Thanks! All I can do is offer my thoughts, and it’s both enjoyable to do that, and even better if it connects and fosters more conversation. We’re like plants in a way, we can seed the ground with new possibilities and see if they grow into fruition. Life is a miracle, when we stop to reflect on it.
Wow! That sounds really weird. All tolled those could have fit into your large pond perhaps? Any idea of the cause? I don’t subscribe to the CO2 (carbon dioxide) “climate change” narrative that is being sold to us, but it seems clear the planet is going through changes, both globally and locally. There may be a human contribution, certainly, but I think there are other factors. It’s happened many times before we, as humans, ever discovered the use of ‘fire’. Now we’re spewing jet fuel exhaust in the sky over vast areas of almost every continent. I don’t discount our part in it, but the planet (and Sun and Moon) is way more powerful than we are.
The most recent major climactic event was the “Younger Dryas” period, about 12,900-11,700 years ago. That’s not that long ago, in geologic time. That wasn’t necessarily Ice Age related, they’re still trying to figure out what caused it. Maybe a comet or asteroid hitting the remaining glaciers in North America? There’s also “The Little Ice Age in Europe” (~1300-1800?) that doesn’t get much attention. I learned that my ancestors lived through that. Generations and history can be our friend.
Climate change in fact repeatedly altered environments so they better suited how some societies grew food, made money, or waged war.
Even in resilient societies, thousands died amid the most extreme weather unleashed by past climate changes. Yet it is becoming increasingly clear that our ancestors often acted decisively and creatively to make the best out of trying times.
I saw a video of a Prepper type guy with a machine for cutting and bundling firewood. He had it down to a science. (can’t find the link or I would post it) Yes it’s an investment, but people always need/want firewood, especially with energy resources becoming questionable. You have a resource you can use and sell, perhaps. The pest thing is a huge bummer, I can’t imagine the half-mile infestation, but that’s nature perhaps.
Ooo, sounds exciting. I’d still burn it in a fire pit, for fun if nothing else. The stuff I buy is sometimes ‘pine’ wood, but it’s a combination of wood source, dry/wet, wind power and direction, and other factors. I’d burn it in a heartbeat, and enjoy whatever effect it produces. The milling is something I have some ideas about, but not practical knowledge. But if the pests destroy it, it can still be used to benefit? The success of ancient societies relied on their use of resources to meet their needs. It worked for millennia, why not now?
Nobody with any moral/ethical core want to take advantage of others, but charging what is fair is no crime. I don’t look at price, only the sellers’ motivation. If they’re trying to provide for their family by making a profit, I can’t fault them for that. It’s only the huge monopolies that I have issues with.
I can see you are truly a sweet man/soul. I love to be positive and assume the best of everyone, but life teaches you that not everyone values those inherent tendencies. You have to employ ‘discernment’ in dealing with any people. I’m sure your grandson enjoys the support, and kudos to you for helping him. I had an uncle who flew planes many years go, and he was a gem. The black sheep of the family, but I always liked him the best.That impulse is noble, though the commercial and military extensions of that are wide ranging in impact. How much is too much?
I’m curious what the inspiration for this was. It’s like you’re inhabiting a ‘character’ and telling a story, though from observation and not personal experience I’m sure. Of course, I think that’s something you do pretty often and do well. I do find it interesting. I think I liked the original better, but this has possibilities too. The tempo seems a bit too fast to me, in order to portray the darkness you have in mind. But at the same time that gives it a ‘snappiness’, almost like you could dance to it, and a less depressing vibe than if it was a slower tempo. There’s a bit of Alice Cooper character in the music, and your vocals kind of remind me of both Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music and David Byrne of Talking Heads.
Yeah, it seems like it needs more length coming in at less than 1 minute right now. When you have created the space for a lead break, I can try a solo and see if you like it, if you want.
Ha, thanks! I’ll throw in a beer and have Suds & Spuds. Peace.
I am hoping to hear a finished product because I was on stage behind metal fencing getting peppered by hillbilly throwing bottled beer shattering on it as we rumbled this tune out like Jeff Healy in Roadhouse.
Interesting track, Paul - definitely different for you. Seems like you have it almost finished. The acoustic vs the electric is cool. I think it works well.
My preference would be for it to have less of a predictable chord progression. Sometimes it can be an interesting idea to keep the melody the same and try playing different chords underneath. Maybe that concept could spark an idea for a bridge…
From the start I have liked your drums in this, I think they work well. In version 3 and 4 you have some lead soloing, which I think works well. You said you don’t do lead solo’s, but you clearly can do melodious ones that work well. It sounds like you’re almost there with version 4, as you say, maybe just some more vocals. I can see myself throwing a lead solo in there when you have the parts finalized, though as I said my solo’s are kind of wild and it may not fit the style, but I could try.
I’ve never understood this… the direction one follows when doing anything is forward… the intent is to make it to the end… no? The theme and mood of a song, which is what I think you mean, for me, is rarely thought or planned out prior to the commencement of the composition phase and subsequent recording which, for me, are sometimes indistinguishable or one in the same. I choose an instrument and just begin.
Do.
Am or quite possibly, I guess that might be up for debate.
The direction is usually quite clear for me. The problem is, usually, it’s all in my head. I can hear all the tracks and performances almost down to the last detail - in my head. The issue is actually turning it into physical tracks and working through the bugs that entails.
It’s like I have the mind of a symphony conductor … but the tenacity of an ADD patient.
I don’t know that this is the issue. You can generate interest other ways. Other musical parts to offset or counterpoint your basic melody, or even spoken word or sound effects to break things up. It’s all about telling a story, and even the best storytellers use basic age-old techniques. It’s not rocket science. AC/DC made a 40+ year career with 3 chord songs. But they were all different and had different hooks and moods. Despite their critics, their fans love them, including me. When something bores you, put a little ‘shtick’ in there to jazz it up. Sometimes, the weirder the better. A bridge can be total bizarre nonsense, as long as you come back to the song at the end. Many hit songs have used this technique.
Intro Verse Bridge Verse Chorus Verse Bridge Chorus Solo Chorus Chorus Outro
… or something to such affect/effect/?
FORGET it! Forget that there is even a Name for Sections of a Song. Let your Song tell you what it is and when it is finished.
I have tried to plan the path of walking while considering who walked where previously without getting bitten while strolling through the dirt and bypassing all mirage. I might have just walked into a cacti and saved myself the trouble… but, that’s just me and…
… forget sometimes. I went all in man!
Time… it don’t exist and isn’t matter but wow does it ever still got power.
More than occasionally, art is just meant for the artist… don’t sweat it. Like a dump… if ya gotta go ya gotta go… art follows that sort of path although not like intestinally and exiting traditionally.
Hey Feaks, I read through all of this and I’m trying to figure out where it’s going. If you need help, I could write a quick bridge for you to get some ideas. Sometimes you have to push the bus out of the ditch to get going.
I would just give you an idea to bounce off. Chords and lyrics you can throw away if you want. Sometimes when you hear something you don’t like you start hearing what fits when you do. Give me a couple of days.
Here’s a quick idea for you. You could split it in two, or use it wherever you think it might help, or trash it altogether. It might help tie your idea together, but it needs to be sung like you would sing it. If you don’t like it but it gives you another idea, that’s great too.
Just in case:
Spare me (G7#9, F# 7#9) (Hendrix chord)
Your righteous indignation
Spare me
Don’t need your sympathy
Spare me
The things that I’ve been messing with no doctor will prescribe for me (G, A7 B7)
I know
I’ve got a little problem
I know
It’s time for me to quit
I know
That trying to break a habit is is really very different from just doing it
Yeah, I finally got Bob’s style based on that proclamation! Three Dog Night is it, or extremely close! I loved those guys as a kid. Something I should revisit actually, so soulful!
.
.
.
And there’s probably a lot more!
Ha! They found hundreds or thousands of Quaaludes in the Georgia Guide Stones time capsule, that’s a testament right there!
People may need that stuff, come winter, you’re doing a service! In Germany they’re finding that they can’t live without Russian gas, big surprise!
There’s an old Latin expression that means “Know Thyself” (“Temet Nosce”, referenced in the movie The Matrix). Be true to yourself and - for the most part - you can’t go wrong. Speak your truth and you’re one with God, no matter what somebody else thinks or says.
It depends on what’s in the cigarette! I assume he’s talking about tobacco, which yes, in the hand of corporate tobacco companies has become an atrocity, but which to Native Americans (in the peace pipe) was a natural sacrament.
But it could also be the psychoactive kind, which has been shown to have healing properties over many centuries around the world.
Either way, not all may want to experience it. It’s to each one’s individual choice. The whole premise of addiction or harm depends on what your orientation is. Natural substances have been demonized because they make pharmaceutical answers to problems seem incoherent. But the opposite is true also; that which is unnatural is incoherent with the natural, which has proven effective over thousands of years. Party On, Wayne.
I’d still burn it in a fire pit, for fun if nothing else. The stuff I buy is sometimes ‘pine’ wood, but it’s a combination of wood source, dry/wet, wind power and direction, and other factors. I’d burn it in a heartbeat, and enjoy whatever effect it produces. The milling is something I have some ideas about, but not practical knowledge. But if the pests destroy it, it can still be used to benefit? The success of ancient societies relied on their use of resources to meet their needs. It worked for millennia, why not now?
Peace.
I assume he’s talking about tobacco, which yes, in the hand of corporate tobacco companies has become an atrocity, but which to Native Americans (in the peace pipe) was a natural sacrament.