You

The idea for this song came from a dream in which I had a very strong emotion. When I woke up, I knew I had to write about it and the style should be soul with blues flavor. I found a very suitable BIAB style _PINE for the mood and I added some extra instruments. The hazyballad soloist has become one of my favorite RTs, it works so well in many different songs.

Unfortunately, the dream had almost no visual clues, so it wasn't easy task to describe that emotion in words without using obvious clichés. I'm satisfied with the end result, although it is still far from the feeling - I realized that there simply are no words for every detail. I hope you get a glimpse of my dream

Style is _PINE.STY (Pining Slow Pop Blues)

RealDrums:
PopRock16ths^01-a:Snare, HiHat, b:Snare, Ride
MarktreeFills single

RealTracks:
1190:Bass, Electric, ModernRnBRock Ev 065
673:Organ, B3, Background Blues BB Ev 085
3334:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm BluesPopSlow16thsSol ev16 065
---
910:Piano, Electric, Rhythm SmoothBallad Ev16 065
3348:Guitar, Electric, Soloist HazyBallad ev16 070
2953:Strings, Rhythm JazzBalladPads Sw 060 (Held)

Bridge melody: VSTi The Orchestra/Oboe

Vocals by me

Mixed in Cakewalk by BandLab

Lyrics:
You were the first soul to touch me
you showed me how it feels to be loved.
You were the gift
I didn't deserve
but it's the only memory
that I wanted to preserve.

You were a spring that chose to run
in the bed of my life
a sudden flood, a breathtaking joy
the grace of nature squeezed the first time.

You were the first soul...

You were a spirit of the woods
crystallized for my sake
your full attention lightened the dusk
on my lips a fallen snowflake.

You were the first soul...

Only once in my lifetime
won't deny it now that I'm old
the highlight of my story
my candle you came to hold
it deserves to be told.

---------
Janne

Much that I liked in this...interesting melody, really nice way you "shadow" your vocal with either BGV's or other elements, and I thought the choice of instrumentation and style really fits the song idea. The chord movement was also quite interesting to me. Your lyric is both attention-keeping and artistic/creative in choice of words.

PS--I would be terrified to try to recount some of my dreams in song!! Good work, Janne!

Dreams often leave us wanting a new language to express them. Music is an excellent choice, Janne, and I feel I share the sentiment you are trying to express. Ineffable as they often are, dreams have a wonderful capacity to connect us on a different level of existence --just like music does. You've made an excellent example here. Now, go back to sleep, and do it again. hehe

Very good, Janne, might be my new favorite from you actually.

Good progression and vocal melody, and I like what you did with the BGV's.

MarktreeFills are very effective, I also liked the melody you created with the VSTi.

Good guitar solo, good mix also.

Well done!

Excellent tune Janne. Such a cool delicate vocal and lyric. Excellent backtrack. Loved the oboe. Gave so much depth to the song. Well done

Very creative use of melody and chord structure Janne! You always impress me with taking a song in an unexpected direction and make it sound very nice! Take care, T

Hi janne,

that's another very good song. Very creative, most interestingly put together.
Enjoyed the listen a lot.

Cheers,

Stefan

Some very creative lyrics and vocal effects.
Certainly got the sense of swimming in dreams.

Thanks very much for your kind comment I appreciate all your positive findings Glad you liked my vocal idea, I was bit hesitating whether the dueting with backing vocals would work.

Janne

Thanks Marty, I'm really glad you can share my sentiment Dreams are surely an endless source of inspiration and often a big mystery, sometimes giving even almost real feeling strong emotions and it can feel quite wistful when you wake up. Let's see what my next dream will bring up

Janne

You have got to love it when things come to you in a dream. I find some of my best inspiration comes to me when my brain does actually shut off long enough to dream - I've certainly gotten my fair share of short stories out of a few really neat dreams. Overall, the mix was really nice and this song had some nice throwbacks for the style. Thanks for sharing!

Nice narrative, melody and good instrumentation.
The kick drum is a annoying partly due to the level and also the clickiness.
Good realization of a dream.

Love the sound you got from the RTs. Sort of a mix of decades and styles. An unusual but appealing sound. I also like the melody--it's got clever movement. Nice.

HI Janne ...

Marty said it as good as anyone, as far as my thoughts on this song. You did a wonderful job with this one... slightly haunting, ear-catching, smooth and a very interesting lyric. it has all the elements that a good song needs. Love the lead guitar! Excellent in every way!

Best to you. Be safe ...

Alan

Thanks Dave for your very kind review Glad you liked the BGV's - I considered having a blues guitar fills between gaps in the chorus vocal track, dialog like in many of your songs, but I thought the chorus might become bit crowded, because it already felt bit fast despite the slow tempo. It would be interesting to try it, though.

Nice to hear that marktree works also, the chorus melody starts lower than the verse melody, so I needed a good transition to highlight the chorus and marktree does it job perfectly, thanks to PGMusic for including it. And of course the other RTs as well, especially the solo guitarist

Janne

Fantastic arrangement, I couldn't get enough of that oboe. Lyrics were great, too "It deserves to be told," what a great line to finish with. One of your best!

Janne

One of your best ones. Really interesting as always and a very pleasing chord progression.
The guitar solo sounded very nice and I liked the backing vocals.

Really nice.

Peter

Thanks Scott for your kind review Nice to read that you found the vocal and lyric delicate. I'm very glad you liked the oboe. It is a beautiful sounding instrument, and inspiration to use it came probably from one of my favorite The Alan Parsons Project song Old And Wise, I was bit hesitating whether people would like it in the context of this type of a song.

Janne

Thanks Torrey, I'm always pleased to read your kind and rewarding words Glad you liked the chord structure, although it wasn't as complex as in some of my songs Thanks for showcasing so perfect pop songs on this forum

Janne

I agree with Marty......dreams are a trip, and you have brought us into yours!! Very nicely done!! Take care. Greg

"Dreams often leave us wanting a new language to express them. Music is an excellent choice, Janne, and I feel I share the sentiment you are trying to express. Ineffable as they often are, dreams have a wonderful capacity to connect us on a different level of existence --just like music does. You've made an excellent example here. Now, go back to sleep, and do it again. hehe"

We rarely quote in our responses (particularly when its already been quoted) but ... how could it be said better?

"You were a spring that chose to run
in the bed of my life"

That is a GREAT line embedded in an all around fine write.

As you pointed out that RT solo is outstanding.

The lead and BGV were all hittin' the note -- very nice.

And you wrapped the package up in an excellent mix.

Enjoyed it!

Be safe

J&B

Thanks Stefan for your positive review Glad you enjoyed

Janne

Thanks Captain for your kind words

Janne

Thanks Ember for your kind comment I hope your dreams continue to provide great inspiration

Janne

Thanks Ray for your kind feedback I didn't pay any attention to the kick drum, interesting observation.

Janne

Thanks for your kind and positive words Mix of styles, yes I wanted some soul from the 60's and some blues ala Thrill Is Gone.

Janne

Thanks Alan for your kind words I agree, the lead guitar is awesome...I didn't originally mention, but when I woke up I was immediately thinking about making the song sound R&B in Al-David style

Janne

Janne,
Good deal! I like what you did with vocals / harmonies. One of your most interesting vocal pieces. Arrangement is very strong! Did you do all the ooohs or it is band? Sounds like your voice a bit and I did not see that the oohs/aahs tracks mentioned... Guitar solo worked well! Mix is clear. I get those too sometimes, emotions from dream speaks without visuals. The trick is to sketch it out, before it disappears with full awakening Thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Thanks TuneMonger for your very uplifting comment I'm really glad you liked the oboe, because I wasn't sure how it would fit in a soul song. Thanks for PGMusic for that great style I used as the basis for the arrangement.

Janne

Janne,

An excellent piece. Terrific melody. Excellent use of tracks - great sound.

Very good vocal and BGVs.

A well-written love song.

Excellent mix.

One of your best.

fj

Thanks Peter for your rewarding feedback Good to hear that you liked the my experimental backing vocals.

Janne

Thanks Greg for your kind words Been just listening your new songs, fantastic singing and songwriting

Janne

Thanks J&B for your very positive words And thanks for quoting that line, that was the initial feeling from the dream and your words are also like that spring refreshing my heart

Janne

Thanks Misha, I really appreciate your kind feedback Glad you liked the backing vocal parts, I made them first in Vocaloid, but sang them myself in the final version, but I left some lower notes from Vocaloid version to add some thickness. We as artist have to use any kind of source of inspiration and dreams can lead us to an unexpected direction, so they are a good vehicle to reinvent ourselves, I agree it is good to sketch out any message from our subconsciousness

Janne

Thanks fj, always great to receive your kind feedback Interestingly you see it as a love song, and it is, although I tried to use a different angle - not how I felt toward someone, but how this untangible object affected me.

Janne

Janne,

What a fine write this is . . . a nice treatment. Just the right feel to the sound on this one—nice job on the mix. And as others have noted the background vocals really work well on this; from a production standpoint, my favorite aspect of this listen. Though that lead guitar is just spot one—great solo. Very nice work on this Janne.

My very best to you,

Deej

Thanks Deej for your kind words I'm glad my background vocals work also for you, it encourages me to experiment that part also in future.

Janne

Hi Janne.
Very interesting arrangement apart from the relentless drums. Maybe tone them down and vary the rhythm here and there.

Vic

Thanks Vic for your valuable feedback I have learnt on this forum that drums shouldn't be left behind other instruments, so maybe I have exaggerated to follow the rule... and in this song it should be kicking like a heartbeat to highlight the power of the dream experience. But good suggestions, if I come back to the song later, I'll know what to change.

Janne