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ZEROS
Recently we heard a tv series character say of a billionaire, “I bet his life looks great through all those zeros,” or something like that. And from that came this. Our friend and music partner Peter sent us five guitar tracks which along with Janice’s four vocal tracks had Bud pondering panning for quite a while. Thanks to Peter, PG Music and to all who take time to listen. Comments are welcomed. Lyric below and on SC.

Janice: vocals, progression, melody & arrangement
Peter: guitars solos/harmonies/fills & arrangement
Bud: lyric, arrangement, mix & mastering

Vocals: Rodes mic > Scarlett interface > Logic Pro X > Nectar
Drums: RealDrums Americana Grooving > Waves CLA Drums
Bass: RealTrack 3458 Americana > Waves Bass Rider > Waves Magma BB T
Guitar Rhythm: RealTrack 2905 Bluesy Pop
Piano: Midi SuperTrack 2104 Pop Shining > Waves CLA Unplugged > Ozone Imager

Mastering: Ozone vintage EQ > Ozone multi-band compressor > Ozone Imager > Ozone Limiter > Ozone Tonal Balance > LPX Loudness Meter

ZEROS

V1
you never thought a minute about looking up
always staring left or right and following dollars
the game’s nearly over there’s no overtime
fate, oh fate, is gonna empty your coffers

Chorus
didn’t life look grand through all those zeros?
sitting on top of the world’s billionaire list
a long ride up but a short fall down’s coming
don’t waste time thinking you’ll be missed

V2
outa desperation you tried a little contrition
but mount redemption’s not an anthill
you kept bending reality to fit your schemes
now look around everybody’s had their fill

Chorus

V3
doing the right thing never came easy
because you don’t recognize the wrong things
friends are running while the hour glass runs dry
branded a loser no matter what the future brings

Chorus

Outro:
look around, no wealth, no friends, it’s all gone
the end is near, uh oh, your time’s up!

© 2023 J. Merritt, B. Merritt & P. Fulham

Mornin' J&B....

Good song concept.
Lead vox and harmonies sound great.
Peters' axe work compliments it all very well.

Well done!

A good day to all....

Man, I liked this one a lot. Really loved the mix, feel and clever ending. Great message, and the vocal was really good. I thought Peter did a great job with that guitar and the one you chose to put in, and the way you did was perfect. Nice song!

Thanks for the nice comments. We all appreciate it!

J&B

Hi Guys,

Good song, well sung and well played plus a good mix.

Well done.

Best Regards
Nigel

Interesting topics. Love the vocals and band choice.Always great.
All the best you guys.

Hi all. Great vocal from Janis. Good concept and lyrics, Bud. Particularly like this stanza:

'outa desperation you tried a little contrition
but mount redemption’s not an anthill
you kept bending reality to fit your schemes
now look around everybody’s had their fill.'

Some lovely fills and good solo from Peter. All round excellence, as always.
Regards,
Leon

"...mount redemption’s not an anthill," - one of many great lines.
A guitar player who knows when to pile on and back off is a rare thing.
The stereo image on this is wonderful and Peter's dance through it is great.
Very good arrangement folks, very well sorted.
Janice's voice has an excellent balance of honey in the venom...a smile that sings & stings.
An abrupt ending that underlines the narrative.
Sterling work team.
Love it.

Thanks Brad. Yep, we loved where Peter took it. His harmony guitars are special indeed. We appreciate all your remarks.

J&B

Nicely done to all involved. You guys are a great team.

Thanks Nigel. It was a fun project!

J&B

An interesting, thought provoking lyric brings to mind that 1937 saying that goes something like:
"I've been rich and I've been poor and on the whole, rich is better."
This song is trying to disprove that and goes some way to show it.

The mix is good and Peter's guitar part fits very well. Janice contributes her excellent vocal signature.
Well done all.

Vic

Another lovely song of you guys.
Great guitar work, good lyrics and of course beautifully sung by Janice.
Very well done!

Anne-Marie

Thank you Rob!

J&b

Great work from all involved, great song, vocals, guitars, arrangement, mix...absolutely nothing to complain

Leon, thanks for those most generous comments. And Bud says "having a great lyricist like Leon quote from my tune is very special!"

J&B

All those guitar swells gave this a very Buckingham, Fleetwood Mac sound to me. Really good lyrics. And Janice singing is always incredible. Great job, team!

"... honey in the venom...a smile that sings & stings." Man, do you ever have the proverbial way with words. That put a HUGE smile on Janice's face.

And thanks for the supportive mention of the stereo image ... I harbored a lot of concern while doing the panning.

And we fully agree with you re Peter's tracks indeed.

And thanks for the lyric comments.

Basically, thanks for ALL of that Ray. It means a lot.

J&B

J&B and Peter...when I first saw the title I thought what in the world could this be about? cool concept and really cool song...again you've more than covered all the basses...lyrically interesting, vocally top-notch and instrumentally so well constructed and played...Janice's smooth vocal and Peter's smooth guitar riffs are such a great musical marriage...Bud, great job hooking it all together...I really enjoyed this one guys!

Thanks!

J&B

Love the groove happening with this one, right in the pocket.

Nice write (and mix), Bud, and Janice sounds great as per usual. Love your tone, Peter! And the volume swells too, perfect for the song.

You three never disappoint, another great song!

P.S. Cool ending too BTW.

Thanks Vic for the interesting quote and the nice supportive review.
We three appreciate your time to listen!

J&B

Cool song idea, and excellent lyrics. You guys never fail to please. Janice, all of those vocals are crazy good and very creative. Peter, your guitar work is always top-notch and perfect for the song --whatever kind of song. I particularly enjoyed your taste on the solo. 5 guitar tracks for one song and then another from BiaB. Outstanding mix, Bud. All my zeros are at the beginning of my bank balance, not the end. And I must say, life does look grand through all those zeros, and it sounds better because of what you guys do.

Every time I think "A few more zeroes would be nice..." what I get is Zero. Zero. Zero.
That amounts to nothing.

Killer Groove! A cool "pulse". Interesting drums.
Peter does some of his best guitar work ever. Nice.

Janice is excellent - as always.
Cool harmonies.

Good write. Lyrics and melody.

Excellent mix (needless to say).

fj

Thanks for the listen and nice comments!

J&B

Hey Guys,

Very nice. Janice's vocal & BGV's sound great! (does she ever not sound great!)
Also thought the instrumentation and mix were well done... I often ponder panning as well.
Peter's guitar tracks are outstanding... Very tasty!

Great Job!

Greg

Glad it worked for you!

J&B

I’ve often said winning the lottery is a great way to screw up your life. I think billionaires live by the credo of Money’s not everything but it’s way ahead of whatever’s in second place. I have a few friends from high school who managed to hit it really big and every time I’ve talked to them all they want to talk about is money. I found that very sad. So having said all that, great concept, well written, good arrangement and the mix is spot on. Janice again delivers the goods with the melody, harmonies and delivery. Peter steps up with some of his most complimentary guitar. Love the volume swells! You three come through again,Tom

Really excellent.

Great sound and mix and playing.

It's all good as usual.

I love listening to your songs.

They never feel to please the ears.



Big time!

This was as always a fun project to be involved in. It's a treat coming up with the guitar parts and hearing what Bud does with them.

Thanks to everyone who has mentioned my part in this.

Always appreciated.

Peter

Thank for all.

We appreciate the kind mention of the guitar, vocals and write!

J&B

There's more than a little snark in this song.

Excellent singing by Janice, tasty guitar from Peter. Nicely balanced mix from Bud - everything is clear and even.

Nice work, all!

Hi, Team JB&P!

Wonderful music !
I like everything about it,
the tune, Janice superb vocals, Bud´s lyrics
and mixing and Peter´s superb playing !

Cheers
Dani

Thank you.

You mentioned all of our objectives as met and the three of us appreciate it!

J&B

Excellent lyrics, Bud. Spot on message. Janice's voice is expressive and has a pleasant timbre. Peter's guitar is ace again.

Thanks for all and we agree that Peter had a great idea with the swells. And special thanks for mentioning the tag!

J&B

Janice waxes philosophical about the end-times and the band is down with it.
From what we have seen of the current iteration, this is a departure, but this little bird told me it thinks maybe you've done this style, in the past. Oh, that guitar chop is amazing.

Nice to hear a pop song from you for a change and to notice how you all excel also in this category, fresh and original tune. Melancholy story with many nice lines like "friends are running while the hour glass runs dry". I really like the chord progression, especially in the solo part, where Peter's playing and pleasant guitar sound shine brighter than ever. Very professional work from the singing/harmonies to the mixing.

Janne

You are too kind Marty. You never fail to put smiles on our faces and for that we are most appreciative!

J&B

J&B,

Love the tune! The rhythmic change to start the first verse is very effective! The vocals are super again supporting the excellent lyrics! The guitar parts are really hitting where they should and are a great addition to the song! The overall sound is great and produced very well! I enjoyed it!

Thanks, T

Hi Janice and Bud,

I think everyone here wrote you never fail to please all listeners/forummembers and I'm with them.
You made a very nice sung with a hopeful ending (in the lyrics).
Your BG-vocals sound more 'special' in this song, Janice. I really liked that, although I always liked your songs...

The idea for Zero is a very nice one. Hadn't heard it, but I will certainly use it overhere. Even in Dutch it sounds great ;-)

Enjoyed it a lot!
Hans

Hello together
an absolute top song
everything sounds really great
Janice and the backgroundtrack work beautifully together
And Peter's guitar work is fantastic
And of course Bud has managed to make everything sound great again.
Really very good work
Thanks a lot
Many greetings
Andi ;-)

Thank you mr jane! Glad you like the groove … went back and forth on it.

We all appreciate the nice comments!

J&B

Hi Janice & Bud and PeterF,

Nice melody and perfect symbiosis between Janice's voice and Peter's guitar. It's very pleasant to listen to and the mix is ​​perfect. Well done.

Kindly regard
Derochette
alias JaniJackFlash

Thank you Greg for the kind remarks.

And glad to have a fellow pan ponderer

J&B

I'm late to this party but as usual extremely glad I came!
The dynamic foursome does it again in producing an all pro winner.
Everything I wanted to say already has been said so all I can add is you are all professional musicians.

Loved it.

Thank you Tom.

We are all glad you liked it and much appreciate your remarks.

“Money’s not everything but it’s way ahead of whatever’s in second place.”
There might be a song there!

J&B

Thanks David. We much appreciate your time to listen and the kind comments. Pleasing ears is good!

J&B

Very cool intro as well as the guitar swells. Super vocal Janice. Excellent lyric Bud and as always perfect production. Well done

Snark? Us? I (Bud) confess to dragging the other two into the land of snarkiness via my lyric.

Glad you liked it and we all appreciated the kind remarks.

J&B

Thanks Dani!
Enjoy Spain,

J&B

Janice and Bud (and Peter):

Terrific tune—has a little bit of an Eagles feel to me (with a touch of The Carpenters on that chorus). Seems to me a song like this should earn you more than a few zeroes . . . Great write and vocal, and your usual outstanding production. Perfectly mixed and balanced. Wonderful solos by Peter (particularly that bit at the 2:50 mark). Excellent!

All my best,

Deej

Thank you!

J&B

Thanks for the spin and nice comments Ed. The style just sorta came about from noodling around with adding and removing tracks to see what worked with the Americana drums. Peter nailed the vibe with his guitar tracks. It was fun.

Bud

Janne, thanks for the lyric mention along with Janice's vocals/progression and Peter's guitar. And Bud appreciates the mix comment as it was a challenge!

Thank you!

J&B

Thank you Torrey. You create great productions so your comments are special!

J&B

Thanks Hans! Glad you liked it and your mention of the BGV’s is much appreciated.

J&B

Thank you Andi! The three of us much appreciate the very thoughtful and kind review.

J&B



Thank you!

J&B

Thanks Mario!

J&B




Thank you Scott!

J&B

Deej, we greatly appreciate your kind and thoughtful review! Being mentioned in the same paragraph with the Eagles is humbling. And of course with Janice being a contralto we love the Carpenters.

J&B

J&B