Sometime in '08-'09 I wrote the groove for this song on acoustic guitar and the lyrics quickly followed. At that time I was into writing a different groove each time I picked up the guitar. (I wrote "November In California" in this manor at that time.) Lyrics were pouring out as fast as I could document them.

Fast forward to September 2012. I sat down with my new toy "band-n-a-box" to record several songs. I stopped recording in October an put them on a CD I called "Home Recordings II". All of the songs I have been posting except for "The Last Refrain" are from that CD. Since giving away 400 copies of that CD I have gone back and re-mixed these songs over and over, of course I love doing it. And so here one year later for what I hope will be my final mix:

http://soundcloud.com/lawrence-olivier/pay-attention (@Gibson LOL!)


Pay Attention

Look out for the wolf-boys/ Watch out for their eyes
Never let your guard down/ They’re faster than you realize
Watch out for the party-girls/ Pay attention to their milky thighs
A smile is good, a smile is bad/ It’s the devil favorite disguise

[chorus:]
But you can’t loose your concentration
You’ve got to keep your armor tight
It’s just another obfuscation
You’re bottled up, but I know there’s more inside

You can call me crazy/ But that don’t make you right
You can call me lazy/ But only in the middle of the night
And I might not get mad at you/ And then again I might
Keep pushing your bad attitude/ Don’t know why your so uptight

[chorus]

You’ve got to let your mind flow
When you look into the void
If you think your losing control
Let it go, let it go, let it go

And after all the staging/ The cameras and the lights
The constant rearranging/ till you think you’ve got it right
It’s time to step up to the plate/ and give it your best shot
There's no time to hesitate/ you’re on ready or not




real tracks: a "fill" electric guitar, bass, drums, organ, lead guitar, sax
my acoustic Tak, and my electric Strat reissue

There is no link to the song! Ironic in a way LOL

Alyn

Hi Lawrence,

That's an amazing sound you've got mixed here; really outstanding. At the risk of quoting floyd quoting me all I can say about this song is that from the top to tail - writing, arranging, performing, mixing - absolutely everything resonates with musical competence par excellence.

Awesome!

Regards,
Noel

Well it was worth the wait!!
I enjoyed that, the ending was a nice touch

Alyn

Loved the CSNY groove and cool changes.
Very enjoyable!


John

Lawrence, Great job. I really like the vocal. Everything works in this, the guitar, the sax, the turnaround, the nice ending. Mix is good. Thanks for posting. Tom

Nice tune... reminded me of Neil Young Down by the river as it started.

Nice chord changes in there... at the end of the chorus.

Nice clean mix,well thought out. I enjoyed it with no improvements that come to mind. I had to look up "obfuscation" though. LOL

Rick

Hi Lawrence,

I just join the above said.
Good song throughout.
Looked up "obfuscation", too.

Guenter

Gruvie,

your lyrics always remind me of something Don Henley might have written. You both make obscure references that I have to assume make sense at some level (what's a "wolf boy?") ... and the references that do make sense have an underlying suggestion that you've been there, done that, and now you're bored with it all.

I don't know where you get your lyrical ideas, but in my opinion they are consistently interesting and unique.

Gibson, I'm glad it was worth the wait.


Noel96, If the mix is good well it only took a year lol.


Skyline, I'm a big fan of CSNY.


Tommyad, thanks for listing.


Guitarhacker, Wow! I just took a listen to a live version of "Down by the river" on youtube, an uncanny resemblance. I didn't add the phasey-overdrive until I sat down to record and was playing around with "guitar rig". I liked that particular preset and kept it.


ricky2005, thanks for listening


Boehm, glad you liked it


Pat, a wolf-boy is someone who is always looking for an opening to exploit or take advantage of. I suppose lol.

Hi, Lawrence !

This was a very good production
all through as has been said !:))
I liked everything about it !:))


Cheers
Dani

It's all been said, just add me to the people who like the tune in every respect but especially like the changes, rhythm and style.

Later,

I’m late to the party but I’m glad I came.

Everything about this is spot on!

Great job!

Lawrence,

This is a whole bunch of cool all rolled up into one.

I agree with most of what has been said. The arrangement is top-notch - "top to tail" as Noel would say The production is interesting every step of the way. Your guitar work - works! The organ sounds really good. The sax lead is terrific. The added guitars keep it going...

Your vocals are great! There is a surprising amount of talent in this forum (especially considering how few people post songs, really) and your vocals just blows the roof off the whole thing.

The songwriting is tremendous, as well. You have a great knack for letting your influences show but not get in the way. This one has a bunch of Henley mixed with some Boz Skaggs polished off with that gruverider blender. Great groove. Really interesting lyric. Melody galore! Love it!

However...

You are WAY too talented for rubber-stamp atta-boys - and I thought there was "something missing" - a little thing, difficult to define, and I probably won't say it right, but I'll try... and, again, I think this is all top-notch...

What is lacking (IMO, of course) is a "sheen".. a "brightness"... an "alive-ness" (I know that's not a word). A "pop". This thing is SO good, it should come out of the smallest, cheapest speakers and just knock you over! Make you want to crank it and dance! (tho' you do NOT want to see me dance!)

I listened to this MANY times trying to put my finger on what it is - or what might change it... I can't say I know. I'm sure it's something subtle... maybe a touch of high EQ on the guitars?.. more "snap" to the snare?...perhaps some more reverb on the vocal?... or a touch of reverb on the whole final mix.. I don't know, really...

(the song begs for some Boz background singers - but that's not easy to achieve - and beside the point).

Hope you are okay with some "just my opinion" that goes against the crowd...

You deserve all that glowing praise - I join in on that!

Enough of my babbling... I LOVE your work! I am a huge fan!

floyd

dani48, thank you for listening and taking time to comment


Danny C., thank you for listening


MarioD, thank you glad you liked it


Floyd, I do think I know what you mean. I worked on it a long time because I was never satisfied with it. In my last mix I removed almost all of the reverb searching for something. When I play it live it's just me and my Takamine and it is engaging. My best guess is perhaps the tempo. If I didn't have to re-record the whole thing I would try raising the tempo. But I've got 12 new songs that I want to record so it's time for me to move on.

I so appreciate your comments and everyone who takes time to listen and comment.

Hi Lawrence.

This one nearly slipped past me, but I'm glad I caught it.

I agree with everyone else that this is one super song and a very professional package. However, I also have to agree with Floyd that it needs a bit of "Magic Dust" sprinkling on it.

Like Floyd, it's difficult to know what it is, but I agree that the drums are very dry and a bigger snare with a touch of reverb might help. Similarly, the vocal could maybe stand a bright reverb to give it a lift.

The only other thing is that when listening on headphones, the organ appears to be heavily panned right and I would have preferred a swirling stereo Leslie effect. I think this could really set the backing alight.

Having said all this, it's still a brilliant track, which I really enjoyed listening to several times. Thanks for posting.

ROG.

ROG, thank you for the input. I do have some hearing loss in my right ear and that may be the reason for the panning of the organ. I have struggled to give this recording a little more punch but have not been able to find the "key".

Thank you for listening and giving me your feedback. If you have any spcific ideas I welcome them.

Excellent song. Really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing it

HI Lawrence,

I've been out for a couple weeks, and almost missed this one. Glad I didn't! Very nice write, performance and production. It'a all been said, and I agree!

(Personally, I think we should eschew obfuscation.)

Steve