In another lifetime I thought of becoming a priest and spent several years in a Catholic seminary. As part of the training, I spent a summer as a hospital chaplain. (Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, NC.)
I decided not to become a priest and am now a happily married man, but I often think back on that stint as a chaplain and always knew I would write a song about it.

Everybody's Life Gets Tough (demo) by Mark Rhodes

BiaB style: Campfire, 2 Medium (for the intro, bars 1-8, just using the acoustic guitar); Dreamy Soft Rock for the rest.
Tempo: 145 Even 8s, 4/4
All the lead guitar parts are played on my Squier Affinity Telecaster plugged into a Scarlett 2i2.
DAW: Reaper
Plugins: WAVES GTR. (To be honest, I don't recall the setting for the guitar used here. It sounds like bagpipes in the intro and that seemed fitting for a hospital where a lot of somber things happen.)

A truly life-changing experience and a well-written song is obviously not the only reward. To answer Mr. Cohen's comment, it seems that you found that place where good songs come from Mark --the heart, the soul, the whole of life. Thanks for sharing this little tip of that experience.

Excellent song and such true lyrics; we all can appreciate the fact that we all have tough times.

Interesting guitar tone, at times it sounds like a blues harp and other times, well I don't know what it sounds like! But it fits the song and that is all that matters.

You did a super job on the mix also.

Two thumbs up.

Thanks, Mario! I really appreciate that.

Hi Mark. I enjoyed this very much.
Great lyrics band and production.
All the best Rob

Very nice light rock song that reminds me bit of Dire Straits. Good lyrics and vocals. Nice soft arrangement, enjoyed the guitar playing and its sound.

Janne

Cool tune. I got the Dire Straits vibe as well. Well done

Nicely done...dark stories of personal pasts.
The vocal seems to be triggering peripheral artefacts from the effect on it...from essing to a sort of cracking.
You may care little about those and most people won't.
I notice them so comment.
COOL song.

Life's experiences often provide grist for songs. Good job on this song.

Back in HS, a friend was considering going into one of those brotherhood monastery kinds of places. We used to call him Friar Bob.... which he took with a grain of salt so to speak. I wonder about him from time to time if he ever followed through and became a monk.

Interesting story. I spent several years in a seminary in New Orleans. (Curiously, I left just before Katrina hit.) The backstories of the guys there varied dramatically. From guys who had escaped Vietnam as kids to lawyers and doctors who felt something missing in their careers, not nearly as many "literary types" as I had expected.

Thanks, Janne. I picked that BiaB backing track precisely because it reminded me of Dire Straits. I love Knopfler's guitar playing and think he's an excellent songwriter. Comes from that not-a-great-singer-but-an-effective-vocalist school that I've always been drawn too (Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Randy Newman...)

When I was a kid, I played with a lot of distortion. I liked the sound but I also think I used it to bury my vocals a bit. I was an insecure singer. I'm not a much better singer now than I was then but I'm more accepting of my limitations and try to write songs that will work with the voice I have to sing them with. ;o)

Thanks, Ray.
I'll listen again for that.
Sometimes I hear clicks that result from power surges. (The lights flicker too.) I always hope it never sounds on a recording and sometimes it doesn't. But maybe there's some I failed to notice.

Thanks, Scott. I'm glad you liked it.

Thanks, Bob.
I appreciate that.

"Probably die the same way you live" That says it all.

Nice story, good song.

moto

I knew a priest in his 80s who was one day asked what he thought about deathbed conversions. He said he didn't doubt the possibility but he had not seen one in his almost 60 years as a priest. "People die the way they live," he said. I never forgot that.

Interesting song... especially because of the lyrics. Good write!

thanks for sharing,
Will

Good song, well sung and played. I wasn't too crazy about the amp sim setting. I use waves guitar sometimes and there are a bunch of others you might try, or not. I like 'when doves cry' preset.

I'll have to try other amp sim settings. Mostly I use a clean tone (in Waves CLA Guitar it's the "Cleantone" setting). But I need to find a few other settings for piercing leads (and also for a bit of rhythmic crunch.)
Waves GTR3 has so many options it's hard to know where to start!

Thanks, Will. I appreciate that.

My songs seem to fall into two categories: those with a focus on the lyric and those with a focus on funky guitar parts where I have a hard time figuring out where to put lyrics at all.

Hi Mark,
You did a great job on the vocals and your choice of bands. You stated that in another life you were going to be a Chaplain? Well, I your song almost sounds like in another life this could have been one of the songs played on "The Fall Guy" with Lee Majors back in the 80's? Thanks for posting, I enjoyed the listen.

Nice song ! , enjoyed !

Thanks

Thank you, bawb.
I hadn't thought of "The Fall Guy" in years! I do remember that show.

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.

Nice song, I enjoyed the listen.

I initially thought the chorus might be talking about karma until I read the comments. Not a complaint, I often misunderstand songs.

My dad studied to be a priest. I asked him why he dropped out, and he said it was because of the sub-par teachers in the seminary - a case of "those who can't, teach".

I count myself fortunate that he didn't sign up with the Jesuits, or things would have turned out much differently!