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Some of the most important people in my life celebrate a birthday in January. That got me thinking about writing a song...




I hope you enjoy what I've put together. Please feel free to comment on any aspect. All thoughts welcome.

Regards,
Noel


LYRICS
Just A Little After Midnight
© 2015 Noel Adams. Words and music, all rights reserved.

Just a little after midnight
Earth was several summers younger
That's the instant when it all began
It was your time to arrive
Glad to be alive

Just a little after midnight
Street lights flickered through the window
It's a moment that heaven won't forget
You awakened like the dawn
That night when you were born

Around the room, faces were smiling
Glistening eyes were everywhere
In those early hours that miracle morning
You were the answer to a prayer

Just a little after midnight
When all the town was quietly sleeping
Like a beacon, you shone a light of hope
And you still shine today
The star of life's cabaret

Happy birthday
Welcome to a whole new year
Time continues to march along
Let's celebrate being here

Happy birthday
May all of your dreams come true
Close your eyes, make a wish
Happy birthday to you

May every dream come true
Happy birthday to you


BIAB
The entire musical backing for this song was created in BIAB/RB and the tracks mixed in Reaper. My band was made up of the following instruments...

518: Bass, Electric, Pop HalfNotes Ev 085
508: Guitar, Electric, Rhythm Dire Ev 085
542: Guitar, Electric, Rhythm Dreamy Ev 085
362: Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Ev 085
689: Organ, B3, Background Pop Ev 085
2200: Guitar, Nylon, Background CountryBrent Ev 085
2336: Viola, Background, Pop Ev 085

RealDrums: NashvilleEven8^5-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride


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Beatles over tones on this one.
The vocal even reminded me of Richard Starky.

Good work.
Rob

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"Happy birthday
Welcome to a whole new year
Time continues to march along
Let's celebrate being here"

Amen, let's celebrate the moment
and not worry about yesterday or
tomorrow. Interesting about Jan and
b'days. Back before I retired
our office used to celebrate the Jan
babies on one day because, including
me, there were so many.

Everything sits so well with this
mix...your fine vocal and all the RT's
were so nicely laid out on the soundstage
via my monitors. We always look forward
to one of your productions and this
one did not disappoint. So well done
and so upbeat. Thank you.

J&B


Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more.
If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks!
A few of our videos are here on our website: https://www.janiceandbud.com/our-music.html
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"time continues to march along, let's celebrate being here" What a great sentiment for every day. Pretty arrangement too.

Josie

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Hi, Noel.

What a sweet song. Really nice work, especially how you brought various instruments (organ, guitar, cello) in at various points to create variety.

I certainly wasn't expecting the word cabaret to appear. smile

I also like the way you threaded in "Happy Birthday" without referencing the melody to allegedly copyright version of the song.

Since I seem to be in extra nit-picky mode, so I can't help but mention:

Happy birthday especially to you

As opposed to a happy birthday to someone else? wink


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Nice sentiment in the lyrics. Enjoyed my listen. Good song.


Charlie


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Noel96 Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: Rob4580
Beatles over tones on this one.
The vocal even reminded me of Richard Starky.

Good work.
Rob

Hi Rob,

Thank you for passing through the thread. I appreciate it. I also appreciate the smile you've given me with those comparisons! If only they were true! LOL.

All the best,
Noel


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Originally Posted By: Janice & Bud
"Happy birthday
Welcome to a whole new year
Time continues to march along
Let's celebrate being here"

Amen, let's celebrate the moment
and not worry about yesterday or
tomorrow. Interesting about Jan and
b'days. Back before I retired
our office used to celebrate the Jan
babies on one day because, including
me, there were so many.

Everything sits so well with this
mix...your fine vocal and all the RT's
were so nicely laid out on the soundstage
via my monitors. We always look forward
to one of your productions and this
one did not disappoint. So well done
and so upbeat. Thank you.

J&B

Hi J&B,

Happy belated birthday Bud!

I don't know why I know so many people whose birthday is in January. I suppose, theoretically every 12th person I know (on average) has to be born in January. Maybe I'm just overly observant regarding that month!

Thanks for dropping in and having a listen. And I agree. 'Today' is all any of us has to work with. There's no absolute knowing what's around tomorrow's corner.

I notice that there are a few songs of yours that I haven't yet commented on. I apologise for being so slow. I will get there. That's a promise smile

All the best to you both,
Noel


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Originally Posted By: Sundance
"time continues to march along, let's celebrate being here" What a great sentiment for every day. Pretty arrangement too.

Josie

Hey Josie,

It's always great to see the name 'Sundance' appear in a thread (not just my thread, by the way). Thank you for taking time to have a listen and to comment. I'm grateful.

All the best,
Noel


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Originally Posted By: dcuny
Hi, Noel.

What a sweet song. Really nice work, especially how you brought various instruments (organ, guitar, cello) in at various points to create variety.

I certainly wasn't expecting the word cabaret to appear. smile

I also like the way you threaded in "Happy Birthday" without referencing the melody to allegedly copyright version of the song.

Since I seem to be in extra nit-picky mode, so I can't help but mention:

Happy birthday especially to you

As opposed to a happy birthday to someone else? wink

Hi David,

Thanks for dropping in. That's an interesting article on the copyright of "Happy Birthday". I never knew that so much controversy surrounded the song!

Also, thank you for drawing my attention to "especially". I'm glad you picked that up. You are absolutely correct. In it's most common use, "especially" doesn't really make sense. It's time to overdub.

Regards,
Noel


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Originally Posted By: c_fogle
Nice sentiment in the lyrics. Enjoyed my listen. Good song.


Charlie

Hi Charlie,

Thank you. I appreciate the support and the positive feedback.

May good things come your way,
Noel


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Hi Noel,

very sweet song. An absolute alternative to the usual Happy Birthday song. Good vocals and a nice arrangement.
Enjoyable listen.

Guenter

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Hi Noel,

this got such a very nice groove!
very well done!

Regards,
Rob


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Hi Noel,

A very enjoyable and uplifting listen, thanks for sharing.
I loved the "ringing" of the guitars throughout the song.

The lyrics were great too ... "And you still shine today, The star of life's cabaret".
Great imagery. I am finding that you regulars on here are all very good lyricists.

Great job!

Rec


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Noel,

Everything about this struck me as "genteel". You can feel the love in it...

"Earth was several summers younger" - such a nice line...

"Around the room, faces were smiling
Glistening eyes were everywhere
In those early hours that miracle morning
You were the answer to a prayer"

... this really captures a birth day (family) feeling perfectly.

Your band also carries the "genteel" banner. The strum guitar works perfectly for this - the simplicity of the band, too... The organ is well used...

I listened a number of times... your vocal is so very sincere (and genteel).

floyd

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Noel, it's all been said.

Your lyrics and vocals are spot on and your instrumentation is not only perfect but also mixed perfectly.

Great job on this one.


Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.

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Originally Posted By: boehm
Hi Noel,

very sweet song. An absolute alternative to the usual Happy Birthday song. Good vocals and a nice arrangement.
Enjoyable listen.

Guenter

Good morning, Guenter (at least it's morning here in Australia).

I hope all is sailing along well for you. Thank you for your uplifting comments. I'm sitting here smiling at the moment. I appreciate that smile

All the best,
Noel


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Originally Posted By: R & AM
Hi Noel,

this has got such a very nice groove!
very well done!

Regards,
Rob

Hey Rob,

Thank you for listening! I'm grateful for your comments. What I now need to do is to learn how to produce my songs so they sound as professional as yours! Maybe one day ...

All the best,
Noel


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Originally Posted By: receder
Hi Noel,

A very enjoyable and uplifting listen, thanks for sharing.
I loved the "ringing" of the guitars throughout the song.

The lyrics were great too ... "And you still shine today, The star of life's cabaret".
Great imagery. I am finding that you regulars on here are all very good lyricists.

Great job!

Rec

Hi Rec,

It's really great that you've jumped into the PG Music forums. I'm thankful that you found time to have a listen to my song. I appreciate the positive feedback.

As for my lyrics, I'm only a novice. What ability I might have (luck or otherwise) is largely due to Pat Pattison (a professor at Berklee College in Boston) and to working my way methodically through floyd jane's lyrics when he posts his songs. Pat is a worldwide authority on lyric writing. If you're interested, he has a free 6-week course at...

http://www.Coursera.org

Simply type Pat Pattison in the 'search' box and you'll find it. I notice that the next course starts on February 2. You'll find his approach very eye-opening and, as I said, it's completely free.



Once again, thank you!

All the best,
Noel


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Originally Posted By: floyd jane
Noel,

Everything about this struck me as "genteel". You can feel the love in it...

"Earth was several summers younger" - such a nice line...

"Around the room, faces were smiling
Glistening eyes were everywhere
In those early hours that miracle morning
You were the answer to a prayer"

... this really captures a birth day (family) feeling perfectly.

Your band also carries the "genteel" banner. The strum guitar works perfectly for this - the simplicity of the band, too... The organ is well used...

I listened a number of times... your vocal is so very sincere (and genteel).

floyd

Hi floyd,

Once again, thank you for taking time to listen and to pass on your thoughts. I appreciate your uplifting comments. This is my first newly written song in almost a year and it feels good to jump back on my hobby horse.

I also tried a different structural approach with this one. The first section ("Just A Little After Midnight") is AABA and the second section ("Happy Birthday") consists of two verses (which I guess makes it AAA form). It was an approach I stumbled across recently and I thought I'd try it out. Essentially, the first section provides the background information that sets up the second section. As a single form, it would be written as AABACC. It's quite an interesting structure. I'll have to play around with it some more. It's got potential!

Thank you for dropping by.

All the best,
Noel


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