Scarecrow
a song by Spirit Level.

Written by Scott Collingwood and Robert Cordrey Feb. 2021
Mastered by Scott Collingwood.
SCARECROW

This song was born from a song Scott recorded in 2018 called Fluffy. Scott & friends, as teenagers playing in a band, listened to records together and, when a new band like Uriah Heep or Grand Funk Railroad came up, one of the fellows in the band would describe the music as “fluffy”. This provoked laughter as the bands were far from fluffy. From that adjective came Fluffy and from there comes Scarecrow.

Robert wrote the lyrics and vocal melody then recorded, as well as treated, his vocals. He wrote some of the lyrics months ago and dragged them from the recycle pile on hearing the Fluffy demo. They are intended to be crazy in your face fun... coming from listening to the likes of Kevin Ayers (Soft Machine), Viv Stanshall (Bonzo Dog) and, of course, Captain Beefheart.

ray tracked a variety of guitars and bass which, over time replaced the RealTracks but took the “vibe” from the two excellent Grunge guitar RTs.

Structurally and melodically the song is recognizably a Spirit Level thing but sonically, it’s in a parallel universe inspired by the sounds and arrangement of _THRAAMP.STY (Amplitube Metal Chug w/ Organ).

Scarecrow

Strawman don’t you dare
Stare at my house
My house glares back at you
Your soup can eyes try to hide
What`s living down in your shoe

Make me moon-shot crazy
Waving wire arms in the wind
My soul`s flame thrower surely gonna sing
If you move your hands again
You'll reap what you sow
Listen to the scarecrow…

Give me back my hat
I don’t wear it like that
Your saw teeth they got rats
Your little flock, flock of sparrows
Scatter when pond ice cracks

I hear what you’re saying
You`re all over the news
Burned-over messiah talking holy fire on booze
And I`m coming with a match for you
You’ll reap what you sow
Listen to the scarecrow…

You’ll reap what you sow
Listen to the scarecrow

© Robert Cordrey Feb. 2021

In addition to Scott’s melodic lines and riff this version began with
Key=E , Tempo 80, Length (m:s)=2:18
1009:Bass, Electric, HardRockThrash Ev 085
~673:Organ, B3, Background Blues BB Ev 085
3736:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm GrungeSlowDistPower8ths Ev 080
3737:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm GrungeSlowGritHigh8ths Ev 080
3729:Guitar, Electric, Soloist GrungePopGritty Ev 110
2304:Synth, Rhythm DanceRockKoto Ev 120
RealDrums, RockHardLA^1-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare, Loose HiHat

After various developments the only RealTrack to survive intact is the RealDrums one.

Scott’s gear: Guitar: Gretsch Duojet, Amp: Marshall Could combo, Effects: Eventide H9’s

ray’s gear: Vantage VS696B bass, Squire Mustang “Bullet”, Joyo ACTone, Behringer GDI21, No name 5 string banjo – mic’d and the Yamaha FX500 “sitar” & “Soft Focus” effects.



Thank you, in anticipation, for listening.
Comments, suggestions, thoughts are welcome.

A welcome retro sound. I really like the experimentation in the music and the lyrics.

Well done!

Love it guys! Cool blast from the past sounds! Everyone is doing their thing here in fine fashion! Love all the little effects popping in and out from the right and left! Great title! Thanks, T

Flashback! This was extremely well done. Super guitars, bass, and vocal. I liked the effects also. The stereo mix was outstanding.

Great job on this!

Hey team!
Probably the heaviest tune by S.L. as of yet. Excellent vintage sound / drive with modern approach, which in my opinion is a hard goal to achieve by itself. Big sound. Lyrics are something special and unexpected! Love fuzzy guitars + panning fx. Great job on solo guitar and bass! Vocals are strong and suits genre well, however one (the only) thing that I think that I would change is vocals vs everything else ratio, with voice a little more upfront. I do understand that for some genres, especially where this is leaning it is not a major thing. Thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Nice backstory! It also helped make sense of the song.

It's not a genre that I know much about, so I'm really not qualified to speak to anything musical. Clearly this is a song that needs to be played loudly to be truly appreciated!

But, like Misha, I also have liked a mix that put the vocals more forward. The lyrics were a good fit for the style, and I'm glad they were rescued from the dustbin!

Thank you gruverider.
I'm not entirely sure what era or style we've tapped into.

Thank you Torrey,
Panning is always a little fun.

Thanks Mario,
Glad you like it. It was a blast to construct.

Misha, thanks.
There is a heavier version but it's probably not one that most folk would care to hear.
Robert was happy with the vocal level in this mix - he called it done. You know I'm inclined to keep them lower.

Thanks dcuny,
It's interesting that the back story helped you make sense of the song.
It's not a genre I'm normally into either...it's just how it grew.
Yes, increased volume does benefit the listen.

Sounds great, guys!

Very different from anything ever posted before on this site before I think. And that's a good thing!

Cool production, love all the panning going on, sounds great through the 'phones.

Nice to see you trying new things, always enjoy listening to your music.

Yeah, that's what I was gonna say, David. Man, love that interplay of guitars and bass.

I hope Scott will link to his original Fluffy instrumental as its very good and an interesting comparison.
Yes, PLEASE PLAY LOUD- its a bit of a sensory assault but that`s how the vocal level in the mix makes sense.
Thank you for listening and commenting!

Robert

Really not my type of music, too psychedelic But I really admire the artistic end result. Very rich imagery in lyrics and together with the band is very mesmerizing. Robert's voice is almost unrecognizable, but it fits perfectly. The guitars and the bass have great sound. Scott's painting is once again in its own class. I'm glad to hear that your collaboration has no limits when it comes to creativity.

Janne

Thanks for checking out the song Lawrence. Pretty much all our songs are an experiment. We start with a basic back track and then start adding layers. Our songs are shaped pretty much in three directions at the same time. Really glad you liked it.

Spirit Level!

LOVED this.

My favorite from EACH of you.

Favorite Scott lead work. Perfect.
Favorite ray bass/guitars and mix
(or whoever deserves credit for the mix).
Favorite Robert vocal. Perfect.

Cool song. Excellent Black-Light-Rock write.

Sounds great in the phones.

fj

Good work to all. Robert's lyrics are excellent as usual. Dark poetry. Vocals fit the mood perfectly. Well mixed. Outstanding production. Good job to you all.

Thanks.
It grew into what is is fairly organically.

Than you sir,
the louder it's played the more sense the vocal level makes.

I hadn't thought it psych at all. Perhaps the panning gives that impression.
Robert's voice has some treatment on it for the tag line.
Thanks for your generous observations.

Thank you FJ,
Very pleased you like it.

Thanks jptx3,
Dark indeed.

I like the vibe, the retro emersion and the lyrics.

I wish the vocals where a little more present, they seem to be washed away in the reverb.

moto

Thank you Space Captain,
If you crank up the volume the vocals pop right up where you want them.
Our emersion post immersion is unlikely to render another version.

Thanks Torrey. We seem to be graviting to the heavier songs lately. I must admit they are allot of fun to play.



Thanks Mario. So glad you liked it. Thanks for checking it out.



Thanks Misha. Glad you liked the tune. Our last couple of tunes have been pretty heavy. They have been mixed and mastered to really come alive when turned up to 11. Lol.

Hi rayc,

The sounds of the guitar with a lot of reverb come out very well. The lyrics fit well with the tempo. Everything is well mixed. Well done.

Kindly regard
Derochette
alias JaniJackFlash

Spirit Level,

Very cool stuff, wonderfully put together. A very heavy tune for SL—at least from what I heard—but I like the changeup, and it still has that Spirt Level sound. Great production touches throughout (e.g., that whispering of “Scarecrow”) and the panning is excellent all around. I was too lazy to dig out the headphones, but I’m going to come back and give it another listen just to enjoy the panning touches. Excellent work!

My very humble regards,

Deej

The vocal levels worked for us and given the song's LUF level we did not have to turn it up

It's really a good mix with fine performance by all (guitars, vocals and bass). The vocal processing allows it to sit in really well with the distorted guitars.

Janice's early comment was that she could envision the Baron Harkonnen (Dune) entering the room!
The bass heavily contributed to that ominous vibe.

The backstory was interesting indeed.

Grunge on....we enjoyed it!

J&B

There's not much reverb in this mix Derochette - it may be delay you're hearing - there's a dollop or more on the guitars and more on the vocal.
Glad you liked it.

You are very kind Deej.
It's a better listen in head phones or in the perfect stereo image position with speakers. It also needs some volume.
I'm pleased you like it...Robert and Scott really put on their one step beyond hats for this.

J&B,
thank you for you generous words.
The vocals were well recorded by Robert. I put on his preferred treatments as part of the mix so we could ensure he sat right.
Scott's chord progression and interweaving guitar is SPOT ON.
Perhaps Baron H enters to encounter the Bene Gesserit. I LOVED those books..I read ALL of them...all the way through Sand Trout and beyond. If only the movies was as embracing.
The bass has an able assistant...there's a very low synthy sound, (1st comes to the ear in the very beginning of the intro), generated by a Yamaha FX500...it's almost inaudible for most of the song but, I hope, gives that "ominous vibe". Thanks for noticing.

Its gratifying that most listeners are giving positive responses;thank you! Its especially cool when our collective musical adventure brings up unexpected images for others.
I think Ray gets the last word on the genre for this: "industrial corn canning mix" as he noted in our exchanges.

Robert

Page two blues.

Thanks to everyone who check out the song. Glad you liked it

Hi Ray, Robert and Scott,

Again a surprising song from you Spirit Boys!
I have to admit, it took me half a minute to get used to it, but then I enjoyed it very much!
That dark sphere you created around that 'evil' scarecrow is really good.

I had the same feeling as Misha about the distance of the vocals. But I read your answer, Ray...
But I can imagine you had lost that battle, because Robert said it's good! You cannot convince that man.

I was wondering, how you came to this scarecrow subject. You have one in your garden, watching your house?

It was nice listening,
Hans

Huh, from fluffy to downright ominous! Very nice work by all. I don't listen through 'phones, by the way, but even through the speakers, the mix sounded fine to me.
Regards,
Leon

Thanks everyone for the awesome comments. They are very much appreciated

Gentlemen ...

I started flipping pages of a my old calendars when I heard this! But i couldn't find one from 1966. Very ethereal and mysteriously captivating. Excellent in all respects. Nice work from everyone. Take care and keep the music coming!

Alan

That's very kind of you Alan.
It was an enjoyable project that really began to "swing' after a false start.

rayc,

Very heavy sound!
I just don't think Scott wrote this song and Robert sang it.
I think this work is totally your music world.
The guitars and the bass have great sound.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Thanks Alan your comments are . Glad you liked it

Thanks for the vote of confidence but it is a song composed by Scott & Robert.
I just had fun playing on it.

Hi Rayc really great mix on this lots nuggets great job guys great group effort working together blending perfectly thanks Eric

Thanks everyone for the awesome comments and so glad you liked the song

Ray, Robert and Scott.

Wow! What an awesome sound.

Competence stands front and centre in all aspects of this production.

The very first chord grabbed me and I surrendered!

Terrific listening.

All the best,
Noel