I Made a Deal with the Devil (Oh My Soul Reviews)

[ken]

The devil went down to Songfight
He was lookin' for songs to accrue
He was in a bind
'Cause he was way behind
And he was willin' to write reviews

[Lunkhead]

Songs posted.

[furrypedro]

Hey everybody! Good to be back.
Here are some thoughts wot I wrote at work today. If you'd like me to elaborate on, or take back, anything I've said gimme a shout. Personally I think I'm going soft in my old age cos these reviews are all far too nice

Rio Mondo: That wibbly synth at the beginning is really cool. It's probably my favourite part. The chords, lyrics and performance here are all solid. My one piece of criticism for the vox is that occasionally you rap certain lines on the beat too much, and it makes it sound a bit clunky and goofy. The final line is an example of this - "I wouldn't have it any oooother way". I've been a victim of this myself and I've found the cure is to deliver the line almost as if you were speaking it without a rhythm behind you, independent of the beat. Just my opinion of course, but I find this technique sounds more nonchalant. That mini gripe aside this is pretty good.

Lichen Throat: I'm not gonna lie, overall this has an amateurish feel to it. But there is plenty here that holds my interest. The melody/chords are more adventurous than most entries this week and aren't unpleasant, plus you've written unique hooks that don't sound overused or tired, you've actually tried to write something completely original. Also, in the lyric you cover territory that I've wrestled with myself (not in a song, just in life), and the way you handle it gives food for thought which is always worthwhile.

Zacco: A heartfelt lament to the twin hardships of forgetting about footwear and an inadequate fish supper (not the sexy kind). What do I like: The fact you spelled "sole" correctly - by golly I would've taken you to the cleaners had you made that mistake, and the harmonies are mostly good. What didn't grab me: The tempo failed to excite me, a bit ploddy, I'm not saying you have to record a Ramones-style version of this song, but...

Cookie Blew: Cute little uke tune. Doesn't stray too far from the formula and doesn't do anything wrong. The ooohs after the chorus give a nice haunting feel. The pot-smoking reference nudges this into Lemonheads territory for me, this is a plus point.

Micah Sommersmith: You're winning the prize so far for production values. Decent song, the speeding up in the verse is excellent, in fact the whole verse is pretty spot on. The chorus almost falls a bit flat when it hits, it's like there's a different singer who's not into the song as much as the verse singer. Maybe just bumping up the level of the chorus vox might fix it, not sure. But it's only a minor thing. Good song otherwise.

Berks: I'm getting rusty, this is Ken singing right? This is pretty hot. The crunchy guitar in the chorus is mint. The bass and kick hook up really nicely. Boss e-bow solo too - gives the middle a nice atmosphere rather than the relentless widdling . Most importantly it's all held together with that killer chorus, I like the way it goes from the long notes on "oh my soul" to the quickly sung words, that bit is really good the way the meter/phrasing is done. In the interests of both meritocracy and nepotism I will award this a vote.

Wreckdom: The neneneneeeh bit made me chuckle. This reminds me a bit of Paul Denyer's Glutton, one of my favourite SF songs about a ghost. This, however, has no mention of pies in it which is a negative, but what it does have in it's favour are the call/response style verses panning from left to right, the theremin (no better ghostly instrument in my book). If I were mixing this I'd EQ the vocals to get rid of the frequencies below about 200Hz and add a short delay on the lead vocal (if you've got a double-delay set them to around 80ms and 180ms) to give a bit of presence and make them sit in the mix a bit more naturally.

Cory AG: Mr AG gets the trophy for the breathiest vocal I've ever heard on SF. Nice enough song. It's incredibly earnest. I can't fault this in any way, the glock is a nice touch. It didn't really pull my heartstrings like a suspect it was meant to, but that says more about me than the song. Good job.

Toby Kokrot: I kinda like this. The guitar sounds simple and strummy at first but I like how it explores the song and you play around with the chords. The harmonica adds colour but you never let it overpower the song, it just adds a bit of space. Vocals and lyrics are nice too. They give a kind of chilled rustic feel. I wasn't sure I was going to like this at first but it won me over.

Hunklead: Really well produced. The tone on the lead guitar is shimmering. It's all tight and sounds nice. The hook for the last chorus is the pay-off that the song was leading up to all along. I like that you let it last a few extra bars.

Balance Lost: This is me. It's a bit gash but it's the sound of me brushing the cobwebs away. The outro is growing on me.

[Lunkhead]

Group effort on BSS vocals this time. I'm singing the verses. Ken is singing lead on the choruses with backups from the rest of us.

[cookie]

Cookie Blew: Cute little uke tune. Doesn't stray too far from the formula and doesn't do anything wrong. The ooohs after the chorus give a nice haunting feel. The pot-smoking reference nudges this into Lemonheads territory for me, this is a plus point.

Thanks for the review. I was a little nervous about comments on these lyrics. They're very personal and true. Which reminds me, I still need to post them to the lyrics thread.
Btw I hope I didn't actually blow

[cookie]

It's funny how you guys sometimes think I'm playing uke. Usually it's just a small guitar and capo. But I felt I'd take the challenge and record a one-take demo of myself trying to perform the song on an actual ukulele.

[Lunkhead]

Late entry by Nick Soma has been added to the fight.

[noma]

Late entry by Nick Soma has been added to the fight.

Yeah. Mr. Soma got a little bit carried away.

[josh]

Ten Minutes, you done lost your mind! Haha. I'll try and find some time to listen. I shuffled through. Epic sounds. The Mellotron flute at the end definitely piqued my interest.

[Vince Havoc]

We actually used uke in this fight lol. Weird.

[Vince Havoc]

Thanks for the critique furryperdo!

[Cornfield]

Our Writer/Singer had sinus surgery so we didn't do anything for this or the next fight. No axes to grind. Lots of very nice entries. We are glad that people of all skill levels are participating. We look at this contest for the "song" value rather than production value so sometimes it is hard to separate a well performed piece from well written pieces.

We cast 4 votes
Cookie Blue - We know a ukulele when we hear one. Good use of harmony is the right places. A pleasant melody

Micah Summersmith - we liked the speeding up verses. Metronomes can be over rated.

Cory A. G. - Great use of repetition.

Nick Soma - - King Crimson style intro with Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Alan Parsons, Moody Blues channeling.

[lichenthroat]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone found that Song Fight affects how you listen to other music? Now, whenever I hear a new song, I find myself deciding whether I would vote for it.

Balance Lost—My favorite thing about this song is the interplay between the vocal melody and the instrumental music, which seems well planned and executed. The outro is probably a little longer than it needs to be, but this is an enjoyable song nonetheless. Vote.

Berkeley Social Scene—Strong work, as usual. The guitar sounds good, and the feedbacky bits are the icing on the cake. Good solid stuff. Vote.

Cookie Blue—I have a particular fondness for music like this, and your songwriting and performance are good, so yeah, I like it a lot. Like the lyrics, too. Vote.

Cory A.G.—Your vocal performance is very good. However, the song is a little on the languid side for my taste. I kept waiting for it to break out into a climax, but it never did, and it isn’t quite heartbreaking enough to be completely effective as a slow, sad tune. There’s a lot to like here, though.

Lichen Throat (me)—I’m happy with the lyrics, but the rest of this is kind of a mess. To try to improve the vocal clarity, I experimented with a different compositional and recording process than I normally use, and the result was that the vocal was too divorced from the rest of the music, which is why it sounds like a mashup of three different, unrelated songs.

Lunkhead—Good lyrics, particularly “drive us down a dark road/wearing a blindfold.” I like the steel guitar (or whatever that instrument is). Nothing to complain about anywhere here. Vote.

Micah Sommersmith—I had to look up “27 Club” (but not “see my face staring back at me”—nice reference). Your usual formula of fun accordion and clever lyrics has served you well again. Vote.

Nick Soma—A+ for concept. I see why you were late! I suspect you would have liked even more time to fine tune this, but it’s still really impressive. Excellent job on the production; everything sounds flawless, even on my most unforgiving headphones. Vote.

Rio Mondo—I like the idea of writing a song about selling one’s soul to the devil—nice lyrical take on the title. I had to look up Robert Johnson (who died at 27, incidentally—I’m learning a lot today). This is pretty far outside the sphere of music I’m familiar with, but I think a little more variety within the song would be welcome.

toby roktot—The quick, widely separated harmonica notes are an interesting, and effective, choice. I like your voice. I found the guitar melody to be too repetitive, but overall, this is a nice song. Vote.

WreckdoM—The lyrics are pretty funny, and I like the rhythm. I have a sense that I may be insufficiently sophisticated to properly appreciate this.

Zack Facco—The subtle change in the guitar chords in the chorus is nice. Overall, though, the song didn’t seize my interest.

[MicahSommer]

This title lends itself very well to vocal hooks, more so than most recent Song Fight titles. So in addition to reviewing your song as a whole, I will also be reviewing your melodic setting of the title.

Balance Lost - This song definitely grows on me as I listen more. Your voice suits the melancholy feel of the song very well, and the lyrics and music complement each other well to portray the feeling of finding refuge from an unkind world through music. Great references to various soul records too.

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This works really well in the context of the chorus melody as a whole - a series of descending figures that just keep on going down. It’s great motivic writing and it illustrates the emotional state of the narrator well.

Berkeley Social Scene - Great catchy chorus, beautiful e-bow solo. Verses don’t do much for me. The backing vocals on “soul” during the ending choruses seem strained and off-pitch.

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This hook is simple and memorable. Its long note values and its placement high in the melody give it an anthemic quality. Great job!

Cookie Blue - I won’t weigh in on the guitar vs. ukulele controversy. This is a beautiful heartfelt song. The chord progressions are familiar but the melody is lovely and the words are very effective.

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The appoggiatura on “my” in Hook A is a very nice touch, and Hook B’s long note values give it an appropriate sense of finality.

[MicahSommer]

Cory A.G. - Nice backing vocals when they pop up, nice subtle synth strings underneath the guitar. The lyrics might be a bit on the melodramatic side. Your voice is straight out of the 90s but you use it well so I’m not complaining.

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The loose rhythm of this hook made it difficult for me to transcribe, and also difficult to recall after the song is over.

Lichen Throat - Your vocal definitely sounds much clearer than it has in the past. The lyrics read really well but listening I don’t feel like they’re really connected to the music. I’m going to guess that you wrote the lyrics first and then wrote the music separately. You might try starting with the music instead. Doing so might limit your lyric writing but it may also make your lyrics flow more naturally if they already have a melody to be sung to.

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The short-short-long rhythm of “Oh my soul” and length of time until the vocal line continues made me think it was a free-standing exclamation, so I was caught off guard when it turned out to be the subject of a longer sentence. I kept going back and thinking it was “Oh my soul, it isn’t easy.” This comment is, I expect, completely useless.

Lunkhead - Nice country tune, well-performed. My one complaint is the acoustic guitar, which is mostly audible as a pitch-less ratchety crunch crunch percussion sound. Oh, and your hesitation on “we’re all gonna die” in the last chorus sticks out in what is otherwise a fantastic vocal performance.

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Here, the melody under “Oh my soul” is effective as part of a longer melody, and doesn’t generate much interest solely on its own. Nothing wrong with that.

[MicahSommer]

Micah Sommersmith - I agree with the criticism of the chorus vocals. I think I need to cut the vocal harmony during the choruses (except the a cappella intro) and probably re-record the melody. I woke up my baby recording the rap verse to “Dad Joke,” so this time the verses were muttered while sitting on the living room floor. I’m actually pretty happy with the result.

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The hook was the first thing I came up with, as I suspect it was with a number of other folks. I like it, but again I think it would be more effective as a solo line during the song, without the lower harmony parts muddying things up.

Nick Soma - Your strings sound super cheesy and fake. Otherwise, epic song, had me on the edge of my seat. Great hooks, great playing, great lyrics. Not sure how much replay value it has, given how much of a commitment it is to listen to the whole thing.

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Not a particularly memorable snippet of melody on its own, but its consistent use, both vocally and instrumentally, in association with the character of Davey makes it a solid and effective leitmotif. Richard Wagner (or, if you prefer a less controversial figure, John Williams) would be proud.

Rio Mondo - The hook is great. Like, really great. The verses are clunky, both the lyrics and the delivery. Backing track is nicely creepy.

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Like I said, great hook.

[MicahSommer]

toby roktot - Great lyrics with some very nice imagery, though clinical words like “beneficial” and “insouciance” stick out oddly. It also sounds a little odd when you slip into speech at “refusing to let go.” Simple guitar and harmonica accompaniment works for the song.

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Your use of “Oh my soul” is unusual in that you place it at the end of the chorus where nearly everyone else puts it at the beginning. In that context it is effective in its simple finality.

WreckdoM - Enjoyable little song. The “neener-neener-neener” made me laugh. I would have lost patience if this had gone on much longer, but it was the perfect length.

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The exaggerated vibrato is a great touch. Spooky!

Zack Facco - Love me some triple meter, and the music is charming. I especially like the descending note on “sound.” However, it’s essentially a joke song, and the caterwauling at the end is not to my tastes.

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“Oh my” appears as a pick-up, with “soul” on the downbeat. This is unusual among these songs, and therefore a point in your favor.

[lichenthroat]

I’m going to guess that you wrote the lyrics first and then wrote the music separately.

Yes, I did. The main thing I learned from the experiment was not to do it again.

Thank you for all the work you put into transcribing everyone's songs. This was very interesting, and I appreciate that you expended the effort to do it.

[MicahSommer]

I’m going to guess that you wrote the lyrics first and then wrote the music separately.

Yes, I did. The main thing I learned from the experiment was not to do it again.

The more you write, the more you will write automatically with an ear for how your words will work musically, even if you aren't writing them with a specific melody in mind. At least that has been my experience.

Micah Sommersmith—I had to look up “27 Club” (but not “see my face staring back at me”—nice reference). Your usual formula of fun accordion and clever lyrics has served you well again. Vote.

I have to confess that, if "see my face staring back at me" is a reference, it was not intentional. What did you take it as a reference to? Also, thank you for the kind review!

[MicahSommer]

EDIT: See later post for corrected chart!

More analysis that no one asked for!

I got interested in what people were rhyming "soul" with, so I crunched the numbers!

Oh My Soul rhymes.png (50.03 KiB) Viewed 7651 times

Here we can see who rhymed "soul" with what, and the total rhymes per artist, and artists per rhyme.

"Control" was the clear winner for most frequent rhyme. Presumably "losing control" or lack of "self-control" are common situations in which one might exclaim "Oh my soul."

Despite Ken's instructions in the prefight, his band was the only act to rhyme "rock and roll," and they didn't even do it every time as instructed.

Cory A.G. handedly wins most rhymes, as nearly every line in each chorus ended in at least a slant rhyme with "soul."

Among those with no rhymes for "soul," Cookie Blue, Lichen Throat, and Nick Soma place the title at the beginning of a line, so the rhyme, if it comes, is with something else. And Rio Mondo and WreckdoM both have choruses that consist of only the title.

Crediting Zack Facco with a rhyme for "sole" was a tough call, but I was feeling generous.

This concludes my gratuitous and un-requested analysis of this round. Thanks for bearing with me.

[Lunkhead]

I for one am enjoying the in-depth analyses.

[Toby Roktot]

Totally agree with Lunk !!! Love the in depth review.
I hope to have reviews posted in the next few days. Weather is sooo nice, I've been sailing nearly everyday. Even recorded oms & ihhmy on the Catalina !!
Thanks for all the reviews so far and very nice songs all around.
Regards,
Toby