New Demo "Captain Obvious"

Bash This Recording
#1

Hi everyone, haven’t been around for a while. Had a lot going on (moving house etc)


… anyhow, still making new music… Here’s a demo called “Captain Obvious (& His Common Sense Brigade)”
It’s pretty rough, but hopefully reasonably listenable… Take a listen if you get a chance and let me know your thoughts.

Here are the lyrics:

Captain Obvious (And his Common Sense Brigade)

Reluctant soldiers march through treacherous frontiers
Between the cusp of adulthood and much less troubled years
Adolescent bootcamp is where they took their blows
Thumbs calloused and bruised and twisted
And retinas disposed…

To flee the harsh cold morning light
To seek the ceaseless midnight glow
To battle on without respite
To glory unexposed

Who can know his value?
Will his greatness be displayed?
He’s Captain Obvious
And his Common Sense Brigade

Who’d have thought that adulting was all so hard to do,
When you became a prince at one, and a CEO at two?
Mum and Dad like Blackawk choppers, hovering above
Swooping down to soothe your wounds and smother you with love

The outside world was quite a shock,
A wakeup call without a kiss
Participation prizes
Never could prepare your mind for this

Who could guess your value?
Would your greatness be displayed?
As Captain Obvious
Of the Common Sense Brigade

Now common sense is not so common, or so he heard it said
But ten thousand hours would straighten out your head
Pivoting for life hacks, has had you flying blind
You’re gonna crowd-fund your self esteem
And monetize your mind

(Captain Obvious, Captain Obvious)

Now he’s become a figurehead for the kids without a clue
He’s revelating well-worn facts just like they are brand-new
They’re swallowing his wisdom like nectar from above
They swoop in to defend his honour; smother him with love

There’s nothing new under the sun
Or so I heard it said before
Then he found himself under the gun
And the good old stuff he could not ignore

Can you believe his followers?
Will they ever be dismayed?
He’s Captain Obvious
And his Common Sense Brigade

3 Likes
#2

I love the vibe. It reminds me of The Police. I like the arrangement and overall song. THe mix still sounds a bit rough, but I think with some EQ and balancing it will sound great. Nice job.

1 Like
#3

Thanks Chandler, yes the mix is just things barely levelled. Just a “proof of concept” so to speak. Thanks for taking a listen and commenting - much appreciated :+1:

#4

love the intro…raised my eyebrows with curiosity. Verse one… mostly all you great voice without any competition. Great chorus, but once again the vox is not prevalent enough. The calypso jabs a little loud.
The rhythm guitars hit nice. Great story, but I was so caught up with listening to all the elements and failed to get the message. All I know is your voice can not be lost at any time in the track. I will listen again tomorrow. Please post the lyrics and thanks for the comments on my druggy song.

1 Like
#5

Thanks Paul - Great to hear from you! Yes, the vocal mix definitely needs improvement. Here are the lyrics:

Captain Obvious (And his Common Sense Brigade)

Reluctant soldiers march through treacherous frontiers
Between the cusp of adulthood and much less troubled years
Adolescent bootcamp is where they took their blows
Thumbs calloused and bruised and twisted
And retinas disposed…

To flee the harsh cold morning light
To seek the ceaseless midnight glow
To battle on without respite
To glory unexposed

Who can know his value?
Will his greatness be displayed?
He’s Captain Obvious
And his Common Sense Brigade

Who’d have thought that adulting was all so hard to do,
When you became a prince at one, and a CEO at two?
Mum and Dad like Blackawk choppers, hovering above
Swooping down to soothe your wounds and smother you with love

The outside world was quite a shock,
A wakeup call without a kiss
Participation prizes
Never could prepare your mind for this

Who could guess your value?
Would your greatness be displayed?
As Captain Obvious
Of the Common Sense Brigade

Now common sense is not so common, or so he heard it said
But ten thousand hours would straighten out your head
Pivoting for life hacks, has had you flying blind
You’re gonna crowd-fund your self esteem
And monetize your mind

(Captain Obvious, Captain Obvious)

Now he’s become a figurehead for the kids without a clue
He’s revelating well-worn facts just like they are brand-new
They’re swallowing his wisdom like nectar from above
They swoop in to defend his honour; smother him with love

There’s nothing new under the sun
Or so I heard it said before
Then he found himself under the gun
And the good old stuff he could not ignore

Can you believe his followers?
Will they ever be dismayed?
He’s Captain Obvious
And his Common Sense Brigade

2 Likes
#6

Holy crap that is soooo powerful. “who could guess your value” where did you find that in your head. To get all your thoughts in this track and also rhyming is not an easy task. A parallel thought came to me as I was reading this. You might consider writing a book some day. I only wonder, to the average listener if they can in fact pull out all these great lyrics as the song whisks along? Just read this again. In poem form read slowly this is soooo good. congrats

1 Like
#7

This is awesome Andrew, it is great song, I think you just keep outdoing yourself. The only thing for me here is that your guitars seem to drown out your vocals, it feels like a lot of guitars coming at me at one time over your singing. As I was typing this there was a moment where I thought, “oh, that is better, I can feel the vocals now”, it was at 2:38 and the guitars were put on hold for a moment. I think sometimes as a guitar player and singer, we can be more about the guitar and less about the vocals sometimes. This song has a great feel of everything in its place and the melody is perfect. Thank you for sharing.

1 Like
#8

There’s lots to like here, reggae (Police) influence, understated intro and BGV and especially the break at 2:20, guitar FX, sophisticated lyrics. Lots of stuff to note but it’s the blend that makes it work. There’s no obvious hook to my ear; maybe the whole thing is a hook? Good stuff!

1 Like
#9

Very Police-esque. I really dig where this is going. Once you get it mixed and mastered the way you like it, I’d love to play it on A2Z Radio.

1 Like
#10

Thanks Paul, yes I love writing, but I also prefer the challenge of telling a story in 3 minutes. This actually started off as a poem, which I adapted to music later. It’s not always that way - Sometimes I have the music first.

I find that lyrics are often under-appreciated by people in general in music. There are some brilliant lyricists out there, but I’ll bet that much of the meaning and intent their great stuff goes completely over the head of even many who are fans of the songs. I really love the “one-two punch” of a song that hooks you in with the music, and then slays you with the lyrics.

Thanks James! Glad you like it… Yes, I added the keys to the prechorus/chorus, and didn’t adjust the level of the vocal in those sections, so now they get a bit drowned out.

Thanks Ingo, yes it’s definitely my fake reggae attempt. :slightly_smiling_face: You’re probably right about no obvious hooks (which I guess is appropriate for a song lambasting a character called “Captain Obvious” - not to put too fine a point on it!)… but I’d venture to say that there are lots of smaller, less obvious hooks nonetheless - as in repeated little phrases and melodies. It’s actually slightly strange that it came together like that - I wasn’t sure if it worked, so it’s good to get some positive feedback in that regard.

Hey Al - Great to hear from you! Thanks - glad you like it!.. I didn’t know you were on radio! Are you a DJ or programmer?

Haha, it’ll probably be a while before I get to release this, as I’m working on an album.

In the meantime, if there are any tunes you want to play from my other two albums, let me know.
Here’s the most recent from last year:

… and the previous one, from 2019:

2 Likes
#11

About 15 years ago I met a women who lived in Canada and her last boyfriend was in a band. So all she talked about was “he played in the band” this and “he played in a a band” that. She went on and on about how she would go with him to the studio and he would record. So I wanted to send her one of my sons but I knew I stunk, so I send one of my favorite bands and songs and I knew she would not know who they were. She listened to the song and immediately wrote me back about “change this and adjust this, and that is too much here and not enough there and cut back on this”. That song was professionally recorded and it did not need ANYTHING done to it. I learned a lesson that day, that if someone things you are recording your own music, they suddenly hear all kinds of things that need to be “adjusted”. It is sad but the reality is that everyone becomes a critic when you are doing your own thing. If you are a pro producer and you put out something for someone that does not sound good at all, no one says anything, they all think it’s great. A person’s perspective is changed based on what information they have when they listen.

2 Likes
#12

CRS,
Thank you for the review! Now your song: in certain ways, at certain times, it reminds me of the Police (a compliment). Mix sounds good to me. I think everything was well done!

1 Like
#13

Haha that’s a great story! Yes, a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

I had the opposite situation. I gave my first album to my friend at work. He played it to his brother (who knows me but didn’t know I made music). Without mentioning my name, my friend asked his brother what he thought. He was quite complimentary (not his default state), and even guessed whether it was a few different popular artists.

I’m certain it would have gone very differently if he’d named me first.

1 Like
#14

Thanks Aaron!

#15

I’m one of the station owners. I mostly do programming these days but I do an occasional radio show.

1 Like
#16

DEAD. ASS. ACCURATE.

#17

If anyone has a few minutes, go to the John Lennon song writing contest. Play song of the year and/or the winner of rock and roll. If that is rock. I’ll eat my shorts.

#18

Andrew,

Top notch lyrical content as usual, you see through the societal bullshit that cause most people’s eyes to gloss over.

I agree with Chandler that it has a slight Police vibe.

Keep on rocking on.

1 Like
#19

Hey really cool tune man, I can’t pick too many holes in the songwriting tbh. Outro maybe feels a little abrupt, possibly chorus x2.
Awesome stuff, interested to see where you take it.

1 Like
#20

Thanks Terry… You’re right about the ending being too abrupt. I’m actually thinking of doing a kind of “outro vamp’ on the little"Captain Obvious” hook that happens between the bridge and the last verse… Maybe repeated to a fade out interspersed with a bit of sparse lead guitar noodling?..

Thanks for the listen and comment :pray: