Empty Streets on Summer Nights

alright y'all here's my song that i think would fit into the overall feel of the album (as far as i can tell from the tracks that dion posted). if you don't like it, don't hesitate to tell me/change it.


http://www.sendspace.com/file/xizs6o


Lyrics:

Well the ocean view and songbirds they are setting with the sun
And the sky outside looks perfect like a movie
But this house it smells of dirty socks and dinner made for one
Yeah, it’s typical; my timing’s not improving
Well you were my claim to fame so now I’m off without a chance
Another one trick pony put down ‘cause the owner got new plans
So the empty streets on summer nights will be my only friends
I’ll do my best to just keep moving

Now the only one who listens is the one I had to leave
So I ask myself what happened but I’m hardly wondering
Yeah I’m standing here red-handed with some fabric from your sleeve
A broken heart and tiny shattered dreams
In your defense you really tried your best to make it work
All those late nights spent with your jaw clenched just waiting to be heard
And now looking back on what I said it really seems absurd
That I thought the burden was on me

Well you saw it in a movie and you read it in a book
And you swore that you would find that spark that everyday life took
So we doused ourselves in gasoline and went out to have a look
But none of us could ever make a flame
So you just swallow all your alcohol and go and get some more
‘Cause you don’t have to think about me when you’re passed out on the floor
And you can blame it on your childhood for being bruised and sore
But we both know who really caused the pain
I won’t live down my shame

If there’s a way around it then I haven’t been there yet
And if there’s a way to run away I’ll find it
Well the doctor ordered sympathy but all I had was greed
Maybe I’m afraid of love, or maybe love’s afraid of me

Love this song haha.

Damn, the songs so far sound great as just acoustic and vocals, but I'm sure they'll be great fleshed out as well.

very, very, very cool song. i can see this one working better as a more stripped down sound than the way the other one is turning out. i'll post more later, time for dinner.

yeah not as electronic sounding as the other one, but it still needs drums and bass. and straight up piano would be sweet.. do we have any piano players?

i play piano but i have no means to record it.

Just recorded some bass over it. Tell me what you think. I apologize in advance for the sloppiness and a couple of mistakes.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/41n0vh

This song sounds like my ukulele could definately come in handy.

I didn't want to touch this too much because I like it simple the way it is.
http://www.mediafire.com/?1nimmnk33n5

Couldn't find a good sound with the piano on garage band, so I experimented with horns in the meantime. Maybe like a punch oldschool piano or something could easily replace what I did if we can find the right sound.

I'm liking this staying simple so far. Recording uke now to see if you guys like it.

Edit: Did a short, rough segment, you guys let me know if you'd like me to keep going or leave the uke out. I did the unpercussioned version, only because I had recorded it before the percussioned one was put up. I'd rerecord with the newer version. http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?gr1gyimztuq

1) before we get too far, maybe i should record it again? i didn't use a click or anything and it's all over the map rhythmically. that way we don't have to do everything all over again? i guess i'm still a little confused as to how it's working with mixing and actually putting the final versions of the songs together.

2) do you think it sounds better without drums? i was thinking just some snare drum action.. like on that bright eyes song that dion posted in the other thread.. about 2:00 into it. that sort of thing. just a thought.

3) i like the bass and everything so far.. and i love how those sleigh bells come in for the instrumental part ha.. it gets me every time. i love sleigh bells. i hope we can make that part come in strong, you know? what else can we add? uke is a good idea.. i'll write out the chords and get them up here soon



EDIT: it's mostly this

D, Dsomething (don't really know my music theory too well ha), G, Gm, D, A
D, Dsomething, G, Gm, D, A, D

i actually play in C, capo 2, ... if you were wondering. but ^ those are the chords

and i play that 2nd chord like this.. just a C with my pinky finger string 3 fret 3

--0--
--1--
--3--
--2--
--3--
--x--

the end would be (if there's away around it...)

G, A, D, G, G, Bm, G, A, Bm, A, G

something like that .. ha

I think brush-style drums could sound good on it. Just a light, quiet, playful upbeat sort of thing. More playing with brushed on the snare than kick or cymbals.


I think for the final versions, each track will be done separately so they can be mixed after. I don't think you need to worry about rerecording it until we've got the idea pretty solid.


I played it for my girlfriend (Lueda Alia on AP) and she loves it so far.

Thanks for the chords, Mike. I did notice the timing was all over the place though cause it was hard to follow along, so I'll try and figure something out later instead of trying to match it perfectly. I think that would be better until the final version is made.

I'm working on beats...anytime I try anything too fancy I feel like it takes away from the quaintness of the song. I think when it comes down to it, I'll be keeping the brush and adding a bass kick. We'll see. I'm going out now though. Rock n' Roll fellas.

Mattakalive wrote:I'm working on beats...anytime I try anything too fancy I feel like it takes away from the quaintness of the song. I think when it comes down to it, I'll be keeping the brush and adding a bass kick. We'll see. I'm going out now though. Rock n' Roll fellas.

i'm not sure how the bass kick would sound. i like the horns.

what i'm thinking is, since the song already has a uke sound to it, why not just do the song with uke instead of acoustic guitar?

Maybe i'll just make the brush drum louder. There's only so many soft sound options on this kit.

Tweaked the percussion a little and added a little somethin' somethin' to the bridge. I'm done now I swear lol
http://www.mediafire.com/?tfynm3lmd5m

DionTSK wrote:what i'm thinking is, since the song already has a uke sound to it, why not just do the song with uke instead of acoustic guitar?

I can do that. Also, how do you feel about hand claps?

i like them. it sounds like a campfire song so handclaps would work, i think.

ok, well it doesn't really matter who adds those, all handclaps sound the same haha

Handclaps are lame if overused. Maybe we can stick them in the instrumental or the bridge.

oh, i wasnt thinking of using them throughout. i think that would get a little annoying.

Did we drop this project pretty much?

i don't know. seemed like it was going well and then everyone stopped posting.

well i feel like i can't do much right now since i'm just on vocals... i'm all for keeping this going though

I think we should keep it going with who we have.

I'm at home now, and have my good microphone.. so here's Empty Streets on Summer Nights in good quality. Everyone add their parts again, and we can actually finish a song. And we need to work on Dion's song too, if this hasn't been deserted by everyone.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/0jeftp

Did you record to a click? If so, can you post what tempo the click is at just to make it convenient for everyone? If not, well, we need to start.

I think we need to come up with a better way to do this; I'll post my thoughts in a different thread though.