I made this song back in 2016, but decided to remix it recently. I liked the melody.
The remix included parts of the band and a bit of the lyrics. I think the solo stayed the same and the style.
The lyrics needed some change because I noticed my English was worse than it is now.
It was my plan to post this last week, but because of a cold I couldn't get the vocals well. That's why I posted another song (After All, v2).
And I liked to post it now because it's a bit actual.

The song is about questions we all had/have in our lifetime, although with another personal touch, I think.
I began to question the meaning of life religiously, politically, socially and personally. I'll end by saying it were just questions.
In a way it's a sad song, but covered up as an alternative rock song.
As you would have guessed the song is called Questions https://soundcloud.com/user-296497130/questions-remix

The lyrics are on SoundCloud, the technical aspects below:

The style is CAMPING.STY, 110 bpm.

RealTracks in song: 4028:Bass, Electric, ModernCountry8ths Ev 120
RealTracks in song: ~405:Guitar, Acoustic
RealTracks in song: 3171:Guitar, Acoustic
RealTracks in song: ~618:Fiddle,
RealTracks in song: 1265:Synth Pad,
RealTracks in song: ~2201:Guitar, Nylon
RealDrums [in Song:ChaChaPerc^04-a:Congas, b:Sticks

But beside these instruments I used a lot of other instruments with my keyboard and in my DAW (loops).
I hope you like it,
Hans

I like it a lot... Very nice arrangement, the background vocals are very interesting, they're from your keyboard?

Hi Bloc-head,

Thanks for your comment.
The bg was more or less experimental, to get something els than what we / I always do.
I used some (parts of) loops and sounds from Native Instruments.

As far as I can see you were the only one responding to the song. That's a new experience for me and I can tell you, not a pleasant one!

But thanks a lot,
Hans

This is strong stuff! That is one powerful opening, and it opens wide into an awesome interrogative litany.

The contrast between the first big social questions and the later close personal ones is interesting, it has me thinking how someone might actually make that jump in what they're wondering about. I do find the change a bit disorienting, though, it seems to kind of discard the first set, rather than follow it somewhere.

PS – There's a small sound at the very beginning that possibly wasn't meant to be there, before the slide enters.

PPS – I'm curious about those background vocals as well. I have to say, I loved it when they entered in back of the question about the imams (though I did pause with a thought about infantilization, but anyway.)

Thanks for this, strong and good stuff.

Hi Birchwood,

It's a well-crafted song that allows us a personal reflection on the meaning of life. It's fun and it's well done.

Best regard
Derochette
alias JaniJackFlash

Easy listening at its best. This reminds my of Harry Nilsson style music, which means it is wonderful. You have very nice voice. Gentle but swings. Great message contained in the lyrics. The band was good too. Good one.

Classic folk music - a mellow sound, but subversive lyrics.

Hey priest, can you tell
Is Earth like Heaven
Or more like Hell?

Nice!

Hi Mark, at first, thanks for your nice, sharp comment. I will start with the PS and PPS:
The ps: I corrected it. Normally I hear those things, now I didn't. So thanks for that.
The pps: The bg appeared to become my greatest challenge in this song. My thoughts: The bg had to be very different from the leadsinger.
I tried an African choir, a children choir, yelling people, a lot vocals on my keyboard and even singing it myself. But then I found the kind of tune I liked most. and where you say infantilization began, it was with that tyrant. But I needed some kind of warning from the bg, like oh oh, oh oh. So the bg had to respond on the lyrics (a bit).

Then the rest: my idea back in 2016 was to muze or raise questions about political or social issues and soon after that the personall ones. I had noticed people often start with mentioning these big issues and finally come to what really matters for them. That's what I copied in the song. And not pretend I have answers. In that sense you weren't right on discarding questions, but only wondering why.

I hope you read this, but thanks again for what you wrote,
Hans

I really like the results of your experiment with the background vocals, Hans. Man, this song has so many good qualities. Your vocal sounds terrific, and the mix is so rewarding to the ears. Those acoustic guitars are so well placed. It's always such a pleasure to listen to your songs, man. There is so much --so many little pieces that are so perfect in the mix.

Hans,

LOVED that opening!! And the BAND (and ALL the parts added) stay REALLY interesting from start to finish.

I like the write. Good questions, for sure. More people should be asking those kinds of questions.

Well sung. Mix sounds good.

One of your best! (there are a lot of good ones)

fj

Yes, great questions that we all should ask

I liked the transition from world to personal, extremely well done

Super vocal backed by an outstanding band

Outstanding lyrics

loved it

PS - the Bible has the answer to your last question.

Thanks for explaining, I know some might think it against the rules of esthetic criticism but I appreciate being able to ask you the artist what you had in mind.

This has me recalling the song "Easy To Be Hard" from the musical "Hair", which does a very different take on the personal and political:

How can people have no feelings?
How can they ignore their friends?
Easy to be hard, easy to be cold
Especially people who care about strangers
Who care about evil and social injustice
Do you only care about the bleeding crowd?
How about a needing friend?
I need a friend

Very cool intro Hans. Super mix. Very clean lots of separation. Another excellent vocal and lyric. Loved the backtrack and chord progressions. Well done.

Interesting and thought provoking lyric.
I'm not convinced targetting Islam for the question about gender bias is entirely fair or reasonable given the soft question the "priest" gets.
The music is cool and the melody is good too.
Vocally this isn't as "halo" laden as your last offering but the processing is apparent as it accentuates the sibilant stuff.
Well done Hans, well done.

Hi Hans
Fantastic song
Brilliantly arranged
Excellent sung
Can be listened to again and again
There is so much to discover in your song
The nylon guitar does a great job
Well done, Hans
many greetings
Andi ;-)

This is chock full of evocative questions written in a clever and understandable manner.

You sang it with conviction...very nice vocal.

The band is excellent. Your choice of BiaB tracks, your keyboard and other loops worked together in a seamless manner. And they are very well mixed.

We are glad you decided to revisit it and, yes, we like the melody also!

Engaging and enjoyable...

J&B

Hi Derochette, Jptjptjpt, David and Marty,

I'm glad you didn't accuse me of 'overkill' with this second song so soon after the other one (After All v2)! Normally I don't post 2 songs in a row, but in this case i thought I had to, as I explained. Thanks for your very nice comments.



Derochette, thanks! The questions were not really personal, although I admit I also had these kind of questions like more people. Only the one about my father came close. But I wanted to outline a thought process that I often saw taking place; people raise all kind of questions, but in the end it's the personal things that matter the most and then boldly say that they don't care. And there I made a joke that also goes back to the first question. Glad you liked it!



Jptjptjpt, thanks for these words! And by referring to Harry Nilsson you came close to my honorific; John L, by J&B ;-)



David, back in 2016 these words were slightly different, but I thought it must be some nasty question to ask a priest. The Imam would have less problems with his question. But I didn't want to hard religious questions, because that would distract from the song/melody. Something like criticism light... Nice you liked the song!



Mart, you always say things so nice and this is no exception. thanks a lot! And you mentioned the background vocals. Well, let me tell you it took me a long time to arrange them like this. At first I had a 'classical' bg; singing them myself and change the pitch a bit. But i found this boring here. And to make a long story short: I cutted a bunch of different vocal loops into this and hoped for the best... Apparently it worked ;-)

And let me finish by wishing you a very nice weekend,
Hans

Hans...really enjoyed the song...loved the track and your vocals were great...interesting song...we all have these questions but few of us could express them as well...a poignant song indeed! Thanks for posting it.

Hi Hans,

Very well written, and excellent vocal.

Track sounds great also. What did you use for the intro if you don't mind my asking?

Good song, one of many actually

Hi Hans,

Very good song.
We like the intro very much.
And as for the subject of the song... don't we all have this kind of questions from time to time?
Zo, nu sta je toch weer bovenaan

Rob and Anne-Marie

Hi Floyd, Mario, Scott and Mark (again;-)),

I was very pleased with your posts! It meant you like to raise questions too...



Hi Floyd, of course many people would have the same kind of questions. They didn't go so deep, but still the answers are not yet given...
Thanks for your huge compliments. I hope you will tell me many more times that the song is one of my best.
I hope I can improve to that level! The intro was -in a way- a coincidence. The song felt a bit dull at first, so I tried several things to bring some tension in it. In this case it was a part of a loop from Apple/Logic pro.



Mario, like i wrote to Floyd, I don't think the questions were so great, but it was nice to raise them and come more and more to the personal ones and then end with something like 'who cares'. Very nice you liked the song and that twist. And I fear even the Bible has no answer for that last question... But who cares as long as we are free to believe what we want, don't you agree?



Scott, what is there to say about the nice post you wrote? Just thank you a lot! As I wrote to Floyd and Mario about the intro, it just happened (after listening to ten million loops...



Mark, the part of the lyrics you send have indeed a very nice twist on the big questions raised before. Like that, but haven't noticed it back in time when the musical Hair played. I remember! I was in London at that time, but in love...

So thanks everyone and have a really nice weekend in spite of the Ukraine crisis,
Hans

Very good questions, and we should ask those from time to time. Very creative use of BIAB and other instruments, they are arranged nicely, the nylon guitar is especially nice. I enjoyed the mood, quite uptempo concerning the seriousness of message, but in the end the "why should I care" explains the carefree aspect.

Janne

Hans,
Loved every bit of that.
Attention grabbing opening, smooth vocals and well written.

You done good!

moto

Hans

A thought provoking excellent song, well sung and produced.

The band choices are very good and I enjoyed the song.

Peter

Hi Hans,

This is excellent listening.

You always manage to create and to produce first class songs.

I love the idea of a song based around Life's big questions.

Really well done.

All the best,
Noel

A really good song.

Yeah that opening is dynamite.

Instrumentation is appealing and well mixed.

Lyrics a well done. Your English is mighty good!

Hi Ray, Andi, Janice and Bud, Firesong and Dave,

It took me a while more to respond then I'd expected. Sorry for that.
I don't think it's a good idea to explain why, only that I did/do think of you, because you gave me such nice reactions on the song. Thanks a lot for that. So here I am!



Hi Ray, we had a little exchange of arguments by email. In short: I fully agree with you, although I thinlks it would be a tough question for a priest what Heaven looks like (and Hell). But I could have raised a question abouth child abuse or Crusador wars, but the thing is, these were relative simple questions serving the goal of this song; we all have questions like is there life after death or aboth a girl- or boyfriend, your father or life itself. as long as it makes you think (and ejoy the song too).
And I'm still figuering out what could cause that 'halo'. I didn't use many fx, don't hear a halo, so that's a challenge for me. You could help with being more precise? RThanks for the comment, Ray



Hello Andi, you always write these very nice comments. They are so nice that i (somethimes) become suspicious; does he really mean that?
But I came to the conclusion that this is what you are; honest and nice. So thanks a lot!



Hi J&B, I miss a connexion to John, but maybe here there isn't one...
What a nice reply on the song. I think I always sing with conviction. I cherish every song I make. Some are less and others better, but I had so much pleasure 'finding' them among all sounds. And I remember what feelings I had when I made them. For example in this song it was that part with my father. When I was singing that part I got the images in my head of him.
Even when I revisited the song. Maybe it's some sort of processing. Don't you have that while working on your songs? All those mean men you sang about, Janice ;-)



Hello Firesong, your post was very nice in every aspect. Thanks for writing this.



Hi Dave, thanks for your nice compliments and also for your questions.
About the tracks; except for the tracks from BiaB I used my keyboard and I used loops from Logic. I went through a lot of them during some days. I didn't really know what I was looking for, try things out, like that. Than I heard that guitar loop. I placed it somewhere in the middle and I thought "hey, that's an interesting sound, but not here". And I placed it at the front and later at the end too.
Then I got the idea for the backgroud singers doing something else then aah, or ooh or the same words as I sang. I like that kind of carving on a song, don't you?

As you have noticed I was really happy with your posts, therefore I wish you a very nice evening, or day,
Hans

Nice intro ... and good vocals and Mix Very nice !!

Nice job, Hans. Great intro. Thoughtful lyrics. Love the acoustic guitar. Backing vocals are interesting.
Regards,
Leon

Hoi Rob en Anne-Marie,

Bedankt voor jullie post.



Fijn dat jullie het lied goed vonden.
Uiteraard hebben wij, in ieder geval in ons land, deze vragen. Een mens moet het niet te moeilijk maken, maar wel gevoelig...
En na mail van Anne-Marie snapte ik laatste zin.

For the others who don't speak Dutch so well: Hi Rob and Anne-Marie, thanks for your post.
I'm glad you liked the song. And of course these questions raised by most of us, especially in our country. We don't have to make things difficult, only sensitive...
(and after a mail from Anne-Marie i understood your last Dutch line)

So, no secrets in language here on this forum ;-)

Nice day,
Hans

Hi Janne, Moto and Peter,

Of course I'm late again answering your posts. I think it was Putins' fault...
Thanks for your nice posts on the song.



Hi Janne, nice comment! and yes, that nylon guitar was in the originall song (2016) too. I like it very much myself. I only saw I made some mistakes in the lyrics and i liked to have some more interestingbackground 'fillers', like that intro guitar, the vocals and the in between sounds. I tried really nasty questions, but then skipped them again. But I didn't meant that 'why should I care' was a carefree line.
I heard so many people say they aren't interested in the past or difficulties. as a defence they than say these lines. In a way it's selfishness and self protection I wanted to underline here.




Hi moto, you gave me a very nice compliment. Thanks for that! I hope I can continue doing so.




Hi Peter, what I wrote to moto counts for you too! I'm happy you enjoyed it!

Have a nice weekend,
Hans

Hi Hans. Sorry I'm late in replying. I have a habit of not reading comments before listening to songs. I like to listen without influence first, then read how others perceived it.

I like this song A LOT. I will be the first to admit, that I wasn't focusing on the lyrics for the sake of the lyrics. I just listened to the song like I would any song on the radio. How does it sound and do I like it? I do and I do! I really like the progression you create to move the song forward and continue to create interest. You used the percussion elements perfectly IMO. Your voice is exactly what this song need and those background vocals made it sound like it came from someone who knows what they are doing. All around, to me, this sounded instantly classic. I just liked the sound and feel that much.

Of course I need to mention the BGVox. Great job on those! I did go back and read the comments about that. I really think those took the song to that sounding pro level. Like anything it took more than the tool. I took a craftsman to know how to use it.

I enjoy writing lyrics, and used to really get into them. The older I got the more I realized that I'm in a group of many people who have favorite songs but if pressed for the lyrics, I would be in trouble. There are songs I like that even have really weak lyrics, or lyrics on subjects I don't agree with. For me, I liked the points you raised because those are YOUR thoughts. I may be wrong, but my guess is you wrote a song about things you think about. I'm not so sure you wrote and posted it to have me or anyone else try to solve the questions for you. I may be wrong on that. I just took it as a song.

I guess that's a long way of saying I like the song and loved how you presented it. Great job in my opinion!

Hans,
Neat soft approach tune for acute subject. Cool opening and creative genre fusion. A+ for the lyrics / Message. Vocals and mix getting pretty professional. Enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Great song Hans. Lovely mix.

A really interesting introduction delivers a path for a quite beautiful song.

The song structure is neat, and interesting.

Nicely done.

Hello Noel96, Ezekiel, Elliott and Leon1,

I enjoyed your comments on Question very much, and it's not a perfunctory thank you, because I really enjoyed what you wrote in your posts. And I can tell my friends and family about them ;-)




Noel, this is what I meant with telling around these comments! Thanks!
Although I believe the personal questions are mostly the more important ones, don't you think so too?



Hi Ezekiel, see? wonderful comment that I tell the folks here about.
And that intro, yes I was very happy to get this sounded so interesting. I make more use of loops,but this one wrked out very well. ThANKS!



Hi Elliott, this is what I meant with my first line. Thanks a lot for your contribute on this song!



Hello Leon, like the others here, you have a nice comment on the song. And the intro turned out to be succesfull, I noticed.
In the lyrics I had a recording were tyrant was replaced by Putin, but XI and Kim, and Assad, and Orban, and loekasjenko and name it, could also be named. Then I thought, they are all nasty little men, so that was the new line...

Thank everyone and have a very nice day,
Hans

Hello Hear to Learn, Misha, David and Audio Track,

It took me some time, but I want to thank you all for your comments on Questions.
You have given me very nice compliments! thanks a lot for that (and listening to the song of course...).
And I think that pathetic little man in the East heard it too and moves to the northpole alone!



Hi Hear to Learn, I think your 'name' is well choosen! You listen, you read and you think. And in that order (when it concerns music at least). I was very pleased with your post. And you are right, in most of my lyrics I work with thoughts I have on a lot of issues, but always with a personal touch. I was warned once not to do that. I ran the risk of exposing myself too much! Well, I don't have that risk I think. The only risk I had/have is making mistakes when writing in English...
I am very happy the song gave you these thoughts. Thanks for sharing them with me!



Hi Misha, I was thinking of you lately, when all these nasty things started in Ukrain. Then heard your -black- beautiful song. I was glad to see you keep being active on the musical front. Hard times... But thanks a lot for your nice comment. A+! That's a "wow" from me!



Hi David, you are always frugal with words, but always to the point. Thanks man!



Hello AudioTrack, I'm glad you alson mention that intro. It will be a challenge to get me an intro in a new song that gets so much attention, I think. You also used the word 'neat', like Misha did. It confused me a bit. Neat means proper, like a neat room or does it mean something else too. i never describe songs as being neat. But i like to learn. Tell me.
Thanks for your so nice compliments!

I hope you all have a nice day,
Hans

Hans,

Great opening—love that nylon guitar selection . . . it adds so much warmth to this. Creative song concept, well written and delivered, that gets the listener thinking. Well done!

All my best to you,

Deej

Hi there Deej,

I thought I answered everyone and could consider the flow of posts as ended.
And then there was you...
Nice to read your post and the compliments. I think it's a worthy ending of it all. Thanks!

Hans