The Obama Health Care Song ...

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K-dub

Well-known member
... well, not really ... just a general distaste for politics these days ...


Final Daze


Like Black Magic, this takes a short time to catch pace, as the opening is only percussion, acoustic guitar and vocal.

... but it all kicks in eventually.

Again, I'm aiming for less compression and sonic smearing ... which hopefully pops mix detail better. The original wav shape to this was a solid brick.

Any/all comments warmly welcome and appreciated.

Best,

Kev-
 
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Wow. What a great song to play, just as I prepare to pay our bi-monthly bills! The opening lyric seemed to be slightly prophetic, and made me think I would hear more about your preconception of it's result (somehow, I thought it was going to be about the final days before another world war). Then I realized you were talking about before the "war" in Iraq. The music is really good, and I love your voice, especially when you visit the lower tones. I could see this as the backdrop for a docu-video...
 
Hey man,

I think it sounds great. The arrangement is so lively and full of twists. And the sound is very clear... not smeared at all.

For me, as it good as it sounds, the musical and lyrical content are mismatched with the lyrical content lagging behind. When I think about my favorite protest songs two things leap to mind: 1) the rage is very targeted, and names are named. ) the chorus is very compelling and sing-along ready.

1
Without some specifics about who you're talking about, it's hard for me to get a good sense of who you are in this kind of song. All I really know is that you're a hard worker and weary of taxation and war ... but which war? There should be an appeal to universal truth but grounded in a very well identified space/time. I don't know what country you're in or who you have a problem with. For me, the effect is that the song is not a protest as much as a complaint, and a rather cliche one.

2
Your "Are your promises all lies" sections are bona fide choruses (and lovely) but I don't hear them as being the sort of thing that Joe the Plumber could belt out.

Don't get me wrong, I like the musicianship and the singing and it's obvious that you've put some serious thought and work into the production.

C
 
lifelyrics said:
Wow. What a great song to play, just as I prepare to pay our bi-monthly bills! The opening lyric seemed to be slightly prophetic, and made me think I would hear more about your preconception of it's result (somehow, I thought it was going to be about the final days before another world war). Then I realized you were talking about before the "war" in Iraq. The music is really good, and I love your voice, especially when you visit the lower tones. I could see this as the backdrop for a docu-video...
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Thanks LL!

You picked up on the lyric correctly ... for that's where the initial impetus came from ... but I wanted to keep it generalized.

K-
 
fullerc said:
Hey man,

I think it sounds great. The arrangement is so lively and full of twists. And the sound is very clear... not smeared at all.

For me, as it good as it sounds, the musical and lyrical content are mismatched with the lyrical content lagging behind. When I think about my favorite protest songs two things leap to mind: 1) the rage is very targeted, and names are named. ) the chorus is very compelling and sing-along ready.

1
Without some specifics about who you're talking about, it's hard for me to get a good sense of who you are in this kind of song. All I really know is that you're a hard worker and weary of taxation and war ... but which war? There should be an appeal to universal truth but grounded in a very well identified space/time. I don't know what country you're in or who you have a problem with. For me, the effect is that the song is not a protest as much as a complaint, and a rather cliche one.

2
Your "Are your promises all lies" sections are bona fide choruses (and lovely) but I don't hear them as being the sort of thing that Joe the Plumber could belt out.

Don't get me wrong, I like the musicianship and the singing and it's obvious that you've put some serious thought and work into the production.

C
Click to expand...

Hey C-

Thanks for the detailed comments! Like I said above, I wanted to avoid specifics in this lyric ... but that's this lyric. I've others where I'm quite specific ... to your point. Joe might even like them.

:D

K-
 
Even though the length is a bit of an issue and the intros drums are a bit rough in spots, there are some real moments of brilliance in this song. I really mean brilliant too.

The chord progression is lovely, the lyrics simultaneously amuse and infuriate, the singing is passionate and there are twist and turns in the arrangement that take the breath away. With some polishing this song could be dangerous, for all the right reasons. Right on Kevin.
 
Not bad. Kinda too long for my attention span. The mix sounds good. Vocals are a little loud in spots. Overall pretty good.
 
Greg_L said:
Not bad. Kinda too long for my attention span. The mix sounds good. Vocals are a little loud in spots. Overall pretty good.
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Man ... business climate these days makes it so hard to keep posting constant. I get so wrapped in maintaining status quo in my personal life.

... G -- thanks. The comment about length is personal to you, and you made it so ... cool.

My main thing here was dynamics. Recently, the sound of dynamics clicked w/ me, and I just started to go "Whoa ... it sounds like the stage is deeper" ... and the emotional impact comes through better.

It wasn't always that way. Initially, I sacrificed dynamic for clarity. I wanted all the colors to be heard ... so I'd post up the squashed collage of sound, just because all the things I was hearing could be heard as clearly as I was taking it all in.

Wrong.

Linear sound is boring. If it's all "same noise, same level" ...

Dull is dull. Next stage of sound (and I'm still learning) means paying attention to the emotional impact of sound. That absolutely requires dynamics to deliver.

K-
 
JRSIV said:
Even though the length is a bit of an issue and the intros drums are a bit rough in spots, there are some real moments of brilliance in this song. I really mean brilliant too.

The chord progression is lovely, the lyrics simultaneously amuse and infuriate, the singing is passionate and there are twist and turns in the arrangement that take the breath away. With some polishing this song could be dangerous, for all the right reasons. Right on Kevin.
Click to expand...

Thanks John. As I said to Greg above ... I'm still learning. It is a subtlety that remains elusive.

Songs can go as long as they want, so long as they don't get boring doing so ... and there can be myriad underlying reason.

Sometimes it's production that fatigues the ear, sometimes it's content ... the trick is at least eliminating production from that equation. If it's content, well, then that's at least an honest mistake versus should have known better.

K-
 
Cool drums. The vocal gets pretty intense, but I don't think its too loud.

I appreciate the complexity you put into your work. The slow stuff is right up my alley.

It's a little topical for my tastes lyrically, but that shouldn't bother you a bit.

Very very nice work.
 
Great sounding piece, Kev, really moving lyrics too. The arrangement's very interesting, everything intertwines with each other well. Nice drum sound. Very good voice. No nits from me, this is really good.

Joey :):):):)
 
Nice tune !!!! Keep your focus on the dynamics as you explained your post above. Thats why God invented the volume knob :)
 
BushmasterM4 said:
Nice tune !!!! Keep your focus on the dynamics as you explained your post above. Thats why God invented the volume knob :)
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Exactly.

Pretty flowers against pressed glass are very colorful ... but because they're pressed under glass, you can't smell them ... and so they're less real.

K-
 
joeym said:
Great sounding piece, Kev, really moving lyrics too. The arrangement's very interesting, everything intertwines with each other well. Nice drum sound. Very good voice. No nits from me, this is really good.

Joey :):):):)
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Thanks Joey!
 
Supercreep said:
Cool drums. The vocal gets pretty intense, but I don't think its too loud.

I appreciate the complexity you put into your work. The slow stuff is right up my alley.

It's a little topical for my tastes lyrically, but that shouldn't bother you a bit.

Very very nice work.
Click to expand...

I tend to write a lot of topical lyrics ... being worried about the general state of affairs in the U.S. these days ...

Thanks C!

K-
 
GOOD GOOD GOOD.
I like topicality & controversy - the best topical songs are great songs to begin with & they often keep issues alive even beyond living memory.

There's probably too much of a journey in this piece - in a kind of musical theatre sense.

All of the components are good and you may have to think about the structure a little.

A very dynamic arrangement but, if I may be so bold, fairly safe - nothing gets ragged, or really aggressive - including your voice.

I was just had a though re the dynamics & structure - this track reminds me of the Jimmy Webb tracks done for Richard harris (Now, I don't mean in terms of vocal performance - you have range, & timbre and tunfullness aplenty) especially Macarthur Park & some of the songs on The Yard Goes On Forever. If you could bust a gut somewhere with a stinging guitar or a bellow of grief you may take this into that kind of territory emotionally.
As said GOOD GOOD GOOD.
 
I'd like to hear this song

Hi,

I stumbled on this site & thread while searching for songs about health care. I registered and have been poking around, but can't figure out how to hear the song. Can you explain? Thanks.

debvank
 
deborahvk said:
Hi,

I stumbled on this site & thread while searching for songs about health care. I registered and have been poking around, but can't figure out how to hear the song. Can you explain? Thanks.
debvank
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Hi Deb,
Welcome to the site. It is a great resource for learning, and even entertainment!
If you go back to the very first message on this thread, K-dub posted his link to "Final Daze". Click on it, and you should have a new tab pop up, with "final_daze.mp3" ready to play.
You can pop back over to the thread, and listen while you read everyone else's comments, if you want.
See you around.
 
I Liked This Alot Man, Reminded me a little of 80's Hard Rock, How The Hook Finished Out, I Liked that. Lyrics were Intresting, Your Voice Is Different, I thought this was Arranged Well, You do Collaborations? Anyways, good work here. Enjoyed listening to it.
 
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