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At college, in the early '70's the boys and I wasted most weekend afternoons in summer walking down Oxford Street or Kings Road, London, trying to be cool and connect with chicks *peace and love sign". One had remarkable, and impressive success, of a second date. Then nearly 40 years later I saw the old toerag being interviewed on TV for some reason, which reminded me of those days. Then soon after I was watching a medical documentary TV program when the professor, mentioned in the song, said what he said and this developed from there, poem first.

rockstar_not, Scott, gave the heads up for the free VSTi PLEX2. and this appeared. Thanks Scott!

1953

there's nothing so sweet as when you're walking down a city street and you see that girl walk by,
the girl that somehow someway caught your eye
the smell of her perfume fills your mind and takes over every living thought in that day
and you don't know why.
well a professor on the TV said that there are smell receptors in the front of our brain that govern our actions when we fall in love
err?
ha! so its got nothing to do with her big brown eyes and that to you she is the prettiest, prettiest girl you've ever seen
*sigh*

tonight i'll sit alone and wait for you
tonight we both should go to sleep, to dream
our minds as one should make some sense of it all, maybe
and then we could change who's happening in our lives.

you got that look baby looking at your face, you got something that I want it, it's a funky little boat race
time's bin kind to you, more than I can say for me but that's another story cos I'm talking about you
you take my breath away in more ways than one ooh and if you talked to me well I'd have a number too many people running out my life in this day and age and its making me so mad
something gotta go right
cos something's happened tonight
I can't be alone in thinking that this at last may be right
maybe I'm outa my mind but we should be together, always be together insane in our natural serotonin dreams.

so next day you are there at the same time, gotta be the same place, and you hope that she will turn up and look for you just as you are looking for her
if it was in black and white it would be like an old movie in your mind and you are Burt Lancaster she is Deborah Kerr in "From here to eternity"
on THAT beach in 1953

no matter what you are thinking its a marvelous thing
when its tripping away out of control
and running on steam, just running on empty running on the smells in the air that you can breathe and she can breathe
just the two of you
ahh there she is
"Hi"
"My name is Al"


****** Song Summary *************
Style MIDI Instruments are : Acoustic Guitar (26), Strings (49),
RealTracks in song: ~713:Bass, Acoustic, Bossa Ev 085 (B:energetic)
RealTracks in song: 921:Bass, Acoustic, Bossa Ev 110
RealTracks in song: 1175:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm PopCalypso Ev 100
RealTracks in song: 1903:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm Bolero Ev 090
RealTracks in song: 2334:String Quartet, Rhythm PopChamber Ev 085
RealDrums in Song: NashPopBallad^01-a:SideStick, Partially Closed HiHat , b:Snare, Partially Closed HiHat
*******************

I used the BIAB Chord track and the arpeggiator in Cubase for the synths. Using PLEX2, EMU Proteus and FM7.
A bit of me on keyboard and guitar
and a bongo loop from ACID.

enjoy

Alyn

Hi Alyn (semi-detached, suburban?)
Loved it.
Very Richard Burton vocal tone to the prose - perfect delivery.
And a neat little hooky chorus.
Twas just the same in the 60's - the present Mrs Sixchannel was just a Saturday Dance "pick up" some 48 years ago.
Well done
Ian

WOW, Alyn! This one totally blew me away! There is so much that I like about it!

First of all, I'm curious to know if you listen to any K-POP (Korean pop music) because this song is a perfect match for that genre (except your lyrics are in English). Todays Korean TV shows are full of songs very much like this, with orchestral backings but spoken rap-like lyrics. (CLICK FOR AN EXAMPLE) I really LIKE that presentation style.

Anyway, I thought your setup to the song was very interesting... until I heard the song I didn't quite get the full impact of what you were saying, but afterwards I thought I would have missed a lot about the song if you hadn't set it up first.

Regarding your delivery: Man, I thought it was absolutely AWESOME the way you drew me in with the short banter-like notes, including the sighs and almost subliminal comments.

In songs like this (with spoken lyrics) the cadence of the words becomes very important... that makes word selection critical because you can't have a two syllable word where you have one syllable of cadence remaining. In my opinion, your lyrics worked VERY well cadence-wise. And they worked equally well in terms of saying what you had to say. Its not easy to pull off both goals at the same time, but you did.

I have more to say, but my memory is short, so I'll have to save this reply, and go back to listen some more before I edit the reply with new thoughts.... but GOOD JOB! This one really got my attention, and I like it a lot!



here is a better example of a K-pop CLICK ME
The point I'm trying to make is the interesting combination of rapped lyrics and a highly orchestrated backing track... which is exactly what you did in this song

Alyn. I think this is a brilliant write and production! My favorite of yours so far. You've done a really good job in blending the music, narrative and singing. Love the choice of instruments. I think the Richard Burton comparison is a nice fit for this song because I can easily imagine him performing this very tune. Very, very much enjoyed.

Charlie

Ian,

Semi- detached and suburban...definitely. a Brilliant song by the Manfreds.

Thanks for the Richard Burton mention, amazingly he was born 3 miles from where I live now. He had a wonderful speaking voice, and singing!! cos I strolled in my local pub round about that time in the 70's and there he was in full swing, beers a flowing and in the corner was Elizabeth Taylor in a similar state apparently. I was then thrown out LOL

Thanks for listening
SO glad you like it

Alyn
ps "Broadsword calling Danny boy"

Alyn, I love this. The narrative sits perfectly in the rhythm . Really creative putting a Rap on top of those Bossa real tracks. Very cool. One of my recent favorites. Great Stuff! Tom

Pat,

I haven't listened to K-POP, but am as I type this bit!! wow he speaks fast.I shall listen to more later.

I had to setup the song as otherwise it makes no sense to anyone but me.
I did not change the initial words a lot as they just flowed, I threw a lot out but when the rhythm of the VSTi (PLEX2) appeared via the chord track it suddenly all gelled together. And the last verse suddenly appeared to end the song.

Thanks for listening. Your comments to songs are ALWAYS worth a good read as you show something special in your remarks.
Your knowledge and intelligence shines through

Alyn

Charlie,

As I said to Ian (sixchannel) I come from the same part of Wales as he did and am humbled by the comparison, I enjoyed his films and narrative (War of the Worlds") immensely.

So glad you enjoyed

Alyn

Hi Tom,

It took a while to find the bossa rhythm as it started with a 6 string strum RT and that overpowered the words.
The thing, I think, that helped the flow was the rhythm of the VSTi Plex2, it seemed to give my voice wings LOL

Thanks for listening

Alyn

Very creative and interesting, as is always the case with you Alyn!! There's an element of rap but softer and more poetic, and more vulnerable. There's a vibe created where the listener is sharing in the character's fantasy, almost as would occur with watching a film. There's a stream of consciousness element that's quite hypnotizing. A very enjoyable listen. Your creativity is boundless!! Take care. Greg

Wow I never thought of that and in my last post, Damn me, I even wrote "I paint a picture with words in my mind again"

I have always wanted to rap ever since I heard Rapper's Delight by The Sugar Hill gang in 1979. But there was always a consonant in front making it more descriptive.

I keep re-reading your post and go "me???"

Thank you so much listening and more so for your wonderful post.

So glad you dropped in !!

Alyn

Alyn,

Spectacular!

Awesome!

Creative!

Ear worm. Captivating. Visual. Olfactory. Thoughtful. Thought-provoking.

Deligthful.

I am a fan.

floyd

Hi Alyn,

very nice. Great arrangement.
I like your rapping style.
Very enjoyable listen.

Guenter

Greg nailed it. Very creative, and the variations in your delivery of the story, the timing, the singing, the reading, really make this interesting. The musical tracks complement very well, a superb production all around:)

I really enjoyed this. The totally unrelated thought it brought to the foreground...we are all on the same path but at different times.

And...Bill Gates' greatest claim to fame in college was his uncanny ability to jump out of a big galvanized trashcan without touching the sides nor knocking it over. More news you can't use.

floyd,

Thank you. A man of few words and each one a delight to read!

Thank you so much, I am humbled by your praise.

Alyn

Guenter,

Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed the rap!

Alyn

Scott,

Thanks for listening and your nice comments. I am glad you enjoyed my old man rap and my memories of some good times.

I look forward to your next song.

Alyn

Don


How true!

What a wonderful forum this is as most of us would never have met, not because of the distances but because our music is so varied. What a great programme BIAB is!!!

Thanks for commenting!!!

ALl the best for your album!

Alyn

Sheesh, man, is this forum ever on a creative streak!

The spoken word in music has never particularly captivated
us but, wow, you nailed it. The timbre of your voice,
the accent, the "island backing," all work together
wonderfully to capture the mood.

PG Music oughta be tremendously pleased with
efforts like this -- ones that so well showcase the
power of their products.

Congrats!!

J&B