Words

I wrote this song probably 8 or so years ago for someone I know who had taken his eye off the ball momentarily, that's about as much as I'll reveal. And the situation was corrected and everything is more than hunky-dory now. Not necessarily due to this song. He's aware I wrote it for him, but he wasn't even aware of the song until after all this passed. It was just the inspiration for the song.

It's another hybrid BIAB - Pre-BIAB arrangement. It was pretty simple to start with. The guitar you hear in the beginning is me, and it's the "riff" (probably an overstatement) that kicked the whole idea for the song off. My first recording IS out there, when I did it on my old BOSS-600 - just me and the guitar. I'd applied an effect to the guitar with this kind of hard-echo that actually made it sound like a chugging-train high-hat beat, but it was all an artifact of the guitar, and I liked it - but the performance and recording left much to be desired.

I did it again a few years later, in Reaper, with the same riff, FX dialed back, and a pattern picking track (me again) and I programmed a midi drum track which was in keeping with the slap-back "ghost drums" the guitar FX in the original recording had suggested - but is much fuller and has changeups.

Still, not up to snuff with my post BIAB productions. And I have a soft spot for this song. And my wife really likes it. So, time to polish it up for the upcoming CD.

This new version I kept my original riff and the drums, swallowed my pride a bit and dropped my pattern picking track in favor of one from BIAB (1526:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm PopPowerPushA-B Ev 120 - seriously, I can barely call myself a guitar player). I also added a bass track(1523:Bass, Electric, PopPowerA-B Ev 120), and a piano track(1535:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm PopPowerPushA-B Ev 120), which I think adds a bit of a spiritual aspect while keeping the energy up. Re-did all the vocals, adding some backing vocals. It's a very repetitive song so I needed to break it up a bit. I looked and looked in BIAB Real Tracks Solo Guitar options for something that fit the feel.

I settled on this (2203:Guitar, Electric, Soloist PopPromiseBrent Ev16 100), though at first I thought it a bit over-the-top. But it's always been a high-energy song, and with a little slicing and dicing and re-arranging of bits and pieces, I have an arrangement I think works.

Words
(Phil Leith/Walking Bird Music)

"I Love You" ain't just three words
That you can forget about once they've been heard
Actions speak louder than words
So come on, boy, this is your chance

"I Do" ain't just two words
That turn life to a fairy tale once they've been heard
Actions speak louder than words
So show her a little romance

Our Baby ain't just two words
He's our little miracle, the center of our Earth
Actions speak louder than words
So show him your love every day

Sometimes Words really do hurt
We say we don't mean 'em but they start a slow burn
The ashes crumble, it's too late too learn
To show her how you really feel

Actions speak louder than words
So watch what you're doing and think about her first
You can't hide it despite what you've heard
It's love and trust makes your house a home

"I'm Sorry" ain't just two words
That make everything better once they've been heard
Actions speak louder than words
So show her a little romance

"I Love You" ain't just three words
That you can forget about once they've been heard
Actions speak louder than words
So get up on your feet and dance!


https://soundcloud.com/phil-leith
https://www.youtube.com/leithp