A careful search for honey (Stinger reviews)

[Pigfarmer Jr]

And if I had to choose between me and you
I'd choose me though I know that I'd lose
And be stung every time, every time
Stinger, oh oh, it's a stinger

Place your lyrics here: viewtopic.php?t=12923

[fluffy]

remember you can't spell starfinger without stinger

[Lunkhead]

Songs posted!

[BoffoYux]

I'm up for a Listening Party if you are!
Monday 8/25 at 8 pm EST



https://youtu.be/MwcmoOCvIbA

[roymond]

The Hell Yeahs? So good to see/hear!
heine? Is that a silent e?

[Heine]

heine? Is that a silent e?

Nope, no silent letters. It's a surname, also worn by a famous German poet (Heinrich Heine).

[Heine]

Stinger Reviews by heine (short and snappy)

This has become quite a big fight! The overall quality of the songs is very high; most of the stuff is very well produced. Kudos to everyone!

Brown Word and the Big Whine:
A solid rocker! Well sung. The bass roars a bit loud out of my speakers.

Chumpy:
I like this tune. Nice melody and chord changes. I like this live approach.

DC Prox:
Haha! The music sounds much like German techno legend Scooter. Fun to listen to.

Glenn and Rachael:
This is Glenn-quality. Well recorded. Some unfamiliar chord changes. And it comes along very relaxed. I like this.

The Hell Yeahs:
This song is well crafted and catchy. I like this, too.

Jerkatorium:
These lyrics are funny and catchy and they really stuck in my head. I had to laugh several times! I also love the very dynamic musical arrangement. Sure my favourite song this fight!

KDog:
When I first read KDog I thought this would be some kinda gangsta rap (or maybe K-Pop) – but no, it's uke and bass. This bass roars a bit, too. (Is it me or my monitor boxes?) Nice song.

Lucky Witch and the Righteous Ghost:
From the live fight? I like this raw sound. Quite an interesting composition and even though very catchy.

Michael B DJ:
Nice, dreamy, soothing electronic music. This sounds very suno.ai to me. (Forgive me if I am wrong.) Personally I think this instrumental track offers nothing I could relate to "Stinger"; it also could be "Watering waves" or anything else. (But do my lyrics really relate much to Stinger? – I'll better keep my mouth shut…)

pabrizzer:
Nice live take. Simple and short. I like it!

The Pannacotta Army:
Wow! This soundscape is so great. It captivated me from the first moment. Great guitar tone and playing. Cool chords, so well sung! This is at least my No. 2 this song fight! I love it a lot!

Pigfarmer Jr:
Some solid country rock. I like the backing vocals. Well done. Lost my mum last year, I can relate to your lyrics.

Sockpuppet:
I like the idea of doin' a school lesson. Well done. It has a nice melody. The overall feeling to me is a bit like the British Band "Belle and Sebastian" which I like.

Starfinger:
Also from the live fight? Normally, not my kind of music. But this recording shows what a great performance that was. I also had to laugh. Very entertaining!

heine:
Lots of first takes on guitars, bass and piano. Even the words were improvised. It is kind of a pastiche but even a tribute to a British band called Dry Cleaning.

[WreckdoMelle]

Stinger reviews

Pig Farmer Jr. - Dang, PFJ, I wasn’t prepared to cry this morning! This is the sign of a song that makes an impression when you make WreckoMelle tear up <3 Good execution, catchy melodies.

KDog - Spud!!! It’s so rare for me to hear new Spud, glad you made it to the fight.

Starfinger - this is really fun!

Heine - I like this a whole lot, just listening to you muse on the intricacies of English pronunciation. Not like German, which sounds pretty much exactly as spelled!

Fluffy - This was so cute! How fun! And also rare to hear a new Fluffy performance, cool!

Jerkatorium - I loved the callouts to the other songfighters.

The Pannacotta Army - this is gorgeous. Flawless production and execution, the slide guitar really makes it, but the melody is also very pretty.

DCProx - This is cool! I hang out on the Discord and was following the discussions there and it’s neat to see what you came up with.

Michael B DJ - I’ve always appreciated that while Song Fight does feature a lot of singer-songwriters, it also invites other genres, such as this danceable mix.

The Hell Yeahs - this was cute and fun.

Glen and Rachel - Chill and pretty with great sounding guitars and harmonies, interesting chord progressions.

Pabrizzer - short and sweet. Today I learned about the irukandji!!!

Chumpy - this one was neat, I loved the spareness of the performance.

Brown Word and the Big Whine - I wasn’t super moved by this title so the lyrics are little vague but the Texas Legislature is on my bad side, I’d like the TXGOP to be wrapped in Portuguese man o’ wars and laid out amongst the tar balls and medical waste on the August sands of Padre Island. They will get stung by their bad choices, but not hard as they deserve for terrorizing women, trans people, immigrants, gays, the disabled, the homeless, students, the elderly, non-conservatives, non-Christians, intellectuals, and basically anybody they won’t find productive to their master (race) plan. There, I’ve said it. Mess with Texas and get fire ants in your drawers.


Really splendid work all our live folks this week! It’s one thing to have a studio project and another to pull off a live production, which WreckdoM learned back in 2013, we were practicing like twice a week for months to create a live facsimile of our favorite (live-playable) songs. And they were still interpretations at that. Great work friends!

PS. I see Melfire in the Ye Olde Lyrics Marte but not on the listing (unless they are under another name)

[fluffy]

Reviews are just in shuffle order. My votes are a secret.

pabrizzer: I like the sedate casual feel of this, like you're performing live in a coffee shop where everyone's asleep. The lyrics didn't really grab me at all but the music was pleasant, at least.

Glenn and Rachael: As usual a nice solid track from Song Fight!'s power couple, about a topic with which I think we can all relate. I've definitely had to end more than a couple friendships and relationships after realizing the other person was being manipulative and toxic.

KDog: This feels like oldschool Song Fight! in so many ways. The recording being done on a microphone that's too far away from the mandolin, the overly-loud bass that meanders and mostly sticks to the root note, the terrible mixing overall — it's like a warm fuzzy reminder of how Song Fight! used to be all the time before high-quality production became easy and accessible. Anyway the song itself is decent as far as 12-bar blues go. Welcome to Song Fight!.

Sockpuppet: I was super unhappy with how the live recording went, between not being able to hold onto or see my lyrics because of wind and darkness, and with how the "quiz show" aspect went (I really should have worked with G blurting out the answers! They were having fun! I'm sorry G!). So I decided to record a studio version, which I'm just only meh about, between the low-effort way in which I made the simulated kid voices, some super unsteady piano playing (thanks, chronic pain and fatigue), and a sorta half-assed mix overall. But at least I played live drums for once and it isn't too bad.

Jerkatorium: Wow, this fictional person sure seems to be a terrible person and I'm glad that you've fake broken up with them! Great song overall, nice jokes about Song Fight! and such too (which worked a lot better at the actual event but it's fun to hear it preserved in a studio version anyway). For the record I'm not much of a mixtape maker but I appreciate the shout-out all the same.

Brown Word and the Big Whine: I love the 80s power punk thing you've got going on here. The lyrics are mostly buried in the mix and hard for me to understand but that's in keeping with the genre. Ending's a bit abrupt though.

DC Prox: This is another one that reminds me of oldschool Song Fight!. I'd recommend using some notch EQ to make the vocals not compete with everything else (i.e. EQ the vocals up around 200-300Hz and EQ that synth line and the reverb and such down around 150-350Hz). That certainly was a choice to do a fake fadeout ending followed by an actual abrupt cutoff, neither of which felt like a satisfying way to end the song.

heine: I love this whole modal spoken-word thing you've got going on here. I can't understand a word of it except "stinger." Oh good you posted your lyrics. Anyway yeah this is definitely something I would not mind coming up at random in a playlist in the future.

Chumpy: Short and sweet, and a fun little bop.

The Pannacotta Army: I love the lush live sound on this, like I'm being crooned at in a smoky bar in the 80s with a 50s revival theme. I wonder if 80s revival bars are a thing or if there's going to be a trend for a revival of the 80s revival of the 50s that was going on for a hot minute. And now I want a time machine so I can get a burger at Yesterdave's in Albuquerque. Anyway none of that has anything to do with the song. Love the vocal melody, although the lyrics are a bit muddled at times for me. But there's quite the vibe here and I love it.

Lucky Witch and the Righteous Ghost: This was quite the bop and was my favorite one at the actual event. I hope you eventually record a studio version of this for an album because it definitely deserves a recording that isn't potato quality! Y'all always come up with the best chord progressions and weird modulations.

Michael B DJ: Now here's a genre we don't get a lot of at Song Fight! Back in the day doing instrumental electronic music would have resulted in a 10-page thread about the validity of instrumentals in Song Fight!, but personally I'm in favor of them, especially if they can convey that they were written for the title specifically or if they do something interesting. Unfortunately, this track cannot claim either of those things and it just comes across as exceedingly bland.

Pigfarmer Jr: Probably the most fascinating thing that Song Fight! has done for me over the years has been helping me gain an appreciation for country music and you played a big part in that. Anyway this one's pretty good. Nice construction to the song, good solid chord progression, great recording for the most part. Could use a bit more bass and volume on the lead vocals.

Starfinger: Remember, "Starfinger" minus "Stinger" is "arf." This was a lot of fun at the live show, not sure it translates super well to the actual fight, but oh well. The true stingers were the friends we made on the way. Also this makes me want to dust off my Kaossilator.

The Hell Yeahs: This is pretty great! Love the chord progression and how it keeps me guessing but always resolves in a satisfying way, and how the song has a bunch of structure to it that's surprising and delightful. It makes me think of Violent Femmes cosplaying as The Monkees, having been commissioned to do a song for a children's educational program. Good stuff.

[Spud]

KDog - Spud!!! It’s so rare for me to hear new Spud, glad you made it to the fight.

It's true that I am on this recording (playing overly-loud root-based bass), but I didn't write it, and it's not me singing. Thanks for the mention, but just sayin'...

[fluffy]

KDog - Spud!!! It’s so rare for me to hear new Spud, glad you made it to the fight.

It's true that I am on this recording (playing overly-loud root-based bass), but I didn't write it, and it's not me singing. Thanks for the mention, but just sayin'...

Your bass playing is just that distinctive!

[WreckdoMelle]

Oops, my bad

[Spud]

Oops, my bad

No offense taken. I DO plan to be back.

[pabrizzer]

wow - you've got to vote for two - couldn't do it
been back to listen through at least 4 times
still haven't been able to get through to the end of any
the tech no no no stuff got about 10 seconds each
the live stuff was just pretty much noise to my old ears
a couple got me past a minute
we all like our own stuff - right?
so my fav of this week was KDog
mandolin? bass and vocals - and pretty sure it was a performance by real people
i tried to give him/them (forgot to check them pronouns) my one vote
really could not believe the time and effort and production that went into some that did not get me past 30 seconds listening time - and i did try
it's all personal taste and i'm a 70 year old grump
so easy to ignore and just my 2 cents
hope to find something i can get to the end of next week

oh - the male platypus has poisonous spurs on its hind legs - referring to it as a stinger in a teaching/learning situation would be incorrect imho

[Heather. Redmon.]

Brown Word and the Big Whine: This one’s heavy and it rocks! I love your voice. It sounds totally effortless the way you sing this. I kinda wish everything was turned up a bit more, both vocals and guitars. It would’ve been cool to have them come through in the mix more. But honestly, that’s just a tiny thing.

Chumpy: The vocals feel really earnest. I’m not totally sure how it ties into dinner, though. The lyrics were a bit confusing to follow. But I do appreciate that it’s short and sweet.

DC Prox: The music itself is put together well, though the lyrics are not very groundbreaking. I found the echo on the vocals a bit distracting, and the fade out and then back in felt kind of odd. Just as I was starting to get into it, it was over.

Glenn and Rachael: Very clear with a great guitar tone. That’s definitely Glenn, I’d recognize you anywhere, and Rachael has such a beautiful voice. The two vocals go so well together. I think “the bumble bee stings, then it dies” is a great line.

heine: I do know Dry Cleaning, and I can see you’re kind of going for that vibe here. “Stin-jer” definitely made me smile. I’m not totally sure how it all ties into “stinger” besides that you say it a bunch of times, but the music itself is pretty catchy. It did feel a little long, but overall, I thought it wasn’t bad for an improvised talker.

The Hell Yeahs: Phil did such a great job on this one, in my opinion. I really appreciate the thoughtfulness he put into the guitar, bass, and drums, as well as the lyrics, and for putting up with me while I sang it. It is always such a great time making songs together. I wish we could do it more often, but usually the timing doesn't work out.

Jerkatorium: Songfight jokes.This is pretty catchy in a kinda silly, doesn’t take itself too seriously way. Fun!

KDog: Spud and friends! Nice bass playing, great lyrics. Good performances by everyone.

Lucky Witch and the Righteous Ghost: This live performance holds its own against the studio stuff in this fight. It really translates well. The lyrics are solid. Disapproving parents will always be a great topic for a song. I just wish I could hear Niveous a bit more.

Michael B DJ: Like Fluffy said, back in the day, this would have spawned a big debate about instrumental music in Songfight. I think I fall on the side that this could have had any title. It’s hard for me to leap to this is a song that should be called Stinger. It's a little repetitive. I don’t usually like electronic music, and you haven't much changed my mind. But that said, I liked the groove.

pabrizzer: One thing I’ve learned being a part of this community off and on for the past 20ish years is that it’s good to keep an open mind about music that you might not normally like and find something positive in it. I thought your sour grapes in this thread were a downer. This song is short, which is good. The lyrics are ok. The ukulele is loud. I don’t normally like guy and guitar/ukulele very much, but I managed to listen to it and get through all the way to the end.

The Pannacotta Army: What a full sound! I love the slide guitar. I share your fear of bees, though I fully appreciate their place in this world, stinger and all. I liked this a lot.

Pigfarmer Jr: It's well written and I find myself enjoying the song, despite it being a genre I don’t usually like. I thought that the different stages of your life, still feeling the sting with each one, was a good way for the lyrics to unfold. The production is well done.

Sockpuppet: When I read the lyrics before the songs were posted, I wasn’t sure I was going to like this, but it turned out really cute. It sounds like you had a good time with it. The music had me bopping along, and the kid voices sounded good, if not a little creepy (in the good way?).

Starfinger: I wish I were at Songfight Live just to know what was so funny. I guess you had to be there. You meet the optional challenge, that’s for sure! The steady music and the silly lyrics must be what did it for those who were there, but I don’t know if they do it for me. It sounds like you had a really good time, and it was entertaining.

[fluffy]

wow - you've got to vote for two - couldn't do it
been back to listen through at least 4 times
still haven't been able to get through to the end of any
the tech no no no stuff got about 10 seconds each
the live stuff was just pretty much noise to my old ears
a couple got me past a minute
we all like our own stuff - right?
so my fav of this week was KDog
mandolin? bass and vocals - and pretty sure it was a performance by real people
i tried to give him/them (forgot to check them pronouns) my one vote
really could not believe the time and effort and production that went into some that did not get me past 30 seconds listening time - and i did try
it's all personal taste and i'm a 70 year old grump
so easy to ignore and just my 2 cents
hope to find something i can get to the end of next week

I gotta wonder what fight you're listening to, because there were only two songs which could be classified as "techno," and only three which were actually live. But hey, you do you.

oh - the male platypus has poisonous spurs on its hind legs - referring to it as a stinger in a teaching/learning situation would be incorrect imho

Good thing this isn't meant as an educational song, then!

(anyway, wikipedia disagrees, and if you have an issue with that, you should also have an issue with the jellyfish verse, not that I ever even used the word "stinger" in the song)

[Pigfarmer Jr]

This was a fun fight. Thank you to everyone for everything. (I think that includes most people, right?)

Brown Word and the Big Whine: Cool guitars and I love the doubled vocal. And I like the heavy feel to the bass although it's not super distinct. Good energy. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't singing along with "Fuck around and find out!!!"

Chumpy: This chorus melody delves into my brain and snakes along only to break through when I least expect it.

DC Prox: I love how this intro kind of rises out of the depths. If I only listened for a few seconds I would not like the sonic texture but the way it rises out of the mud is cool. I also like the delay on the vocal. I maybe want the vocal to be a bit more clear for ease of listening to the lyric but that might ruin the effect, too.

Glenn and Rachael: One of my favorites of the fight. (I liked your live performance, too.) I feel like I want to save this one to reference when I'm mixing. (But I'm likely too lazy to do so.) There's a softness to Rachael's voice that feels very comforting. Your voices work very well together, too.

heine: I feel this one has a lot to offer as an example of simple melodies being used to great effect. The premise is humorous but maybe bordering on overplayed. But I will say that although I thought this would get stale on repeated listens but so far it hasn't.

The Hell Yeahs: Loving the bouncy energy, especially as the vocals come in. Really like the chorus. Another top tier entry for this fight. (That almost vocal at 2:02 took me out of the song a bit on first listen but I have to say it's become a fun little bit that I think I'd miss if it were gone, now.) Seriously liking this one.

Jerkatorium: And another good one. I'm liking this fight. I enjoyed your live performance a lot. And another catchy chorus stuck in the brain. My only nit to pick is that your song is a bit quieter than most of the other ones. (Which isn't really a fault, just a choice.)

KDog: Live recordings aren't always easy to listen to purely on sound qualities and while the vocal here could be higher in the mix, this actually sounds pretty darn good. I like the arrangement (and I very much enjoyed your Sunday evening performance over SF Live weekend.)

Lucky Witch and the Righteous Ghost: If I listen to this song and then turn off music it sticks with me for a long while. "Mother says it isn't normal!" should be on a band shirt or something. I'd buy one. (I wear a big medium or a not too large large and am willing to pay shipping if ever you get one designed.) I love that the vocal is so easily understood in a live setting (not usually the case.)

Michael B DJ: So I listen to DJ Kenneth A (A.Eye) quite a bit but outside of that I'm not into electronic music much. But there was something about this one that I was drawn to. I wanted to hear this one repeatedly.

pabrizzer: The recording sounds decent enough. Thanks for keeping it under a minute and a half.

The Pannacotta Army: The slide/steel playing makes this feel so dreamy. It's a cool arrangement and well crafted.

Pigfarmer Jr: I reworked this lyric almost right up to the live fight and I'm happy I did (it's much better than the first couple of drafts.) I need to tweak the mix but I'm pretty happy with this one.

Sockpuppet: Lovely production, the classroom setting is perfect for this. It's cool to get the idea and then hear it implemented so well. I loved the humorous last verse, too. Right up my alley.

Starfinger: I loved your live fight, it was awesome. And great to meet you. Listening this will always bring back great memories.

The Mellfire Trifecta: This sounds very will mixed for a live take but I don't really know if it's live or not. It's smooth. Not my favorite of the fight but I would have voted for this had I known about it.

[arby]

Reviews part 1:

Brown Word and the Big Whine: Nice rocker! Love the “fuck around and find out” bridge. This reminds me of a grunge version of The Runaways. As usual with BW&tBW though, the vocal is buried in the mix. Overall good song.

Chumpy: This is cute but kind of underwhelming just compared to Jerkatorium’s excellent entry. But it’s catchy. Also it feels a little bit like an excuse to see how many rhymes for Stinger you can make.

DC Prox: Not really my bag, genre bias for sure. It’s.. fine. Just not for me.

Glenn and Rachael: This is so good! I loved this in the live fight, and I’m so happy you guys had time to record a studio version. Such pretty chords, especially in the chorus and bridge. GREAT lyrics! This reminds me of a hidden gem Crowded House song or something. Or like Lucinda Williams plus Michael Penn. The only thing I would have done differently is save the harmonies for the 2nd chorus and on, because it would have greater impact. Also there’s a funky note in the last chorus, on the first last line repetition. I can’t tell if someone is flat or if it’s on purpose. But those are minor nitpicks, this was incredible and won my vote.

heine: I like this a lot. Grungy and simple but satisfying. The spoken word works well. It reminds me of Daft Punk’s “Giorgio by Moroder” but maybe that’s just the German accent. Yeah I don’t have much else to say about it but I dug it and it got a vote from me.

The Hell Yeahs: This is cute and I don’t hate it, but for some reason I don’t love it. Something about the vocals and chords is a little too cutesy for my taste. Like it’s fine, but I wouldn’t listen to it outside the contest. Genre bias perhaps. If this were by Shonen Knife, I would like it more. Like it sounds like it’s trying too hard to be cute as a button.

Jerkatorium: This is SO GOOD and honestly probably deserved to win the live fight, and I’m not just saying that because we were shouted out in it. I just think it’s incredibly well written and performed. Starfinger was a delight and I voted for him because I enjoyed his performance so much, but I feel like in terms of songcraft this beats him hands down. Lyrics are great, “my pastor, that bastard” makes me laugh every time. Also I love how in the shout out section, you clearly thought about who was providing each form of music - the box set by Glenny also makes me laugh every time because who else would have so much material?! Okay now for two slight nitpicks. 1) in the Live Fight you did the chorus again at the end and it worked really well - I missed it here in the recording. 2) I get why you used LWRG with no additional nouns or modifiers because of prosody reasons, but I guess I don’t understand what they were supposed to have given you from us - our whole catalog? Also why your lover giving you all the music by SongFighters was such a stinger. I mean, rule of cool, it sounds great, but it doesn’t actually make a huge amount of sense. ANYWAY Still love it and got my vote.

KDog: This is fine for what it is. Genre bias, a little too country-fried for my taste. Guy + ukelele + bass doesn’t really do it for me.

Lucky Witch and the Righteous Ghost: I am pretty pleased with our song. (The performance is ragged and I fucked up on Omni several times but what else is new, haha.) I just have the following nitpick - for prosody reasons I cut out several pronouns and then I keep getting confused as to who is speaking and it starts to seem grammatically incorrect. Like in the chorus the lines were supposed to be “I shouldn't play with scorpions/I don't know what they'll do” but we sang “Shouldn’t play with scorpions” and it’s a quote from the mother (but indirect, not direct!) so I kept singing “You don’t know what they’ll do” instead of “I”. And the last line of the verse was originally “I don’t get the implications” but I stupidly changed it to “Doesn’t get” because I was thinking just saying “Don’t get” sounded weird out of context, but that makes it sound like it’s talking about the mother instead of “me”! Okay I think I know how to fix this. If I put back the pronouns where possible and change the chorus to be a direct quote on those two lines, it makes sense again. Like so:

Mother says this isn't normal,
Says I'm toying with the devil
“You shouldn't play with scorpions -
you don't know what they'll do”
She doesn't like my new tattoo

Then the end of the first verse becomes:

She thinks I'm in over my head -
I don’t get the implications

Okay thanks for reading while I worked out my shit. Any additional lyric feedback welcome. More later, gotta run errands!

[drproximo]

I just discovered today that these review threads are active, and I wanted to mention something in response to a few of the reviews. Some of you mentioned the thing I did at the end of the song, where it faded out but then came back. That's a stinger. It's a musical pun. When something seems to have ended, but comes back for one last something, that's a stinger. Post-credit scenes which are now ubiquitous in movies are a category of stinger. When a YouTube video has a brief blooper reel or silly callback joke after everything else is done, that's a stinger. I guess I assumed the term was more well-known than it actually is.

[fluffy]

Oddly enough, I did know the term for it, but I didn't get the connection to the title. Too subtle for me, I guess!

[Lunkhead]

The Mellfire Trifecta sent in a song a few minutes after I posted the fight but unfortunately for them I had no time to add their song to the fight before I went on a trip for a week and had no access to update songfight.org. I'm back and I just added their song so it gets into the archive. I'm about to post the new songs and everything though.

[Pigfarmer Jr]

I updated my reviews with two sentences about their song (up there ^) but wanted to say I liked it here where they are more likely to see it.