Hello everyone,

Our new song:

Remember the days video

soundcloud.com/r-am-music/remember-the-days]Remember the days soundcloud (link no longer valid)

I consider Remember the Days our best song so far. Both lyrically and musically. But ultimately we leave that for you to decide .
The first arrangement (as far as we know) featuring two user tracks as the basis of the arrangement: Rodneys beautiful Sleepy Vibrato user track and Hezy's Unchained Melody fingerpicking user track (which is played very constantly and tight) ,and the additional (always functional) bellpad real track.
Initially I created this one with the melodist (which also came up with this title) I immediately liked the chord progression, but it sounded too much like MIDI.
A couple of weeks later I downloaded all the user tracks of the user track contest. Definitely some very interesting ones there.
These two added something extra to the chord progression, which was kind of familiar to me, because these were the kind of guitar chords I used when I first started playing guitar and started writing (simple) songs.
The singing melody was created pretty soon. I tried to avoid the 'standard' singing notes in this very familiar chord scheme.
Then came the next challenge........... proper lyrics. I thought they would come easily. Well, they didn't.
I sat down one evening trying to write lyrics. Nothing came up. After two hours, still nothing...
I forced myself to keep going, I wanted to finish this song this very evening! No matter what (the kind of mood I was in....).
Then another hour later the first words started to come into mind. Not really convincing yet, but it was a start.
It took me another four hours (word for word) to get them right (I didn't get much sleep that night).
Anne-Marie, being an alt(o), did a very nice job with the backing vocal, which is pretty high-pitched.

We hope you like it, and as always: any comments are welcome.

Regards,
Rob

Lyrics:

promised myself I would never look back
cherish the memory and leave it at that
but lost in today it's coming back to me now
what could have been, what might have shown

you were older than me, so much brighter than me
as you stood on the porch that your daddy made
looking for love, looking for life in this town

are you still there, wondering too
embracing life, living it all for love
in a lonely place, in a sleepy town
dreaming away like me
as you fill up his days, doing his nights
keep him in line, loving his ways
keeping the peace, being his wife

at some point you wish that someday you tried
to lower the shields and let her love in
count back the days when love was in reach
I failed to give in, I failed to try
I'm older now, should be wiser now
I look for the love from back in the days

are you still there haunting me
are you far away in happiness
or are you one step away from me
looking down upon me
as you rush through the days
fly in the night, with golden boys
golden lives, golden loves, golden lies

The two guitar Usertracks definately work well together in this song. Both of you make singing sound effortless. I'm glad you kept working until some lyrics came to you. They match the feel of the song.

Unlike the majority of your songs, this one did not touch me immediately. I don't know why though. Now, I can't get it out of my head.

Rob,
Beautiful. You have a wonderful voice.
I have to find time to puruse the User Tracks. Nice work.

SD

Rob and Anne-Marie ...

As always a very pretty song and wonderful performance! Anne-Marie's high alto voice is such a perfect fit! Wonderful song!

Alan & Di

Outstanding song, and beautifully arranged and the vocals are great thanks for sharing!

A lovely song, with your signature imaginative chord changes into the choruses, a brilliant move. And beautiful vocals as usual. Thanks for bringing this along!

John

Hi Jim,

Thanks again for your nice comment. Mmmhh...the song has to grow a little on you then, ha ha.
The singing in our songs may sound effortless, but in fact it's pretty rare that the first vocal takes are good enough.
We usually sing the song a couple of times on several tracks, and then choose which parts are best. Usually that takes quite a lot of editing.
Luckily we don't have to record on tape anymore. Some 20 years ago when I recorded on a four track cassette recorder, the tape was worn out on a regular basis, and I had to start from scratch again

Regards,
Rob

Great arrangement and production as usual. Stellar vocals too. I read the posted comments first and then read the lyrics before I listened to the song. To me, you also did a really good job with your story line and everything fell into place nicely. You have a lot to be proud of.

You and Anne-Marie have a good thing going and I look forward to hearing what you come up with next.

Charlie

Awesome song loved it. Excellent voice...

Really beautifully done!! Nice song all the way around, and great vocals. To me the strummed electric with the tremolo may be a bit loud. It seems that the rhythm swims a little bit at that point. Just a thought. Great work, and a great song!! Take care. Greg

I agree, this is your best to date.

You have chosen the perfect backing tracks for this song. That finger picking and vibrato guitar are perfect together and your vocals and lyrics took it over the top for me.

You should be very proud of this one!

Hi Rob and Anne-Marie !

Yes, this must be your best
so far !:)) I enjoyed it very
much especially your lovely duetting !:))

Cheers
Dani

Rob and Anne Marie,

You never fail to impress me with each new song!
I too find that BIAB can come up with interesting chord changes when one writes a song/ get a chord sequence, using the melodist.

Good use of the user tracks, I too have tried using Rodney's vibrato guitar but so far it hasn't fitted my song idea BUT this shows, in the right song, that it can sound perfect!!

Nice singing and harmonies.

Enjoyed

Alyn

Hi Rob and Anne Marie,

really perfect backing tracks for this song. Your vocals and lyrics are outstanding.
Enjoyable listen.

Guenter

Hello SD,

Thanks you for your positive response!
Yes, some usertracks are a valuable addition to real tracks.

Regards,
Rob and Anne-Marie

Hi Charlie,

Thank you for your supporting comments!
And since you're looking forward to our next song... it will be something completely different, as it is one of my songs

Regards,
Anne-Marie

Thanks Scott,

Appreciated!

Regards,
Rob and Anne-Marie

Hi Alan and Di,

Thank you for your supporting comments.
Rob had to pinch me every now and then to reach those high notes

Regards,
Anne-Marie

Thanks Robert!
I noticed you're already at song #40 in the contest!
Great work.
Regards,
Anne-Marie

Thank you John,

Much appreciated.
We're also looking forward to your next song (and video!).

Regards,
Rob and Anne-Marie