Here is a new Spirit Level song.
Lyrics and vocal are by Robert Cordrey.

This song was developed from my instrumental Swiftsure.

Guitar tracks were done by myself and Ray Cochrane. Ray Cochrane also did the bass track on this song.

Kudos to Ray for steering the arrangement to its current state. It is a much better version of the song since its first inception..


Palace of Memory

Lyrics:
Palace of Memory

pale day pale day wears away
the song leaves the singer
thought he had more to say

motes of dust our moments rust
to pictures pictures are mirrors
you can`t trust

the way back way back a rutted track
the house where old ghosts whisper
apologies behind your back

rewrite the verse zoom in reverse
your pictures pictures are strangers
who bless and curse

reverie show the making of me
a beggar in the palace of memory

at last gone at last your wrinkled mask
in a field the child lies dreaming
a god wakes with no past

mysteries in time decieve
your pictures pictures are speaking
their meaning holds you fast

reverie show the making of me
a beggar in the palace of memory

© Robert Cordrey May 2021

This was the original BIAB file

****** Song Summary *************
Title: memorypalace
File:memorypalace.SGU
Key=Bm , Tempo 86, Length (m:s)=1:12
No intro. 22 bar chorus, from bar 1 to bar 22. Repeat x1 chorus
No Melody
No Soloist track.
Song is saved with Volume, Pan, Reverb, Chorus, Bank0,
Song is saved with bar changes for Volume Changes,
Style is _BUBLPOP.STY (21st Century Radio)

RealTracks in song: 1827:Bass, Electric, PopModernGrooveA-B Ev16 075
RealTracks in style: 1861:Synth, Rhythm, EuroDance ChorusHousePianoOffBeat Ev16 120
RealTracks in song: 3752:Guitar, Baritone Electric, Rhythm MoodySlowGrittyBrent Ev16 075
RealTracks in song: 3656:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm IndieGentlePush Ev16 080
RealTracks in song: 3753:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm MoodyArpRotaryBrent Ev16 075
RealDrums [in Song:PopModernGrooveSync16^1-a:Snare on 4, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride

*******************

Used the drag and drop midi chord track from the BIAB with the BBC Symphony VST. (Thanks Floyd for the heads up on the Free BBC VST download)

Lead Guitar Scott C
Rhythm Guitars Ray C and Scott C
Bass Guitar Ray C.

Powerful lyrics.
Very unusual arrangement.
The vocal panning played with my mind.

moto

Very cool, guys! Fabulous listen on the phones.

"the song leaves the singer
thought he had more to say"

Yeah! Great line of many.

Lovely playing Scott, nice and melodic. Great vocal from Robert and solid bass work from Ray.

Overall just an excellent song, listened a couple of times.

Scott, Ray, Robert...

COOL song.

Good write - lyrics and melody. Good vocal.

Very cool guitars spread nicely across the soundscape. Very good mix. Good bass, too. (Drums are a bit "back" for my tastes). Excellent arrangement.

Great listen!

fj

Hi guys,

what a cool song. Great lyrics, well done in all aspects.

Cheers,

Stefan

Scott, Ray & Robert,

This may be my favorite Spirit Level track...

An awesome arrangement, mix and outstanding guitar.

The beautiful and haunting vocal by Robert is mesmerizing - a real showstopper.

Bob

"motes of dust our moments rust
to pictures pictures are mirrors
you can`t trust"

The vocal panning definitely evoked images of mirrors for us. Very effective.

Vocal, guitar and bass performances were excellent. Great guitar tone for the feel and all is nicely glued together with the bass.

Everybody was in the pocket for the psychedelic vibe. As we've said before ... sophisticated psychedelia.

You also picked an excellent supporting BiaB group and topped it all off with an open mix with a great soundstage. And nice work with the VST.

So when are we going to have a light show vid?

Well done y'all

J&B

Echos of "Time in a bottle" and Leonard Cohen, nice work, liked it a lot

Thanks Moto. When I first heard the vocal panning I took a step back and let it sink in. Was perfect for the vibe of the song. Thanks for checking it out. Glad you liked it.

Loved the way some verses jumped the previous verse, a very cool effect. Lot of great imagery. Good playing by all.

Hi Scott, Ray and Robbert,

As captain Moto said, an unusual arrangement. Very intriguing.
Robberts' vocals are (as always) very good, despite the fact that the singing is so complicated in this song
I had no idea what you were singing about, but it must be wonderful. It souned like that!

And I liked how the band played it all. At first I got confused by the rhythm of the drums compared with the singing, but that was just me.

So, a very nice song from a great Spirit Level (I wanted to write higher instead of great, but that could lead to misinterpretations...)

Hans

Thanks Dave We worked very hard on the arrangement and mix on this song. Lots of gigabytes passed back and forth until it got to a place where we really liked it.
Robert's developed some very cool lyrics for this song. Made especially harder from the fact he was using one of my melodies.
Glad you liked the song.



Thanks Floyd for checking out the song. The drums had been moved around quite a bit on this song during its development. Robert did such a cool vocal on this that we want it to be front and center. Ray added the cool pan left to center pan and right to center pan and I felt it really focused the attention on it. Really glad you liked the song..

Very cool! "Memory" is very well suited for that tune with such a vintage and melancholic vibe. I loved how you played over those changes. Great job!

Another interesting dreamscape, gents, very well played and sung.
Regards,
Leon

Thanks folks,
It was a nice track to play on and the work Scott n Robert put in made it an easy task.

Thanks Stefan Glad you liked the song



Thanks Bob. Robert did a really cool vocal on this tune. Glad you liked it.




Thanks Janice and Bud for the awesome comments. We have been spending lots of time experimenting with the different production techniques to enhance the song. These song change so much from the initial inception to the finished piece. Really glad you liked it.

Man, what a great collab group, Spirit Level. Always rising to the top. Weird that I've listened to this song about 5 times, but failed to comment on it here. Robert is always magical with the lyrics and vocal. Really cool and haunting melody. The guitars sing from the same page.

Cool, unusual, and enjoyable.

Absolutely love the lyrics.

All aspects of the production sound good. Guitar, bass, vocal, mix.

Thanks for that experience!

Thank you for the awesome comments. Really glad you liked the song



Thanks TM for checking out the song. Your comments are very much appreciated.


Thanks so much Hans for checking out the song. We are always trying to push the envelope on our songs. Now that we are older and wiser we can appreciate the you using great instead of higher. If this was back in the late 60's we would have taken higher in a different context. :-).. Glad you liked the song.

Thanks so much for checking out the song. Really glad you liked it



Thanks Leon Glad you liked the song



Thanks Marty. I have been catching quite of the new songs on Facebook as well. Thanks for the awesome comments and really glad you liked the song.

Guys

A treat. Very well done in all aspects and well produced.

Enjoyed the contributions of all the band members.

Good stuff.

Peter

Damn. Epic. Wonderful performances by all. Love the lyrics, as always. Gold star lines:

the house where old ghosts whisper
apologies behind your back

and

a beggar in the palace of memory

I am very impressed with the mixing and recording too.

Top notch work, lads.

Thanks for checking out the song glad you liked it



Thanks Peter really appreciate you checking out the song. Glad you liked it...

Thanks for checking out the song. Really appreciated it. Glad you liked it

Hi all.
I do love a lyric to make me think and this did that.
Thanks for posting.

Vic

Great work you three! I loved ever minute of this! Excellent everything.

Nice tight instrumentation, crisp mix, super lyrics and vocals.

Loved it!

Thanks Vic Glad you liked the song

Definitely more a song more to be "experienced" than "listened to".

I'm with floyd jane on the term "soundscape" - cool stuff!

LOVE IT!!! Very Doorsy!! Love the synth and drum backing!! Great vibe, great vocal treatment! Everything works!! Probably my favorite Spirit Level project to date! Great stuff guys!!! Take care. Greg

Thanks David Glad you liked the song




Thanks David We put in allot of time on the production and mixing of the song to try and give it a more open feel. Glad you liked it

Hi Scott C,

Nice reverb on your guitar. The playing of guitars lends itself wonderfully to lyrics. Nice collaboration, it's well done and I appreciated.Congratulations to the team.

Kindly regard
Derochette
alias JaniJackFlash

Hi Scott,

I'm late to the party but glad I came, although everything I wanted to say already has been said. Great vocal and lyrics. The lyrics sound like something Leonard Cohen would write. Outstanding guitar and mix.

loved it and IMHO it is your best to date.

Thanks Janne Glad you liked the song



Thanks Mario Glad you were able to give the song a listen. So glad you liked it.

Really fine lyric...likely my favorite from Robert. Sweet chord-tone based melody that flowed with the changes. The arrangement is very good with the moves through the more and less dynamic passages. The guitars are dream and fit the song very well. All in all, an inspired work that has the added benefit of sounding great.

Wonderful work all the way around. Great instrumental and vocal interplay.

Hi guys, love the mixing/panning/effects going on in here! You aren't afraid to experiment with stuff and it's developed into your own unique sound! Thanks, Torrey

SL team,
Beautiful and trippy ballad you cooked! Lyrics are very special. Everybody sounds as whole. Two spins, could not find anything critical to add but congrats. This definitely stands out from most SL songs. If you will compile an album, this would be a perfect "rest" tune. Liked it. Thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Scott, Robert and Ray,

Awesome!!!

The ambience created by this presentation is incredible. The mix sits perfectly in my headphones.

I love what you've all done. This is emotive music that takes the mind on a wonderful journey.

All the best,
Noel

Wonderful tune. I love the swirling sound. All players hit the mark, including the band. Vocals are correctly mysterious.

Too many gold star lyrics to mention, but one example is:

a beggar in the palace of memory

Excellent.

Torrey, Ed Tangmo, Noel, and jpgjpg. Thanks for checking out the song we really appreciated it

This was a musical goodie... loved every minute of it! Great composition and performance!

Will