An online friend, John Vaughan sent me a lyric.
I looked at it for a few days not knowing what to do.
A few days later I chopped it up into small parts, added a few more parts and came up with this.

Is the vocal clear enough?

Can't recall the original tracks as I swapped them over many times but there are two drum tracks:
Nashville Even 8 and Pop Promise Even 16. Two bass tracks: Electric Pop Power 4s and Electric Pop Shining Held.
Link:
https://soundcloud.com/vic-arnold/dont-worry-bout-me?si=15aba0341d1042e2b60881fd507852c6&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME 2022 Vaughan & Arnold

v1
I got Facebook, Facetime,
stack of books online.
More than I could ever read.
A thousand channel TV.
... So don't worry 'bout me.
Don't worry 'bout me.
v2
Short drive. Long beach.
Let the dog off the leash.
Meet my friends at the bar.
Never worry where you are.
... So don't worry 'bout me.
Don't worry 'bout me.
Br.
I can stay up all night .. counting stars
Play a lotta tunes .. on my guitar.
Write about a love .. gone down the road
Cry about a bride .. that never showed
... so don't worry 'bout me
Inst.
Br.2
Found a new girl, lives across the street .
Looks good.. and she sure tastes sweet
v3
I got a Golf course nearby
iphone and Spotify
Fingerlickin' chicken fried
Happiness certified
... So don't worry 'bout me.
Repeat v1

So don't worry about me

Great write, good song. It seems like your vocals could use just a little less lows, it almost sounds muffled, but just a little!!

Really nice song, great lyrics, good singing. Yes, the vocals sound a little muffled. Might be worth looking into. Again, the song is great!

Cool use of guitars.

I can make out the vocal, but there's something going on that's messing with the clarity.

I enjoyed the song.

Cool song and narrative. Not sure the aggressive electric works.

Thanks Ronnie.
I think you're right.

Vic

Hi Tunemonger.
Hopefully I've sorted the muffled problem now.
Thanks for your input.
Vic

Don't need to worry about you, Vic No need to beat you up on the muffled vox. Still, I can hear all of the words, and those lyrics are really cool. What a good group of players you've selected. I really like those quick changes. The mix otherwise is perfect. Everything is clear.

I found the boom-i-ness of the mix difficult to listen to. The vocals are (still) muddy. The bass is overly dominant. There seems to be a phasing problem of some kind - the boom-i-ness fluctuates ( like a sign wave). Could be some kind of plugin that you have on the entire mix???

It all clears up some during the bridge. The boom-y bass goes away at that point and the vocal are much more clear there. Comparing that difference might help lead you to the problem.

Thank you David,
I'm trying to sort that mud out.

Vic

Thanks Ray.
Appreciate it.

Vic

Thanks Marty.
Still trying to improve it.

Vic

Vic, great start. I liked the backing tracks, instrumentation, and mix. The vocal good but as mentioned it could be cleaned up, however I understood each word.

With a little polish on the vocal this will be a gem!

Vic,
Good colab. Came together well. Solid arrangement and vocals. Mix is a little lower end rich, especially vocals even for very neutral AKG headphones that I have.. Some EQ will easily fix it. Still, will echo Mario: "I understood each word." Thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Hi Floyd.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Last night I looked into my DAW and found that for some reason all the individual tracks were somehow combined with each other to varying extents, i.e. the vocals had certain amounts of the bass, drums and other instruments on them.
This was obviously muddying the mix. No idea how it happened.
Anyway I took away all the sends and started again. Seems to have resolved the issue. I hope.

Vic

Mario.
Thanks for your comments. I found last night that the mix was contaminated somehow with bleed from every track.
I hope I have now solved the problem.

Vic

Misha.
Thank you for your input.
I think I've solved the problem now and I refer you to the reply to Floyd, above.
Cheers.

Vic

Cool tune Vic. Excellent vocal and lyric. Really like the instrumentation selection. Well done

Cool lyric!! And your music is exactly what they needed to make them shine......cool rhythmic thing you got going!! Always like the way you sing......honest, natural!! Take care. Greg

Thanks Scott.
It took a while to get there.

Vic

Greg.
Thank you for the generous comment.

Vic

Love the song/lyrics... the mix could use some attention...

Thanks Bloc-head.
Any suggestions? I spent so long adjusting it that I can't hear it anymore.
Every time I think it's ok somebody says it's not. Maybe I should leave it and come back to it after a few days.

Vic

We didn't hear the earlier versions so can only say that we like this one very much.

Man, those are great lyrics ... creative, "up-to-date" terminology but with a classic vocal and melody.

Nice harmony and dobro also stand out.

Well done!

J&B

Didn't hear the original mix, but this one sounds fine.

Good song, nice melody, and I like your vocal.

Thanks J&B.
Happy you appreciate it.

Vic

Hi there BlueAttitude.
Thanks for the encouraging words.
The original mix had become corrupted in my daw. Don't know how or why so had to rip it apart and start again.

Vic

Hi Vaughan & Arnold,

Good song - I enjoyed it.

I agree with others - the vocals are muffled because two singers all the time. It would be much clearer if just one of you sang the verses and saved the other vocals for the chorus or punch lines only. Plus vocals could be louder.

Look forward to any remix you may do.

Best Regards
Nigel

Hullo, 'vicarn'...

Personallly, I like how your lyrics cleverly contrasted the pursuit of 'happiness' through engagement with man-made things (fast food, social media, lounge life, unending televised entertaiment, etc.) to the eternal search for 'true' love which, though always fraught with the possibility of heartbreak and failure, nonetheless promises such potentially transcendent emotional rewards that nothing man-made can compare to it.

Your constant refrain, "Don't Worry 'Bout Me", is sweetly revealed as the necessary ressurance we habitually offer to other people who we know care about us, and we love them back by asking them not to 'stress out' too much over our personal predicaments.

Your music as much as your singing voice creates a quiet, contemplative listening experience that sends the lyrics straight into our hearts without resistance. If songs were medicine, this one wouldn't require a warning label concerning the recommended usage because it goes down so easy...

Hullo Nigel.
Thanks for the listen.
I must admit I was surprised at your comment for a number of reasons.
Did you listen to the latest one I put on Soundcloud the day before yesterday or was it an earlier version?
I thought at first it was my old ears filtering out the high frequencies but I found some artefacts (a bleed from the other tracks) in the first mix which took me a while to sort out.

There is no "chorus" but there are two bridges between the verses. Not standard format but I can't see why having two voices in a chorus would make them clearer.
Also The two voices aren't there continuously. They are on alternate lines in the verses (The "punch lines") as you say.

Once again I appreciate you taking the time to give input.

Vic

Thank you bluage for your thoughtful comments.
Very nice to hear.

Vic

Swings right along.

Vocals clear enough?
Some parts are masked by the rhythm section.

moto

Nice jumpy rhythm works well with the namedropping, the approach reminds me of "We Didn't Start The Fire". Catchy title sticks in the head. I wouldn't worry about the mix, it's ok for me.

Janne

Thanks for your ears Moto.

Vic

Thanks for the comments Janne.

Vic