"You Got Me" - preliminary mix - comments?

[DrCobweb]

This is my first upload, so if I've done something wrong or committed some impropriety, I'm sorry.

Attached (I hope) is a first mix attempt for a song of mine called "You Got Me". It's kind of a honky-tonk, country-bluesey thing. Comments on the song & lyrics are welcome, but I'd like to hear comments or suggestions about the mix in particular.

Thanks. I haven't posted here much, but I've been learning a lot from this site in the past year, and hope I'm gaining enough experience to start contributing more.

 

[Manslick]

Sounds like a conventional country mix except for the drums. Whatever the snare is doing bugged me throughout the tune. The bass is nice and smooth rhythmically, though a bit washed out. I’d like a little more detail on it. Kick drum it too tight sonically compared to the bass. The groove is nice and danceable.
I didn’t laugh at the Sonny and Cher cameo – way too cheesy.
Overall it’s a nice little tune.

 

[SloppyJo]

I think the piano sounds too far back in the mix, I would bring down the reverb a bit.

You can also bring the guitar up and give it a high frequency boost for some brightness and some compression for some twang. You can barely hear it...

I agree with Manslick about the snare and the kick drum.

 

[DrCobweb]

I know what you mean about the drums. I think part of the problem is simply that I'm not a drummer, by any stretch of the imagination. But I do hear that the kick and the bass could use more separation. Maybe the bass needs a bit more punch on the attack, too.

And yeah, after the intro riff the guitar is kind of buried.

As far as the Sonny & Cher ending, I think it's a matter of some people like cheese and some don't. It usually gets some laughs or at least smiles when I play it at gigs.

Thanks for the comments. Helps give me a better idea of how it comes across on first hearing, and what areas I should prioritize for fixing.

 

[Manslick]

I try to play drums but do not consider myself a drummer. For this tune, maybe try to think early LeAnn Rimes.
I remember they mixed the drums old school for some of her very early tracks.
In fact your song rolled around my head and morphed in to Walking After Midnight.
Personally I like the bass tone one this but the kick tone just didn’t seem to compliment it.
I think the separation is okay but see what happens if you smooth out the kick before you punch out the bass.

The thing that got me about the Sonny and Cher bit was the contrasting lyrical meaning.

Just consider Sonny & Cher
I got you to hold my hand
I got you to understand

To your
You got me crying on the shoulders of all of my friends
While I tell em how you put me down.

The Sonny & Cher song is an affirmation of love, while yours is satirical. Nothing wrong with that, it just seemed a forced pair to Sonny and Cher (hey that rhymes) - to me anyway.

BTW – nice country vocal delivery in this.

 

[DrCobweb]

The contrast between the blues-style lyrical content ("my woman don't treat me right, but I just can't leave her") and the Sonny Bono sweetness-and-light ("who needs food or money when we have each other?") is, to me, what makes the joke at the end. It ain't a particularly "funny" joke, but I think it's a twist that fits in with the lyrical contrast/irony that is present throughout the song, with its "you treat me so bad, but why don't I leave? You got me." The whole song is basically filled with contrasting twists of meaning and plays on words ("I'd enjoy a long vacation --- in hell!" "You got me tending to your comes -- and your gos"), so to me the switch to the "sweet" kind of Sonny & Cher waltz-tempo music, contrasting with the already-established bluesy beat and lyrical harshness of "you got me" as a double-meaning ("I don't know why I stay" and "you have this hold on me") seems natural. In fact, when I wrote the song, the first time I played it, I fell into that ending without really thinking about it, just as a switch on "I got you" to "you got me".

And THAT is a whole boatload of analysis about the silly song that I hadn't really thought out before, and no doubt WAY more than you were interested in reading. But thanks for making me consider my songwriting choices and think things through on a deeper level than just my gut feeling. Having thought it through, I still think the ending works. I don't mean for that windy paragraph above to imply that the song is "deep" in any way; it isn't. It's just a collection of blues cliches, wordplay and quips, meant to amuse an audience in taverns. (Incidentally, my wife was not amused when I wrote it and played it for her for the first time. She was afraid people would think it was actually about her. I had to assure her that people would understand that it was a product of imagination, not real life.)

Also, thanks for the compliment about the vocal delivery. I ain't much of a singer, but I try to use my voice in a way that works for the material. Your comment made my day.

 

[Manslick]

Yeah I got it. I got the ironic implications and the double meaning of “You got me” as in you literally have a hold of me adverse to I don’t understand. I think it’s very clever. But there is a bit of a mocking tone in your vocals during that initial switch, or are you mocking Sonny singing? Either way, it’s a brilliant ploy that should have universal appeal.
No really, I just wanted to make you type a bunch.
I’d say there are maybe 2% on here that even consider lyrics. You lay on quite a bit here.

PS: Have you heard of Unknown Hinson?

 

[DrCobweb]

Yes, I have heard one or two things by Unknown Hinson. Can't say I know his stuff. I think somebody sent me a couple YouTube links some years back.