It warms the heart.
Hey, something else that warms the heart is having a song to write and work on during a FRIDAY NIGHT! Ya know -- beer and staying up late and stuff like that? Can ya help a guy out? Somebody? Spudbody?
Sure, write a song called "What's Wrong With People?"
It's due 12:01 AM Monday, 9/18. Post it on a thread in Sidefights.
JB
Ya gotta love this guy! SUNDAY NIGHT, FOLKS! GET ON IT!
Alll good stuff -- I like the polish and story in Jim's, the whack feeling and sweet guitar riffs on Carpetburn's, and the big backup vocals and 'happy hippie love' feel to JB's -- reminds me of the "I'd like to teach the world to sing" hilltop Coke commercial of the '70s.
Now what?
I've never done a sidefight before. What happens next? Are we done?
Whatever... It was fun!
Thanks, JB.
Hey, I didn't see this thread until today, and still managed to get the title (slightly) wrong, but I thought I would put up what I recorded anyway, otherwise it's just gonna sit on my computer. So if anyone wants to hear it:
Jim - cute. Two things - This should end with some throwaway gag, imo, like 'That's the last time I visit the Vatican City!' or something lame like that. Also please repeat the fake fade-out a couple more times until the point just before it becomes annoying. Otherwise, nice work as always. Not a personal fan of pastiches, but this one has a nice feel to it and is short and to the point.
Carpetburn - I hear a half-finished demo of a very good Bloc Party style song here. Heavy, simple bass would link this altogether. Some of the words could use some work, although the overall feel is good. Yeah, I imagine the rest of CB could turn up and do some gruntwork into shaping this up into a cool cool recording of what is a cool tune.
Stubby - May I call you Stubby? Excellent 70s Tom Waits stuff with great singing and really nice mood hide grumpy-old-man-in-the-park-shaking-stick-at-pesky-teenagers musings. I liked this a lot. I wanted it to explode into vaguely punky last verse, but i feel that about most songs, so it's probably not worth considering!
JB - nice mood, great chords, good singing, like the female (?) BVs especially. Not wild about the lyric as you use a I don't know / But if I did / Actually I do know and I just told you approach (at least how I hear 'em after two listens) - which is kinda cheatin'. Also couldn't make out - is the turning line something along the lines of 'cup half full of knowledge would be full of shit, which are what people are full of' (or words to that effect) or did i really totally mis-hear it? Only that's so deep it's almost shallow. Still you have the songwriting ability, and no mistake. It's a froth of a song but it has enough to bear repeated listens for me, only maybe with different words.
Gosh. maybe unsurprisingly this title brought out the grumpy old bugger in quite a few songfighters. Still, a pleasant listen.
Yeah, them's the words all right. I've been feeling guilty about them all day, but I liked the jokes enough to just live and let live. I like the God joke, and I like the "full of shit" joke, and I like the contrast between the silly/vulgar lyrics and the "hippie love fest" vibe. I'd like to teach the world to swig a cup of shit.
I could probably have changed them to "I thought you knew" and "I think I'll tell you". Or something like that, if I could avoid ruining the God verse. But it was pretty late and it's a tosser.
No girls in it, just me up there near falsetto range.
What’s wrong with people?
What’s wrong with people?
What’s wrong with people today?
Only God knows
‘Cause he made everybody.
It just goes to show
You can’t trust anybody.
What’s wrong with people?
What’s wrong with people?
What’s wrong with people today?
I wish I knew.
I wish I knew
‘Cause then I’d know
And I could tell you.
And knowing is half the battle.
Half my glass
of knowledge
Would be full.
Full of shit.
‘Cause that’s
What’s wrong with people,
What’s wrong with people,
What’s wrong with people today.
Now you know
What’s wrong with people,
What’s wrong with people,
What’s wrong with people today.
Don’t say you don’t.
J$ -- yeah, you can call me Stubby (I gotta get another name! It doesn't fit). I'm not crazy about the vocals, or rather, this particular vocal style (which, in my limited experience, you seem to favor), but the refrain is now firmly planted in my head, so THANKS FOR THAT! Makes it kinda hard to work on "You get The Wiser". And that weird guitar-like squiggly noise is cool... how'd you do that? Good playing, production, and vox (style aside).
jb -- I like them both. Can't decide which one I like more. And trying to remember the differences is difficult with J$'s refrain playing in my goddamn head. But that was a good job on the BUs on the first one.
Well, thanks, Stubby! I am not consciously doing a vocal 'style' - that's what comes out of my mouth when I open it to sing. Blame years of listening to pretty much exclusively post-punk from 1979! Oh, if you're referring to the choppy dragged out syllables - well, my original plan was to record this about 20bpm faster which maybe would have allowed me to elide the syllables a bit more ...
And as for squidgy guitar-type sound - it's either the guitar (right-panned - an acoustic guitar played without pick, then run through a battery of guitar effects to get a nice suidgy sound) or the keyboard (organ preset panned left, played through a guitar effect.)
I wanted to write a song that only had two chords in it, kind of inspired by The Fall. Which is what I did - I am pleased the refrain is stuck in your head. It was one of those times I came up with the refrain first, in my head, worked out the notes, and fitted the song around it, rather than noodling around until stumbling across something catchy!
Here are the words if anyone wants to read 'em:
Humourless idealist, a stalwart of your scene
Lazy, self-regarding, preening Indie jukebox queen!
Playing sacred vinyl – volume makes his sphincter rumble
They’re banging on the walls again, a welcome from the jungle
What’s wrong with other people?
What’s wrong with other people?
Noise abatement letters blocking entrance to his flat – no
Longer disapproves of dissing proletariat
Puts down his morning paper, king of hatred, Daily Mail
Puts on his bloody kicking boots, he’s shining up hob-nails
What’s wrong with other people? Every fricking thing!
What’s wrong with other people? People always get it wrong
What’s wrong with other people? They won’t do as I say
What’s wrong with other people? Nothing being me can’t fix …
Meanwhile a nation demands to know
Who’s worse – Keane or Snow Patrol?
sweet
