Nur Ein II Round Three "State of Emergency"

Billy's Little Trip · Post by **Billy's Little Trip** » Tue May 29, 2007 9:45 pm

bzl wrote:Wait-- how many of you jokers get kicked out this time around?

Some people call me Maurice, cause I speak of the pompitous of love.

Steve Durand · Post by **Steve Durand** » Tue May 29, 2007 9:59 pm

Billy's Little Trip wrote: Some people call me Maurice, cause I speak of the pompitous of love.

Speaking of "pompitous"

According to Vernon Green, who composed and performed The Letter, Miller mis-heard the original line [quoted from Harris' page]:

Vernon Green, the author of The Letter, says, "You have to remember, I was a very lonely guy at the time. I was only fourteen years old, I had just run away from home, and I walked with crutches." The uneducated but imaginative youth was prone to fantasy, so he just made up the lyrics. 'Pismotality' described words of such secrecy that they could only be spoken to the one you loved.

"And it's not pompitous," he emphasizes. "What I said was 'puppetuse', which is a term I coined to mean a secret paper doll fantasy figure."

Steve

Billy's Little Trip · Tue May 29, 2007 10:15 pm

So..........you're saying that I speak of the secret paper doll fantasy of love? That's just perverted.

Leave it to a midnight toker.

Ross · Post by **Ross** » Tue May 29, 2007 10:38 pm

sdurand wrote:
Billy's Little Trip wrote: Some people call me Maurice, cause I speak of the pompitous of love.
Speaking of "pompitous"

According to Vernon Green, who composed and performed The Letter, Miller mis-heard the original line [quoted from Harris' page]:

Vernon Green, the author of The Letter, says, "You have to remember, I was a very lonely guy at the time. I was only fourteen years old, I had just run away from home, and I walked with crutches." The uneducated but imaginative youth was prone to fantasy, so he just made up the lyrics. 'Pismotality' described words of such secrecy that they could only be spoken to the one you loved.

"And it's not pompitous," he emphasizes. "What I said was 'puppetuse', which is a term I coined to mean a secret paper doll fantasy figure."

Steve

(1)What does "The Letter" (Box Tops song?) have to do with "The Joker?"

(2)"So I speak of the pismotality of love" - I'm supposed to believe that was the better original lyric?

Steve Durand · Post by **Steve Durand** » Tue May 29, 2007 10:43 pm

rdurand wrote:(1)What does "The Letter" (Box Tops song?) have to do with "The Joker?"

(2)"So I speak of the pismotality of love" - I'm supposed to believe that was the better original lyric?

1)The line "The pompitous of love" originates from a line in the 1954 hit "The Letter" by The Medallions.

2) The lines from The Letter Are:

Let me whisper sweet words of pismodality
And discuss the pompitous (puppetuse) of love.

Steve

Ross · Post by **Ross** » Tue May 29, 2007 10:49 pm

sdurand wrote:
rdurand wrote:(1)What does "The Letter" (Box Tops song?) have to do with "The Joker?"

(2)"So I speak of the pismotality of love" - I'm supposed to believe that was the better original lyric?

1)The line "The pompitous of love" originates from a line in the 1954 hit "The Letter" by The Medallions.

2) The lines from The Letter Are:

Let me whisper sweet words of pismodality
And discuss the pompitous (puppetuse) of love.

Steve

Surely, you jest.

Post by **Lunkhead** » Tue May 29, 2007 11:18 pm

Wow, another set of good songs! I swear, Nur Ein beats SongFight! by miles for me these days in so many ways, not the least of which is the quality of the entries. Two sets of songs stood out to me as being my favorites, though I'm not sure how I'd rank them against each other.

BoRe and Puce - Your songs are enjoyable and I would probably put them in the top 5. They're competently done and creative, but for you guys I think sound to me a little "phoned in" or something. Also I'm bugged by the obvious autotuning. Good choices of people to duet with, though. I'm glad Puce's guest star's fans can't flood the vote on this. Bjam sounds great.

The BeWells and Thank Glennny - Your songs would also go in top spots if I were a judge. They don't have the sheen and polish of the Puce and BoRe songs, but they charm me a bit more. I like all the different instruments and sounds you used.

As for everybody else:

Abom - Liked the verse lyrics, some creative stuff in there, but the verses felt a little long. Enjoyed the choruses more.

BLT - Definitely a Talking Heads vibe. Verses are cool, something about the chorus vocals sounds off.

Jim - Fine country pickin'. Would love to hear your acoustic guitar recorded with a mic.

JR - Wow, very experimental and a brave maneuver. Definitely a really creative take on the title.

Paco - Enjoyed the guitar work a lot. Nice creepy and dark tone.

Ross - Way to rock out with your c#$@ out. Liked the chorus.

Steve - Loved the guest vocalist. Nicely written song and cool horns as always.

Tex - Turned out well, though for some strange reason reminds me of "Working Class Hero".

Wreckdom - Liked the sound effects, guest vocalist, etc. Way better than last week.

Anyway, great work everybody. Once again it's not really clear to me what the results will be. Hopefully the judges won't make us wait too long this time to find out what happens next.

Ross · Post by **Ross** » Wed May 30, 2007 12:00 am

First of all, I've got to agree with Sam - Listening to this was so much nicer than a typical Songfight! week. Lots of good songs here. So I'm gonna post my knee-jerk ranking based on five "objective" criteria for general interest. But this is the kind of week that reminds me why I spent a year waiting for Nur Ein! to come around. Songfight is great!, this adds something special.

so - if i were judge

1. TGFTF - nicely done all around - excellent choice of guest, nice blend, you should do that more often.
2. BoRe how you take this concept and make it work amazes me. good work by guests (nice "chanting" stuey) and such a clear and well done arrangement. I'mnot sure you should set a precedent of letting the groupies sing, though

3. Puce - again a great guest blend - sounds natural. Your production and arrangement skills continue to amaze. In this case I think they actually helped lift an ok song into really good. someday I'll travel and pay you for a workshop

4. Steve - always well constructed - Good use of guest lead vocalist. The stylistic choice feels a bit cliche at points but overall very well put together.
5a) Jim Tyrell - good take, nice musical approach. understated overall, but one of the verses took it out of that for me and made it a smidge dated in advance.
5b) Abominominous - I will here confess that in my otherwise very subjective criteria, I did ding those who seemed to have an "easy" guest vocalist. (this is no comment on your wife's receptivity). Just saying some of you used quite regular collaborators, others of us were more challenged. i like that it doesn't sound like Hell Yeahs even though Heather is in there.
5c) Tex - catchy stuff, I liked it even though I was not bought into the concept. nice use of lost souls.
8 ) Bewells - very pretty - see note above about guests, I realize you had to do it from a distance, but musically at least you must be somewhat familiar. I was also slightly put off by the difficulty in hearing the words clearly, I like your sound with the 12 string and organ, but felt the arrangement could have varied more as well.

9) Merisan - Beautiful! so where'd you lose points? First of all I figure that one of your guests is that woman who did such great harmonies for you on the West coast tour - so i figure, "Wait ... the point of having her is it mimics the sound of Erin harmonizing with herself......" Overthinking with a point system, yes. And in reality, not such a big deal - but these are kneejerk reviews after all. Second - I really did feel like the connection to the title was forced into the bridge. Nice Song - reminds me of some of the Christine Lavin I love so well. But if forced to score.....

10a) Frankie is immune
10b) I'd keep me in

The ones my "system" would eliminate in a batch of good songs are (in alpha order)......

BLT - super cool grooves - this time the song didn't quite come through for me. The chorus was hurtin' again - hard to sense the guest.....
Jolly Roger - some interesting ideas here - probably some genre bias on the gothic metal thing, the screaming and stuff at the end worked against you for me.
Paco- Great guitar. the song was ok - nothing grabbed me. For much of it it seemed your vocalist was doing a Paco Impression. Pretty good, but not as solid as your solid-ist. Guitar lessons would be much appreciated.

WreckdoM - In addition to my objective "criteria" I found the song got a little irritating by the end. My condolences go out, but as a music review, I gotta be honest. - Send me a Whiskey sour and I'll reconsider.

Tex Beaumont · Post by **Tex Beaumont** » Wed May 30, 2007 1:17 am

OK, what I want to know is - when the judges said "Use a guest singer", why did Ross Durand's brain go...Ding! - I'll ask Smalltown Mike!, whereas my brain went...Ding! - I'll ask Sausage Boy!

I mean, no offence Sausage Boy - I love your work, and nobody can bring the incidental swearing and between-takes comments quite like you did - but that Durand song with the Smalltown vocals is really a killer combination.

Still - a fine job by all my team. I think the Sausage Boy/Rabid Garfunkel duet nicely conveyed the mood of the song. Mr Lostman sounds great - I should have given him more to do. And Cynthia's contribution was just what I wanted.

I can now understand why Phil Redmon's mega rap song stalled at the starter's gates - Trying to mix many different voices together means many late nights

WesDavis · Post by **WesDavis** » Wed May 30, 2007 4:54 am

Wow, all I've listened to(drunkelnly) is Steve Durands(featuring me) and Paco's, but damn I like Steve's tune, but I love love LOVE Paco's!!!! That's some amazing guitar, and I'm not just talking about the performance! The production is beautifully done! I wish I had an mp3 player, because I would listen to that tomorrow, while I lazily go tubing with friends!

sausage boy · Post by **sausage boy** » Wed May 30, 2007 5:21 am

Tex Beaumont wrote:OK, what I want to know is - when the judges said "Use a guest singer", why did Ross Durand's brain go...Ding! - I'll ask Smalltown Mike!, whereas my brain went...Ding! - I'll ask Sausage Boy!

I mean, no offence Sausage Boy - I love your work, and nobody can bring the incidental swearing and between-takes comments quite like you did - but that Durand song with the Smalltown vocals is really a killer combination.

Still - a fine job by all my team. I think the Sausage Boy/Rabid Garfunkel duet nicely conveyed the mood of the song. Mr Lostman sounds great - I should have given him more to do. And Cynthia's contribution was just what I wanted.

I can now understand why Phil Redmon's mega rap song stalled at the starter's gates - Trying to mix many different voices together means many late nights

No offence taken, Tex. I am just pleased I caused a brain 'ding!'. It was a lot of fun doing your lyrics for you, and constant chattering is something that I have just always done.

Rabid and I sound like me make an awesome combination. I would love to hear more from Tex's Choir of Lost Souls at some other point.

While I'm here, my favourites so far are;

Abominominous, Billy's Little Trip (I love the bass in this), Puce (ha, Brad Sucks!), Tex (though I do love the sound of my own voice, I just really enjoy this song too) and Thanks To Glenny.

JR, BoRe and Wreckdom are coming close behind.

Paco Del Stinko · Post by **Paco Del Stinko** » Wed May 30, 2007 5:49 am

BLT - Yeah, I played Frankie's song not listened to it. Though we all heard him sing this tune:

FBF wrote:I took the immunity and I'd do it again. In fact, I plan to in Round 5!

Lunk - Thanks for guitar comments. Coming from you, I wear that badge proudly. The crunchy guitars were done on an amp that doesn't know clean.

Ross - I would take lessons but it would be too painful for both me and teacher to un-do the wrong I've too long done!

Wes - You'll sober up, don't worry!

I'll put some comments together for a bit later this morning, but thanks for listening people. Some good tunes here!

NUR EIN!

Caravan Ray · Post by **Caravan Ray** » Wed May 30, 2007 5:54 am

jimtyrrell wrote:Frankie, I raise my glass (currently full of a Bully Hill white wine) to you. It's immunity, dammit. You shouldn't have to make excuses for it.

I thought the .txt file was pretty funny, too.

Absolutely. Don't get me wrong, I mean to cast no aspersions. Frankie is a fine songwriter and thoroughly deserved his immunity - but, it's a bit like Nazi Germany really. Sure, those guys made some decisions that maybe I wouldn't have made in the same circumstances - but if they are happy with them and can still sleep at night - who am I to complain?

Now again, don't get me wrong - I would never say that Frankie Big Face is worse than Hitler - but then again - I don't recall Hitler ever saying "Y'know, I've got a fair bit on this week - I think I might just give the invasion of Belgium a miss...". That was the good thing about fascists. They understood commitment.

frankie big face · Post by **frankie big face** » Wed May 30, 2007 5:57 am

You should be happy I'm not as motivated as Hitler.

Caravan Ray · Post by **Caravan Ray** » Wed May 30, 2007 6:00 am

Paco Del Stinko wrote: Ross - I would take lessons but it would be too painful for both me and teacher to un-do the wrong I've too long done!

I think he wants you to give them - not take them. I would be happy to take some from you. The guitar in that song was awesome. So were the vocals actually. Your singer did a fine job

Paco Del Stinko · Post by **Paco Del Stinko** » Wed May 30, 2007 6:19 am

Aw, shucks, Ray. If I knew what I was doing, I'd share it all. The Greek Thunder definitely brought the rock. He doesn't do subtle very well.

mr_lostman · Post by **mr_lostman** » Wed May 30, 2007 6:22 am

Tex Beaumont wrote:OK, what I want to know is - when the judges said "Use a guest singer", why did Ross Durand's brain go...Ding! - I'll ask Smalltown Mike!, whereas my brain went...Ding! - I'll ask Sausage Boy!

I mean, no offence Sausage Boy - I love your work, and nobody can bring the incidental swearing and between-takes comments quite like you did - but that Durand song with the Smalltown vocals is really a killer combination.

Still - a fine job by all my team. I think the Sausage Boy/Rabid Garfunkel duet nicely conveyed the mood of the song. Mr Lostman sounds great - I should have given him more to do. And Cynthia's contribution was just what I wanted.

I can now understand why Phil Redmon's mega rap song stalled at the starter's gates - Trying to mix many different voices together means many late nights

It was a lot of fun to do this with ya Tex and Like sausage boy I'd love to do more tex and the lost souls stuff in the future. Thanks for the kind words.

And i also really enjoyed the fact that Mr. "Lost"man is now in a choir of "Lost" souls. Just feels right you know?

Ross · Post by **Ross** » Wed May 30, 2007 6:36 am

Caravan Ray wrote:
Paco Del Stinko wrote: Ross - I would take lessons but it would be too painful for both me and teacher to un-do the wrong I've too long done!
I think he wants you to give them - not take them.

Absolutely, but I assume, Paco, that you were making a humble joke.

As for my guest vocalist, I've got to nod to my brother Steve for mentioning Smalltown Mike early in the week when we were having a chat and I was trying to brainstorm who I could ask to do this type of song for me. Steve said it, my Brain went "ding" and Smalltown was nice enough to do it.
I would of course, have made suggestions for Steve as well, but he had already settled on his excellent guest singer.

glennny · Post by **glennny** » Wed May 30, 2007 8:10 am

Geeeez people! These are all very good. I can't rank them. I've tried I keep juggling, basically the one I'm listening to is my favorite.

Here are some thoughts (alphabetically):

Abominominous- I love it, I can't believe the cheerleading spelling bit works, I usually hate that, but I dig it this time. Great song, hilarious conjugation!

BeWells- Great guest vocals, love the organ! Guitars are all top notch!!! Very catchy!

Billy's Little Trip- For the life of me I don't hear the Talking Heads in this. This is very rockin! The verse is much stronger than the chorus. Chorus is a little weak. The playing and production is Great! Love the breakdown too. I'm having a hard time distinguishing the guest vocals, but they're good.

Bovine Recyclery- Hilarious!!! Love it! Great rhyme! This is flawless! Bjam is a great addition too!

Jim Tyrrell- Well the music is done really well! I have a country genre bias, but despite that I like this tune. It's short and sweet. I'm not a big fan of the lyrics which get a lot more attention in this genre than others.

Jolly Roger- Well I don't like the double bass drum. There are some really fantastic moments of this composition but as a whole I don't think it works.
I don't think your vocals are suited for bombastic Dream Theatre epics. Your shorter punky tunes work better with your voice. I love the little Maiden breaks like at 2:15. This is very cool to be sure, but I don't think it's your best.

Merisan- How are we supposed to compete with this? Wow! Freaking great gals and guys! Flawless and gorgeous playing ans singing. Ross's argument about guest vocals with Amy I understand but don't agree with. Also Geech is a different story yeah?

Paco Del Stinko- Yeah dude! Beat guitars of this fight! I actually wish there was more PDS vocals along with the guest. Guest vocals are very cool, don't get me wrong. Another PDS classic!

Puce- This is fantastic! This song more than any other in the fight leaves me wanting more. I think wow that was a short and sweet 90 second song then I check the time and it's 3:44, guess time flys when I'm dancing.

Ross Durand- I LOVE Samlltown Mike's vocals, great call! I'm not a fan of the lyrics. The song rocks soooooooooo much, this might be my favorite of the fight despite the lyrics. Great production, great riffs. Very well done!

Steve Durand- This is well done. I can't figure out why, but I'm not as into this as I feel I should be. The horns are great as usual. I don't know, there's nothing wrong with it, I'm keeping it along with all the others, maybe it needs to soak longer. Great playing! Wes Davis has great vocal chops as expected too!

Tex- I love it! Great use of guest vocals ! I love how this song makes me bop along. I think that's the best melody I've heard from Cynthia. Great job!

Wreckdom- I expected a lot more sirens in this fight. This reminds me of Public Enemy more than anything else oddly enough. I'd love to hear this approached with a Chuck D kind of rap. Anyway, the way it is is Great too!! I love it!

TG4TF featuring Furry Pedro & Melvin- I hope my production and guitar playing did justice to the amazing vocals I had to work with. These guys were my first choice, and a dream choice at that. The little girl is my daughter Annabella. She's supposed to be saying "State of Emergency" at the beginning. I'd just like to thank FP and Mel for their Wonderful contribution!

Judges will have a tough time with this one, I don't see any clear winners nor clearly needs to get cuts. This will be very interesting to see where it goes, but it won't be surprising.

Post by **Lunkhead** » Wed May 30, 2007 8:34 am

Ross, you suck, and you will lose. NUR EIN!!

Seriously, though, Amy's voice actually sounds very little like Erin's, other than that she's also female, and this is the only time other than the tour that she's sung with us. And we did have one more guest vocalist than you had, a male vocalist who doesn't really sound much like me, who's never sang with us before. As for the lyrics, Erin wrote something very personal, which in my mind is generally going to lead to a better (or at least more meaningful) song than just writing something solely based on the arbitrary title with no or little personal investment.

erin. · Post by **erin.** » Wed May 30, 2007 9:01 am

And just to chime in...this is the first time Amy has been recorded and submitted with Merisan. The songs she sang with us on tour were with Tiny Robots.

And besides we had two guest Vox.

...so back off Ross.

Ross · Post by **Ross** » Wed May 30, 2007 9:12 am

Lunkhead wrote: Seriously, though, Amy's voice actually sounds very little like Erin's, other than that she's also female, and this is the only time other than the tour that she's sung with us. And we did have one more guest vocalist than you had, a male vocalist who doesn't really sound much like me, who's never sang with us before. As for the lyrics, Erin wrote something very personal inspired by and related to the title, which in my mind is generally going to lead to a better (or at least more meaningful) song than just writing something solely based on the arbitrary title with no or little personal investment.

Erin wrote:And just to chime in...this is the first time Amy has been recorded and submitted with Merisan. The songs she sang with us on tour were with Tiny Robots.

And besides we had two guest Vox. Smile
...so back off Ross.

Amy's voice blends great with Erin's. It sounded beautiful live and here. It's a good song. I like it, and I don't doubt it's sincerity, the title just sounded squeezed in, that's all.

You guys also see where I wrote "beautiful" "not such a big deal" "if forced to score" "nice song" etc....?

Make love to a cherry tree, hoping to fight again next round.
Nur Ein!