"Penguin" & other songs by illwobble
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[quote="illwobble"]
audi:
illwobble:
Do you think I could tempt either of you two lovebirds to try some overdubbing of my "Lovers Once" song?
I think it could improve it quite a bit. ... Anyone ever tell ya' that you sound like Tom Petty?Not that I recall, no! Thank you!!
audi:
I can add it to my list. How 'bout I do some percussion, and Darthy will do the vocals?
Great! I'll email it to you anyway!
I'm getting all these tracks emailed to me, and I will get round to working on them in a few days. Some great sounding stuff and I'm coming up with some neat ideas! I'm just so busy over christmas! Bloody christmas, getting in the way of making music! By the way, have a good one everyone!
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kapoo:
Here's one for you to kick around, as you mentioned you wanted an idea for a song; you should write a song about the most painful moment of your life (be it physical or emotional), but make it musically a happy vibe. Or flip it, take the most happy blissful feeling in your life and write a sad or menacing song about it I think you might actually be able to pull off that dichotomy, and I personally would love to hear something like that. I sort of tried this with my song Be Just Fine. A sort of happy sounding song about a really painful experience for me. a therapeutic style choice in a way. And a key thing for me also, as I?ve been thinking about this, would be to describe more the world around you, rather than directly describing your feelings about the moment. If you can convey your own feelings through images in your lyrics, and letting the listener experience the feelings for themselves, more or less? I'd say dang, then you got yourself a song!!
Ok, Kapoo, I've finally managed to produce a demo of the song I wrote, more or less based on this brief you gave a few months ago. Not THE most painful moment of my life, but some embarrassing and painful memories from adolescence. It was a starting point anyway.... Here it is! Jonathan (Shudder):
Enjoy, everyone! -
illwobble:
kapoo:
Here's one for you to kick around, as you mentioned you wanted an idea for a song; you should write a song about the most painful moment of your life (be it physical or emotional), but make it musically a happy vibe. Or flip it, take the most happy blissful feeling in your life and write a sad or menacing song about it I think you might actually be able to pull off that dichotomy, and I personally would love to hear something like that. I sort of tried this with my song Be Just Fine. A sort of happy sounding song about a really painful experience for me. a therapeutic style choice in a way. And a key thing for me also, as I?ve been thinking about this, would be to describe more the world around you, rather than directly describing your feelings about the moment. If you can convey your own feelings through images in your lyrics, and letting the listener experience the feelings for themselves, more or less? I'd say dang, then you got yourself a song!!
Ok, Kapoo, I've finally managed to produce a demo of the song I wrote, more or less based on this brief you gave a few months ago. Not THE most painful moment of my life, but some embarrassing and painful memories from adolescence. It was a starting point anyway.... Here it is! Jonathan (Shudder):
Enjoy, everyone!Love it, really well done! Good lyrics and good feel to it. Kinda Elvis Costello-y!
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Darth_McCartney:
illwobble:
kapoo:
Here's one for you to kick around, as you mentioned you wanted an idea for a song; you should write a song about the most painful moment of your life (be it physical or emotional), but make it musically a happy vibe. Or flip it, take the most happy blissful feeling in your life and write a sad or menacing song about it I think you might actually be able to pull off that dichotomy, and I personally would love to hear something like that. I sort of tried this with my song Be Just Fine. A sort of happy sounding song about a really painful experience for me. a therapeutic style choice in a way. And a key thing for me also, as I?ve been thinking about this, would be to describe more the world around you, rather than directly describing your feelings about the moment. If you can convey your own feelings through images in your lyrics, and letting the listener experience the feelings for themselves, more or less? I'd say dang, then you got yourself a song!!
Ok, Kapoo, I've finally managed to produce a demo of the song I wrote, more or less based on this brief you gave a few months ago. Not THE most painful moment of my life, but some embarrassing and painful memories from adolescence. It was a starting point anyway.... Here it is! Jonathan (Shudder):
Enjoy, everyone!Love it, really well done! Good lyrics and good feel to it. Kinda Elvis Costello-y!
Thanks Josh, really glad you like it. Elvis Costello, eh? Hmmm. Any particular songs of his it reminded you of? Actually, same question to Audi: any particular Tom Petty songs my "Lovers Once" song reminded you of?
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illwobble:
Darth_McCartney:
illwobble:
kapoo:
Here's one for you to kick around, as you mentioned you wanted an idea for a song; you should write a song about the most painful moment of your life (be it physical or emotional), but make it musically a happy vibe. Or flip it, take the most happy blissful feeling in your life and write a sad or menacing song about it I think you might actually be able to pull off that dichotomy, and I personally would love to hear something like that. I sort of tried this with my song Be Just Fine. A sort of happy sounding song about a really painful experience for me. a therapeutic style choice in a way. And a key thing for me also, as I?ve been thinking about this, would be to describe more the world around you, rather than directly describing your feelings about the moment. If you can convey your own feelings through images in your lyrics, and letting the listener experience the feelings for themselves, more or less? I'd say dang, then you got yourself a song!!
Ok, Kapoo, I've finally managed to produce a demo of the song I wrote, more or less based on this brief you gave a few months ago. Not THE most painful moment of my life, but some embarrassing and painful memories from adolescence. It was a starting point anyway.... Here it is! Jonathan (Shudder):
Enjoy, everyone!Love it, really well done! Good lyrics and good feel to it. Kinda Elvis Costello-y!
Thanks Josh, really glad you like it. Elvis Costello, eh? Hmmm. Any particular songs of his it reminded you of? Actually, same question to Audi: any particular Tom Petty songs my "Lovers Once" song reminded you of?
For starters: This new one sounds eerily like a Morrissey song -- so honest, direct. Regarding the tom Petty similarity: You vocally remind me of him -- particularly, his Wildflowers era.
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kapoo:
illwobble:
Ok, Kapoo, I've finally managed to produce a demo of the song I wrote, more or less based on this brief you gave a few months ago. Not THE most painful moment of my life, but some embarrassing and painful memories from adolescence. It was a starting point anyway.... Here it is! Jonathan (Shudder):
Enjoy, everyone!Damn illwobs, you're getting to be quite the pop writer! That is a really catchy song. I like the melody there, a bit busier than some of your previous efforts, I personally hear a lot of growth in you as a songwriter in this tune. you're weilding good imagination and control of the music. I may not know what I'm talking about, but its sweet! you did a nice job carving out a happy vibe with that beat. I love Magnus' playing, and I feel a sort of 'oom chuck oom chuck' beat on it. a bit like the 'hey ba hello ah' beat at the end of Hello Goodbye. thats a good uptempo beat on a painful song! awesome job man. I'll let you know when I listen again and have more thoughts on this I feel like listening again already! but I must go to sleep you and Josh are coming with the goods right now, way to be you're making me want to write something! new songs are so exciting.
Oh, Kapoo, thanks so much, I'm so happy you like it. Like you say, it is exciting getting a new song recorded. It's not really really new: I wrote it back in September but only got around to recording it with Magnus last Friday. Like you say, Magnus's playing is really good, and as has happened before, I didn't realise half how good it was until I heard the recording. Nice of you to say this is evidence of my growth as a songwriter, that's quite encouraging, as I sometimes think I peaked with my first proper song Penguin and am unlikely to write anything else as good. Unhealthy to think that way.
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kapoo:
nah, Penguin's good but you'll write better. I'd say overall this latest song Jonathan might be your best, probably is, IMO. The great thing about Penguin is though its simple it still works, cause you have a good melody. and its nice to have one so early in your writing career that does work, most of the time the first songs people write are pretty lame, mine pretty much were.. but that melody works right out of the gate! Jonathan works too and as a fellow songwriter myself, and knowing what I know about writing songs, I think its probably more interesting melodically and lyrically and all, as a song. btw do you actually take it up a Key at one point in the song? I have yet to write a song that does that. That might be a good challenge for myself say, are they two different takes, the ones you have on Soundcloud and Reverbnation? I just checked out reverb and thats a sweet 'take 5' on there. I liked that one too.
The 2 takes are identical except that I uploaded to Reverbnation before remembering to edit out the "Jonathan, take 4" before the start, and I couldn't be bother to change it, as I don't find reverbnation at all user-friendly for things like that. Glad you liked both versions!! It kind of changes key mid-way through both verses, yes. I never really worked out how to get it back to the original key again, and left Magnus to square that particular circle, which he did brilliantly! By the way, in terms of the title, what do you think is better? For now I've put "Jonathan (Shudder)", but would just "Jonathan" or just "Shudder" be better, do you think?
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Here are links again to all the demos, including new and slightly improved takes of Grasshopper and Flaunted Vice
(new take) (new take) -
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Well jon this is what you asked for Jonathan. great song with catchy lyrics, liked it a lot. Grasshopper. too many Grasshoppers for me mate, i've got Grasshoppers on the brain now lol Flaunted Vice. the best songs ever written flow out and write themselves, you made the whole story sound believable Penguin. after listening to Jonathan and Flaunted Vice i need to take Penguin down a few pegs and one of those pegs are for the whistling Days With You. Singing about someone you love is always a sure fire winner, so much emotion gets put into the lyrics, really liked your word play on the chorus, if i had wrote it, i would have added "of my life" at the end of the 3rd "they are the best days (of my life) Lovers Once. Loved the stairway to heaven style acoustic, do you write a lot of your lyrics from personal experiences? just asking because that's what i use to do. There Goes The Sun. You should do a bit more work on this, it really has the makings of being a great song, you could use the chorus after each verse and repeat it at the end of the song. I love a good chorus maybe thats the reason i like Macca so much Hope Of Deliverance. Never heard this slowed down b4, it puts a whole new emotional slant on the song, it works for me
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Macsback:
Well jon this is what you asked for
Thanks for listening, mate!
Macsback:
Jonathan. great song with catchy lyrics, liked it a lot.
Delighted you liked it.
Macsback:
Grasshopper. too many Grasshoppers for me mate, i've got Grasshoppers on the brain now lol
Oh dear, that's a shame. Wonder if there'll be any grasshoppers in your next Spidermacs rambling, er, I mean, story then, now they're on your brain.
Macsback:
Flaunted Vice. the best songs ever written flow out and write themselves, you made the whole story sound believable
Macsback:
Penguin. after listening to Jonathan and Flaunted Vice i need to take Penguin down a few pegs and one of those pegs are for the whistling
How DARE you insult the whistle!! It's probably my best instrument really, since I rely so heavily on Magnus for guitar and my piano is good enough only to work out melodies and chords when I can get access to one Still, I hope you at least don't like whistling generally. If I find out you LOVE Macca's whistling bits on End of The End and Dance Tonight, then that will be a bit of a blow! (I like to whistle along to these and flatter myself I can do it a bit better than him!)
Macsback:
Days With You. Singing about someone you love is always a sure fire winner, so much emotion gets put into the lyrics, really liked your word play on the chorus, if i had wrote it, i would have added "of my life" at the end of the 3rd "they are the best days (of my life)
Great! Not sure, is "best days of my life" a bit too cliche??
Macsback:
Lovers Once. Loved the stairway to heaven style acoustic, do you write a lot of your lyrics from personal experiences? just asking because that's what i use to do.
Hehe, well Jonathan and Days with You are both from personal experiences, but this one isn't at all actually. Only proper girlfriend I have is my wife! I wrote the tune to this first (by whistling it!!) and then had to think of a suitable theme to go with the feel of that.
Macsback:
There Goes The Sun. You should do a bit more work on this, it really has the makings of being a great song, you could use the chorus after each verse and repeat it at the end of the song. I love a good chorus maybe thats the reason i like Macca so much
Hmmm... I suppose you're not the first to say this. I like it being only 1 min long in a way, and think it works quite well if you play it straight into grasshopper... but maybe you're right. I may have a go at extending it then. I just thought it was a bit of a miserable end-of-summer song that I didn't want to inflict on people too long, so just brought it to a swift end with an unexpected major chord... I like to think there's a place for a good 1 minute song, but maybe this one isn't it after all.
Macsback:
Hope Of Deliverance. Never heard this slowed down b4, it puts a whole new emotional slant on the song, it works for me
Yeah, I love the lyrics a lot, but just don't think they come across the way he recorded it. Thanks, man!
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illwobble:
Macsback:
Well jon this is what you asked for
Thanks for listening, mate!
Macsback:
Jonathan. great song with catchy lyrics, liked it a lot.
Delighted you liked it.
Macsback:
Grasshopper. too many Grasshoppers for me mate, i've got Grasshoppers on the brain now lol
Oh dear, that's a shame. Wonder if there'll be any grasshoppers in your next Spidermacs rambling, er, I mean, story then, now they're on your brain.
Macsback:
Flaunted Vice. the best songs ever written flow out and write themselves, you made the whole story sound believable
Macsback:
Penguin. after listening to Jonathan and Flaunted Vice i need to take Penguin down a few pegs and one of those pegs are for the whistling
How DARE you insult the whistle!! It's probably my best instrument really, since I rely so heavily on Magnus for guitar and my piano is good enough only to work out melodies and chords when I can get access to one Still, I hope you at least don't like whistling generally. If I find out you LOVE Macca's whistling bits on End of The End and Dance Tonight, then that will be a bit of a blow! (I like to whistle along to these and flatter myself I can do it a bit better than him!)
Macsback:
Days With You. Singing about someone you love is always a sure fire winner, so much emotion gets put into the lyrics, really liked your word play on the chorus, if i had wrote it, i would have added "of my life" at the end of the 3rd "they are the best days (of my life)
Great! Not sure, is "best days of my life" a bit too cliché??
Macsback:
Lovers Once. Loved the stairway to heaven style acoustic, do you write a lot of your lyrics from personal experiences? just asking because that's what i use to do.
Hehe, well Jonathan and Days with You are both from personal experiences, but this one isn't at all actually. Only proper girlfriend I have is my wife! I wrote the tune to this first (by whistling it!!) and then had to think of a suitable theme to go with the feel of that.
Macsback:
There Goes The Sun. You should do a bit more work on this, it really has the makings of being a great song, you could use the chorus after each verse and repeat it at the end of the song. I love a good chorus maybe thats the reason i like Macca so much
Hmmm... I suppose you're not the first to say this. I like it being only 1 min long in a way, and think it works quite well if you play it straight into grasshopper... but maybe you're right. I may have a go at extending it then. I just thought it was a bit of a miserable end-of-summer song that I didn't want to inflict on people too long, so just brought it to a swift end with an unexpected major chord... I like to think there's a place for a good 1 minute song, but maybe this one isn't it after all.
Macsback:
Hope Of Deliverance. Never heard this slowed down b4, it puts a whole new emotional slant on the song, it works for me
Yeah, I love the lyrics a lot, but just don't think they come across the way he recorded it. Thanks, man!
Grasshopper. the story was finished long b4 i listened to Grasshopper, i could always go and write something in Whistles. not a great lover of whistling in songs, even Paul's i'm always expecting him to dry up and miss the note lol Days With You, after i added that bit i did think myself it could be a bit of a cliché, no harm in giving it a go tho, if it doesnt work bin my brilliant idea There Goes The Sun. hey!! even miserable songs can be upbeat, you really should go with this song a bit more. Hope Of Deliverance. its your take on it which makes it work!! all in all i enjoyed your work, i feel like Simon friggin Cowell now
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Macsback:
all in all i enjoyed your work, i feel like Simon friggin Cowell now
Maybe I'll call you "Simon friggin Cowell" from now on!
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illwobble:
Macsback:
all in all i enjoyed your work, i feel like Simon friggin Cowell now
Maybe I'll call you "Simon friggin Cowell" from now on!
And maybe you'll wake up with a horses head under your bed covers if you do oh btw Grasshoppers have been added to the script
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Penguin now on Youtube, with ukelele overdubs (plus wind SFX and help with video) by Darth_McCartney. Thanks, Josh!
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illwobble:
Penguin now on Youtube, with ukelele overdubs (plus wind SFX and help with video) by Darth_McCartney. Thanks, Josh!
Lovin' your channel!
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I have been listening to illwobble's songs recently. Sort of act you would enjoy watching and listening to in a bar with a pint. He is clearly an educated man who knows how to use the English language and he can actually whistle ? take note Paul! I really quite like some of his random, but clever, lyrics and subject matter -combined with excellent phrasing and subtle melancholy. He seems to be a mixture of Richard Digance, Tenacious D, early solo McCartney, Mumford and Sons with a little bit of Paul Simon and Neil Young thrown in. Jon's voice can be very captivating but more so when he sings softly - as at times it can overwhelm the track and take away from the quality of the song. In My Chair is a perfect example when it does works a treat and is a particular favorite of mine. I love the 'It's time to wake up bit' Jonathan (Shudder) could in another style and another world be a great pop song. It has that sing-a-long quality and instant feel that says 'hit' However, here it is very enjoyable just in its raw acoustic state. I kept on thinking Little Lamb Dragonfly when this first started (Grasshopper). I can imagine him asking the crowd to sing the 'ooo ooo' bits. Needs more work I think though. Flaunted Vice is clearly a scathing attack on the politicians and their hypocrisy. Again a good set of lyrics with added Welsh phrasing! This is one I would enjoy live but on record does not really excite me. Penguin brings some much needed fun and an upbeat feel to the proceedings. Another really nice song with fun lyrics that seem superficial but have hidden depth. Days With You is obviously very personal and from the heart and that only a parent can truly understand. A nice enough song that could do with some more variation musically and vocally, still quite enjoyable though. Lovers Once is probably my favorite of the songs that Jon has shown us. The lyrics are very good and the story is both interesting and dark. The vocal is really good importantly brings to the game some subtle variations to keep the interest. I would really recommend this one and it comes with some ?Stairway? to boot!. Five stars. There Goes The Sun to me feels a little too clichéd and needs some work. It is too derivative and combines about 5 well known songs into one. Pleased it just lasts one minute! (sorry Jon) Hope of Deliverance, I prefer Paul?s version but think Jon has hit on something that the song could have worked fantastically well in a slowed down state.
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Plastic Soul Man:
I have been listening to illwobble's songs recently. Sort of act you would enjoy watching and listening to in a bar with a pint. He is clearly an educated man who knows how to use the English language and he can actually whistle ? take note Paul! I really quite like some of his random, but clever, lyrics and subject matter -combined with excellent phrasing and subtle melancholy. He seems to be a mixture of Richard Digance, Tenacious D, early solo McCartney, Mumford and Sons with a little bit of Paul Simon and Neil Young thrown in. Jon's voice can be very captivating but more so when he sings softly - as at times it can overwhelm the track and take away from the quality of the song. In My Chair is a perfect example when it does works a treat and is a particular favorite of mine. I love the 'It's time to wake up bit' Jonathan (Shudder) could in another style and another world be a great pop song. It has that sing-a-long quality and instant feel that says 'hit' However, here it is very enjoyable just in its raw acoustic state. I kept on thinking Little Lamb Dragonfly when this first started (Grasshopper). I can imagine him asking the crowd to sing the 'ooo ooo' bits. Needs more work I think though. Flaunted Vice is clearly a scathing attack on the politicians and their hypocrisy. Again a good set of lyrics with added Welsh phrasing! This is one I would enjoy live but on record does not really excite me. Penguin brings some much needed fun and an upbeat feel to the proceedings. Another really nice song with fun lyrics that seem superficial but have hidden depth. Days With You is obviously very personal and from the heart and that only a parent can truly understand. A nice enough song that could do with some more variation musically and vocally, still quite enjoyable though. Lovers Once is probably my favorite of the songs that Jon has shown us. The lyrics are very good and the story is both interesting and dark. The vocal is really good importantly brings to the game some subtle variations to keep the interest. I would really recommend this one and it comes with some ?Stairway? to boot!. Five stars. There Goes The Sun to me feels a little too clichéd and needs some work. It is too derivative and combines about 5 well known songs into one. Pleased it just lasts one minute! (sorry Jon) Hope of Deliverance, I prefer Paul?s version but think Jon has hit on something that the song could have worked fantastically well in a slowed down state.
Plastic, thanks so much. You are far too kind! No, Grasshopper bears no comparison to Little Lamb Dragonfly (possibly my current Macca favourite) whatsoever, except for having an insect in the title! I hadn't heard Dragonfly before writing Grasshopper, incidentally! Flaunted Vice: "added Welsh phrasing" : : : I'm delighted you like Lovers Once so much. I'm quite proud of this one (which I wrote quite quickly one morning, melody first rather than the other way round), but haven't really performed or publicised it at all. Your advice on There Goes The Sun cancels out Macsback's advice, so that I might abandon my plan to do an extended version. Thanks for listening and posting, MOY! Sorry if I nagged you into it a little bit.