PG Music Home Forums General Discussion User Showcase Do Something About It

A "life's lesson" song.
A bar, friends-in-low-places song.
A 90's Country song.
A "feel good" song.
Hopefully you will be chair dancing by the end.
And ready to...

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT

as long as we've known bobby
he's had a thing for this little redhead
she passes by our table
he turns a dozen shades of red
our waitress picks up on it
she nudges bobby hard
says "you'll never go home a winner
if you won't lay down your cards"
   
   you've got to do something about it
   don't let one more day pass you by
   go to her
   tell her she's the reason why
   your heart keeps racing
   you can't think straight
   time is wasting
   love won't wait
   so do something about it

bobby sees me laughing
he says "you're one to talk
you've been pining over marianne
since the day she walked
when you gonna set things right
when you gonna let her know
she's still deep inside your heart
you can't let her go"
   
   you've got to do something about it...

it's now or never, come what may
don't let that someone special slip away
   
   you've got to do something about it....



The BAND:
RealTracks in song: ~1846:Bass, Electric, CountryBoogieRootFive Sw 140
RealTracks in song: 378:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming DoubleTime Ev 088
RealTracks in song: 633:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm PopAmericanMuted Ev 120 (A:sync)
RealTracks in song: 1524:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm PopPowerPushClean Ev 120
RealTracks in song: 1767:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm Pop16 Ev16 085
RealTracks in song: 1707:Guitar, Electric, Soloist CountryBrent Ev 165
RealTracks in song: 1518:Guitar, Electric, Soloist CountryWorkinBrent Ev16 090
RealTracks in song: 2030:Fiddle, Soloist CountryAndy Ev 165
RealDrums in Song: NashvilleSkip^01-a:SideStick, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride


Hope you enjoy it some.
Comments welcome.
Have at it.

fj

This is my first time EVER being the first respond to your song. I'll treasure it; because I know that it won't happen often. My "edit" was to come back and add this; thinking someone would have responded while I was speaking this...cheat typing.

You nailed it when you said it's a "life lesson" song! So very cool. I love this kind of song.

You're balance between some faster syncopated and held out phrasing is REALLY cool. I love songs that play with phrasing like that. It makes the entire song stay interesting AND full of hooks!

I loved the twist of the second verse. I don't want to give it away for those who read comments before listening though. I will just say I didn't expect it to go that way...at all! Clever.

Lastly, 2:48 on was FANTASTIC! How cool was that?!?! Wow, I don't hear much of that level of intertwining of vocals much anymore; but man am I a sucker for it. Again, I didn't see that coming.

I'm not going to mention much more about vocal, arrangement, delivery, mix. All superb in my book. The harmonies and background vox all the way around were KILLER!


Many more listens coming from me. LOVED THIS ONE!

fj,
it's terrific.
I enjoyed the sonic journey as much as the narrative.

FJ,
Well done! A "feel good" song indeed. Excellent vibe. Seems like you had some fun with this one. Layered vocals worked really well! ... "dozen shades of red" LOL. I would not even brag about the mix, it is a solid A... I have a long way to go

Thank you for sharing!

Misha.

floyd

Firstly loved the vocal fade section absolutely fantastic.

Excellent catchy song, wonderful lyric, superbly produced and performed.

Another stellar production.

Peter

Great job! Had me tapping my feet no end - and cheered me up this gray morning no end! Thanks so much for posting this one!

A feel good song indeed! Just a fun listen all around actually.

Lyrically I like how the song started out being about Bobby but then switched over to being about the person telling the story, and then a life lesson in general, clever!

Great vocal, I especially like what you did at the end.

And of course the mix is top notch!

Good stuff floyd, enjoyed the listen!

Love the song pic too BTW!

A "feel good" song.......that kind of sums it up!! Just an upbeat, clever, fun song with everything done right!!! This would be great in a film......a guy looking out the window of his house or car and sees the girl of his dreams walk by. Love the music, the lyrics, the band, the vocal......the whole deal!!! Great fun tune Floyd!! Take care. Greg

Hi Floyd

Loved the upbeat feel and the layered vocals, also the way you used the lead guitar was effective to back the vocals.

It is indeed a great wee fun song and would be an important addition to put in an album of yours.

Again vocals , mix and production tip top .

That's a cool fun song. Well put together.

Floyd, more genius from you. Perfect in every way.

You are a master at getting that band to deliver exactly what you require from them.

Great lyrics, perfect delivery, another knockout has arrived.

Great!

Great ballad Floyd with a great hook.
Most enjoyable. Thanks for sharing. Rob4580

I'm running out of superlatives for your work. I loved the little switchup in the story. Another voice that I could basically hear sing anything and be entertained. And thanks for all your very helpful comments on my own stuff.

Caaron - HA! A first!

Thanks for noting the balance of fast vs. slow phrasing in the write... an important point I think (if you are the analyzing type).

The switch up in the story line was a no-brainer (I thought).

The ending was just for fun, of course...

Thanks for the great review...

Fan-freaking-tastic. Tight phrasing punching inventive lines setting the scene and telling the story, preaching through the characters in the song. Loved the dual vocals at the end...I reckon that's you and Bobby encouraging each other (and us). Chair dancing achieved. Hugely enjoyed.

Hi Floyd.
I totally agree with Peter's comments. Also loved the hand-claps. Top quality work, as usual.
Regards,
Leon

Floyd,

Yeah, this is a fun, uptempo, uplifting listen . . . well put together and executed as always. Love how you spin the lyrics from it being about Bobby to being about the singer . . . clever writing. Well done. Good luck with this one.

All the best,

Deej

Thanks, ray... a nice short-and-to-the-point review...

Nice work - really catchy and your vocals work perfectly here. I really thought the lyrics stood out too - they tell a story perfectly, and the dual vocals at the end knock it out of the park.

Great job and thanks for sharing

Wow! This is good. Great write.

Love the vocals.
All of them!

Great arrangement, great feel!

My new favorite of yours!

Steve

Great stuff Floyd.
Clever story line, backed up by original lyrics. It's a nice feelgood song, with a top "band" and a party vibe. It almost feels "live". I reckon if you'd put some applause at the end you would have fooled us all.
Cheers,
Mike

Hi Floyd ...

Just have a few minutes, so no long thoughtful review - an initial gut reaction. Loved everything about this. Nice little story with great b/g trax and a super vocal. The phrasing of the chorus vs the verses accent the difference between the two parts - nicely done!

Alan

For 10CC it was The Things We Do For Love. For Floyd, the things you do for fun. This was a really fun song and top level across the board. Enjoyed it from start to finish.

Misha - thanks for that very nice review. (I do not think you have "a long way to go" - you are doing very cool stuff...)

Thanks, Peter. Really appreciate that...

As usual, solidly crafted from start to end. Excellent mix - I especially liked how you dropped the instruments out at the end and built up one last time. Handclaps, call and response, and that slinky guitar.

And your vocals are a joy to listen to - not just the obvious skill in phrasing and emoting, but an energy and enthusiasm that shines through when you sing.

And there's only two verses in this song? You pack a lot into a few words, and then blam! into the verse.

One thing that surprised me was the fade - I expected it to repeat the chorus to the fade, but it faded and ended. I can't really recall any songs doing that!

Not really a complaint, more an observation of a personal quirk: ending the chorus with "something about it" is obviously unbalanced. From a technical side, I appreciate what you did. But my lazy inner listener doesn't like that much lumpiness. I guess it's just a touch too sophisticated for me.

A real pleasure to listen to.

Thanks, James.

Dave - thanks for the fine review. I always look forward to hearing your thoughts on the work...

Loved this song Floyd. That tele was very cool. Awesome country tune. Super vocal and lyric. Cool picture on soundcloud as well..

floyd,

I entirely agree with you.
A "life's lesson" song.
A bar, friends-in-low-places song.
A 90's Country song.
A "feel good" song.

Your vocals and harmonies are shining as usual.
Drums gives this tune a great country feel.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Thanks, Greg!

So well put together! I really like the bridge in this song. And the clap refrain too. It elevates the whole listening experience.


Well done!

Thanks, beatmaster...

Glad you like it, Herb.

"This is radio station WOFJ ('World of Floyd Jane'), and we're back after a short commercial break to drop the needle on the ol' turntable as we set to spinnin' Floyd's latest and greatest, Do Something About It..."

Mr. Jane, I wish I'd heard this song about thirty-five years ago as I was trying to work up the nerve to propose to a real nice lady who ultimately became, 'The One That Got Away' -- no, no, that's a BIG ol' lie! Correction: 'The One That I Stupidly Allowed To Slip From My Grasp Because I Was A Spine-less, Nail-Biting, 'Fraid Of His Own Shadow, Chicken-Hearted Dummy With No Sense Of What Was Good For Me', ha, ha !!!

"A "life's lesson" song.
A bar, friends-in-low-places song.
A 90's Country song.
A "feel good" song.
Hopefully you will be chair dancing by the end.
And ready to..."

You could have recorded that monologue as part of the intro, so folks could'a grabbed their chair ahead of time! I swear, when those handclaps started in, I was ready to turn-up the volume and wake my neighbors up.

A whole mess'a a fun, this song was. Thanks for letting us hear it!

LOREN (a.k.a. 'bluage')

Hi Floyd,

This is a very happy song you made and very well performed!
When reading the comments above I can only agree with them.
And I think it time to do something about it!

Thanks for your inspiration...
Hans

Trev - Thanks for stopping in for a listen - and for the glowing review!!

We are fortunate to have this magical software that allows us to assemble productions with so many incredible options...

Janice has, as she says, "happy feet" every time she listens to this.

We both envisioned a bunch of folks line dancing and singing along at the end of the song.

And "Do something about it" is indeed good advice for many of life situations.

As always a stellar write, vocals and band but what separates this even more
from the pack is the arrangement. And it’s hard to add anything that hasn’t already
been said but there are so many nice little touches that so many of us would never consider.

Oh, and another showcase of the power of a two verse song…well, at least when it’s well crafted.
I've studied your lyrics for years but remain mightily impressed at your ability to pack so much
story into relatively so few words.

Yeah, just do it!

J&B

Thanks, Rob...

TuneMonger - I really appreciate ALL those nice comments. Couldn't ask for more...Thanks!

Thanks for that, Tangmo...

Top notch song here again Floyd, lyrics, vocals, instruments all so welllllll done!!! Love this tune also, tunes tend to be difficult to come up with at times. Cliff

Leon - always pleased to see you drop in. Thanks...

floyd, this is a fun upbeat song. The claps at the end were a nice touch and gave the outro some umph. Brent shines throughout and you know just where to place the fills. I’m sure this is second nature for you because you truly are a master of the genre. I have always liked this tempo with the one/five bass propelling it along. Your production skills are always way up there and your songwriting never disappoints. I’ll bet you wake up in the middle of the night with hook ideas and instead of turning over and going back to sleep you probably start to develop them right then and there. I imagine you to be in songwriting mode all day long. You must be because no mortal human could possibly have your amount of highly crafted well thought out songs and go about their normal daily routine without the antenna constantly up. Your talent is a thing to behold and I am in awe of your skill set. You have made a lifelong fan outta me, Tom

Floyd, I have run out of adjectives to describe how great a song writer, vocalist, and producer you are so all I can say about this is "wow, this is some of the best country that I have heard in a long time".

Deej - thanks for stopping by a listen - and for the nice comments...








Deryk - Thanks...glad you liked it...

Hi floyd,

Yet another very engaging and very enjoyable listen from you. I heard this a while back and the song has been rumbling around in my mind ever since... that's a good thing!

The ensemble, well more the size of an orchestra in fact, that you've created for this production really does deliver the goods. Your always-outstanding singing is backed by a fantastic sound and a sterling arrangement.

As I listened today, I found myself wondering about what to write and then the chorus started...

This is a great chorus and serves as an excellent example of how to use rhymes to accelerate lyrics. Before that though, you show us all how to use lyric movement to set-up the acceleration.

I'll try and explain my thinking...

In the opening line of the chorus, you sustain the word "do" - it's an open vowel sound and sustains well. By holding this syllable, though, you (a) change lyric tempo and tell the listener that the chorus has arrived, and (b) you also decelerate the flow of words.

The second line of the chorus is then delivered in syllables that fit on and between a marching left-right-left-right feel. Then, on "Go to her", the rhythmic movement of the words slows even further so that each syllable sits on one full beat. This leads into a fourth phrase that rhymes with the second phrase and whose pace parallels the second phrase. The net result of all this is that the rhyme movement of rhyming lines 2 and 4 is established and sets the tone. That is, by this stage, we hear a XAXA rhyme scheme and a variable lyric pace based on 3-feet and 4-feet poetic meter.

Then comes the surprise...

In lines 5, 6, 7 and 8, there are shorter phrases (2-feet in poet's terms) and the rhymes become a quick alternating CDCD pattern. The feeling of these shorter phrases and consequent closer rhymes is a sense of 'urgency' that parallels the lyrics so very well. The phrase "excellent prosody" just sprang to mind as I'm quoting the below...


And then, for me at least, the pièce de résistance was the final chorus line that (a) decelerates, (b) doesn't rhyme and (c) is the hook. By this stage, that line has a ton of lyric spotlights shining brightly on it and these all serve to identify it as the most important line in the song.

What wonderful writing!

Thanks for giving me another fine work to ponder, to process and, hopefully, to be able to imitate at some later point in time.

All the best,
Noel

Thanks, Steve... that means a lot...




Thanks, Mike. I appreciate that...




Alan - glad to have you stop by when you can...





Thanks, Charlie!!

You're on a roll, Buddy.

Hi Floyd,

very beautiful composition with a very catchy chorus. It seems you can write whatever lyrics you want: I always think they're great!

Do I really have to say anything about your singing? Okay: Awesome as usual.

Another great work, sounding marvellous.

Take care,

Stefan

David - Thanks for another thoughtful review. The many compliments are appreciated!

The fade is "a bit funky", I know... That was laziness on my part. I did not add enough extra at the end to do a proper fade. If I had cut the ending out and faded what was left it would feel too short, too fast...

It is an interesting point that you bring up about the last line of the chorus. I don't find it lumpy (or unbalanced), but that might be becasue I wrote it and have sung it so many times... but the fact that it was a "bump" to your ear, is certainly valid...

Thanks, again, for listening!!





Thanks, Scott! (the picture is from the video at the end of the "Birth Of A Song" posted at the top of the Showcase...)






Shigeki Adachi - thanks for having a listen. (It is about time for a new one from you!)

First love the picture - great shot - kudos to the photographer.

Fun song! Great flow, big sound, big ending. A sonic treat for the 90's era country lovers soul. Yum.

Thanks, Lawrence....




LOREN - thanks for a delightful review. What the heck....wake up the neighbors!!




Hans - thanks for stopping by for a listen!!...

Appreciate that, cliff...





Tom - ...and I "fan ya" right back. You are no slouch in any of those areas yourself. I will admit, I am in "songwriting mode" much of the time. It's my "happy place". If I am not writing, my life is a little less that it could be. So, for the time being... I'll just keep at it... (and hopefully you will as well!!)

I appreciate that Mario...




Noel - I know I've told you before, but "I truly enjoy reading your reviews" bears repeating...
I talk about the "cadence" of a lyric - and how important that is - often. You have broken that down with a fine description of how that occurs....which, again, demonstartes just how important that is.... so Thank You! for that (and for the very fine review...)





Thanks, Ed...





Stefan - thanks for the nice comments...

Josie - thanks for stopping in for a listen...the picture is a capture from an iPhone video that my wife did - so I'll let her know you liked it

What a fun song. Again, a lesson on all aspects of song writing/producing - lyrics, arrangement, balance, phrasing, instrumentation, vocal, harmonies, mixing, everything. Enjoyed the listen.

Floyd,
You keep cranking out good songs. Bobby reminds me a bit of myself when I was a young man. I really enjoyed listening to this song! Thanks.

A great upbeat country song...
Well thought & well produced...
I really enjoyed listening!