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On The Ferris Wheel on YouTube

And now for something completely different. Well, it's more Firesign Theatre than Monty Python. It's ostensibly about a young partier who overdoes it and gets sick on a Ferris wheel. It's about the ups and downs of growing up, and why we long for Neverland. I took it as an opportunity to use accordion, mandolin and marimba in the same song.

Although I've been using BiaB in other ways since last century, this was one of the first songs I did in 2019 when I decided to do some DAW recording. I thought it sounded alright back then. HA! But then I found this forum. Well, after all the advice that I found here, I decided to try to take the same stems and reprocess them. Any comments to help further improve it are much appreciated.

Style is _SOFTROK.STY (Dreamy Soft Rock)

RealTracks in song: 1262:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm PopShiningHeld Ev 120
RealTracks in style: 691:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming AcRockBright Ev 120
RealTracks in song: ~1025:Guitar, Electric, Strumming CleanOpen Ev 120
RealTracks in song: 1287:Accordion, Rhythm TexMex2Beat Ev 120
RealTracks in song: 3190:Mandolin, Soloist, CelticHornpipeAndy Sw16 070
RealTracks in song: 3523:Marimba, Rhythm IslandGroove Ev16 100
RealDrums [in style:RockSoftEven8^1-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare Ride

I played bass, sang and did the voices.

On The Ferris Wheel

Who's that said to me hours ago, "Let's go out for a ride"?
We got far out, and then... I don't know. Something happened inside.
All I know is we take this turn, and find our way to the pier.
And all the joints we passed by were burnt. But how I ended up here
drinking this beer...? I don't know.

On the ferris wheel we go 'round and 'round,
singing songs that go up and up, then down.
On the pier of steel we get lost 'n' found---
both feet off of the ground.

Is there somebody I can tell? Is there somebody here?
A doc in the house? A fool in the cell? Someone, lend me your ear.
Where is here? Where are we right now?
I lost my face in the crowd. Someone's spinnin' me. Holy cow!
Why's that bell spinning loud? What can this mean? (Is it a Leslie ringing)

On the ferris wheel we go 'round and 'round,
slightly back as it lifts us off the ground.
All the beer we spill never makes a sound
as it's gravity bound.

BR: There's only one problem I cannot deny:
wherever they got 'em, I can never ride the ferris wheel this high. Hello.

The ginger baker ran out of cream making domino pie.
The taffy bender began to scream, 'though we will never know why. (He's twisted)
If you say to me, "How do you do?", I don't do very well.
But if you do to me how you do do, then we've got something to tell
everyone else. (While they're singing:)

All way round we go, stomachs letting go.Just look out below. Oh-oh. NO!
We'll get off in time. Walk the crooked line. Everything is fine, is it?
'Round and 'round we go, but when it stops we know
we both have to go home. Oh, oh, no.
Now it's getting slow. Yes, it's swinging low...
We both have to go home... with both feet back on the ground.
(All riders, have your tickets ready.)

"More coffee, warden?"

Holy mudhead, Mackerel! More Science High...is gone!"

Good afternoon, Mr. Danger! I'm Rocky Rococo..."

Firesign Theater fans are an odd bunch, eh?



A real fun-house of a write! Enjoyed the ride (and the imagery).

Good vocals, good instrument selection (and added bass), good mix. Really nice balance.

Much enjoyed!!

fj

Brilliant! And *way* too much fun

Mix sounds good, and great job on the video too.

Good stuff, Marty.

P.S. I wonder how many people will get the "The ginger baker ran out of cream making domino pie" line?

Marty,
Very good fun- jolly and theatrical ( I`m not familiar with Firesign, but without a dead parrot in the video its not Python!).
Your vocal carries the song really well- as on your other songs you know how to energise your voice.
Your arrangement sounds good- very much in the spirit of the song, especially the accordion-funny voices are well done too.
Oh, and Yeah!- got the Cream reference.

Robert

Marty,

I love this! The instrumentation is really excellent as is your vocal.

Great song - something fresh and unique. Very much enjoyed.

Bob

Marty,

This sounds fantastic!!!! Love the Yellow Submarine style vox coming in in the background. Very Beatles!

I LOVED this.

Hi BabuMusic,

Beautiful fairground atmosphere. The accordion has its place. And the very funny lyrics. It's a great achievement. I appreciated.

Kindly regard
Derochette
alias JaniJackFlash

Great fun, Marty. Love the wordplay, love the instrumentation (has a hint of a Jimmy Buffet vibe, I reckon) and love the vocals. A real winner.
Regards,
Leon

Fine job on song and video. Very well written. Excellent performance. Great carnival sound you captured.

I suppose you don't want to let us in on the secret of where you get that great video footage?

Upbeat and catchy, your vocals are great. The instrumentation (and voices) are a treat to listen to.

Love the slowdown at the end.

That was... quite a ride!

Marty,
Fun stuff! Massive theatrical goodness take on serious subject. Absolutely awesome write! Lyrics, vocals, bass, arrangement, everything is very cool. Wild chord progression in places. The slowing down ending was icing on the omelet. I can only imagine how much time went into this... On the other hand, when you do something fun, time flies. Really liked this one. Thank you for sharing.
Misha.

Awesome tune Marty. Loved the groove on this tune. Another super vocal and very creative lyric.

Love your bassline. They make the song sound so solid. Super mix as well. That mandolin break was very cool. Well done

First class video....

This song certainly lived up to your promise: "something completely different."
The video version helped to explain a few things but some lyrics remain enigmatic (e.g. 'domino pie' and 'taffy bender') but, as someone once said, "Everything makes sense after six Coronas!" I obviously don't drink enough

Highly entertaining and very well put together.

Marty, this is your best vocal performance/capture to date - for me.
Fun, a well held together narrative and nice band.
On a purely musical level this could also sound great treated like one of the ballads on The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle...something like Sandy.

Entertaining and a bit 'way out there' in a funny kind of way.

Loved the little voices, quite a laugh.

yes, fun all, the way.

'BabuMusic'...

There is a musical exuberance, a free-wheeling lyrical feel, and an imaginative, almost pictorially intense storytelling process going on in the song that makes it a stand-out listening experience, almost like a novelty. The Real Track instruments add a suggestive regional flavor, and your bass playing just keeps moving on down the line. And another thing -- you have an awfully youthful voice for a grey-bearded person !!!

Ah, you floored me with this comment, Floyd. Did you ever hear The Giant Rat Of Sumatra? It's a full-length album, a parody of the old Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holms series. The J-Men Forever video is another favorite.

Thanks, Dave. Shied away from the cowbell on this one. I'm not sure I get that line. I mean, I know Ginger Baker was in Cream and not Derek & The Dominoes, and that he made some really cool jazz albums. but... Usually words just show up on the page, so I can't take credit and won't accept blame. "He's TWISTED" was a nod to Joni Mitchell. Now that's something no one would get without explanation.



Hi, Robert. Thanks for the listen and the comment --and also for playing the "What the heck was that reference" game.



Thanks so much, Bob. It's different aright.



Thanks, David. As I'm typing this Soundcloud is on in the background and Standing Like Bono is playing for the 3rd time this morning --the first 2 were intentional and they were all enjoyable.



Hi, Derochette. Thanks for coming along for the ride. I filled in in a zydeco band a few times. At practice the accordion player could only play the song from the beginning; we couldn't say let's take it from the bridge. That was weird.



Thanks, Leon. Haha. Yes, I think Jimmy Buffet was flying overhead.

Marty: I have to say, I've not seen anything quite like that on You Tube or anywhere else, for that matter. The sound track is great. The video is bold, original, and very well put together.

Jimmy and Marty and Ginger...how cool is that?

Clever and cool write and just the right vocal to carry it all.

All kinds of vibes, as alluded to above, and the accordion even tosses in a little Tex-Mex.

The vid was fun and Janice said she enjoyed the ferris wheel kaleidoscopes

And as always that guy you recruit for the bass parts on your productions knows his stuff.

Fun!

J&B