably Atlas would make more sense.
In Russian in is pronounced: Atlant, similar in Greek: ἄτλαντος (Atlantos), I followed intuition rather than looking up translation on this

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Alan,
Thank you for kind words and your feedback here and on SC!


Misha.

Wow, that intro made my ears stand up and say, "Pay attention, man [my ears are hip]. You're in for a treat." My brain already knew that at the word Rustyspoon. Good lord, Misha, you are a master at imagery lyrics. Loved the tune! My ears are now as hip as my brain.