“Post-Pandemic” SONGS with Positive, Uplifting Lyrics

[TZoellner]

Hi,
I like the vibe.....

I have a song that could use lead vocals and possibly those soul keys. Any interest?

Tz

[GPDoc]

For what it's worth, here is a summary of my impressions: I first read the lyrics, felt that there was a positive vibe, but the ideas were not developed, some of the concepts, or connections were hard to understand.

A couple examples: "keep it simple" , the song never develops what happened in the first place, simple or complicated. So I don't have any reason to agree that it can be simple, maybe the song is giving bad advice?

"take my hand" Why? There is nothing before this line or after it that establishes any kind of relationship where one would want to take your hand.

"Walking's fine because it's first But grooving's better and takes you faster far away Until you get notice you are ready there." Why talk about walking?

"Grooving", I like. You're using it to mean "perseverance",( even under pressure) I find this to be relevant to dealing with "another stone in the road" but I have no idea what " you get notice" is about.

But then, when I listened to the song, the way it all came together musically, made me want to like it a lot. So my impression is that developing the concepts in the lyrics could make a big difference.

Hope it's helpful.

Hi:
Thank you for your comments!
Of course, it's helpful!

You know, every song in the world has a story of how it was conceived. 2 years ago I became TAXI member for the first time. Watching the TAXI's YouTube Channel, I've heard Michael talking about lyrics and the importance of "universality". That's why I didn't develop what happened in the first place. Because I assume that what happened will be given to the audience by the context in which the song would be used. If I sing about a very specific situation that happened in the first place, probably it won't be universal.
For example, If this song is used as a positive message in the context of a post-covid19 documentary, the whole message makes sense. Also, it's like giving to the listeners the freedom to assign to the song their own context and interpretation, their own "stones in the road"... Maybe a listener got fired, made a mistake or finished a meaningful relationship, and I'm saying "never mind, another obstacle, no time to get tied, so keep it simple and move forward". But also it's possible that my English is not as good as I think it is (I'm not a native English speaker) and that's why my lyrics don't make sense to native English listeners...(?)

OK. That's my explanation but I understand your point. Without a context given, seems pretty difficult for the lyrics to make any sense.

Thank you for your words about when you listened to the song. I'm about to release the final version (better mix, shorter ending, etc) although I've never pitched the song and probably never will for TAXI listings.

Thank you once again!
Regards

Interesting perspective. I see how that could work. I've heard of the importance of "universality" but my mind didn't take it quite so far. In my comments, I was looking not for a lot of detail, maybe just a line, here and there, to add a reference that gave more body to the lyrics. It didn't occur to me that the song could be written, actually anticipating that the "body", or context, was, in fact, created by the storyline of the show where the song was being used. I'm really curious about where to draw the line, how much the song needs to stand on it's own, compared to relying on the story to fill in, fit in the gaps. My thoughts were to avoid conflicting with a potential storyline, but did not include using the storyline to create the context. I'm curious how other song writers approach "universality'.

[Horacemix]

Hello Horacemix!

I love the vibe once the song gets going. As lesmack said:

Little Feat vibe and lots of Southern rock flavour.

My biggest problem was the first two measures - which drift a bit timing wise. Once the song gets going, that's part of the 'flavour' but in those empty first two bars - it really stood out for me.

I wanted the mix to be a bit wider and give the vocals a bit more room in spaces. Loved the harmonies throughout - each was a good hook. During the end repeat of "keep on grooving on your line" - it would sound less repeated if you changed (slightly) the mix of the vocals as it progressed. If you have four guys singing together, there is some natural variation on who is loudest each time through (it's what we love about CSN and the Allman's right?) - I'd have loved to hear a bit of variation here to keep interest (others may disagree here).

Very enjoyable tune! As a purely instrumental guy, I am not qualified to talk much on the lyrics, but I am not of the opinion that 'Sussudio' was a bad song just because it made no sense. Sometimes universality requires ... vagueness. (call it metaphor if you want)

Hello! First of all, thank you very much for your comments.
About the intro, the good news is that can be easily cropped by any editor, so if the song is used, can be started directly from bar 3. In fact, I have another song that also starts with 2 bars of an acoustic guitar playing an intro strumming, but when I've pitched for a listing, I took off the 2 bars intro and sent a short-intro version.
Probably I didn't nail it with everything in this song, but in general terms, I'm OK with it.

Finally, I've decided to release the track and here is the result.

Best Regards and thank you again for your time, ears and brains!

[Horacemix]

For what it's worth, here is a summary of my impressions: I first read the lyrics, felt that there was a positive vibe, but the ideas were not developed, some of the concepts, or connections were hard to understand.

A couple examples: "keep it simple" , the song never develops what happened in the first place, simple or complicated. So I don't have any reason to agree that it can be simple, maybe the song is giving bad advice?

"take my hand" Why? There is nothing before this line or after it that establishes any kind of relationship where one would want to take your hand.

"Walking's fine because it's first But grooving's better and takes you faster far away Until you get notice you are ready there." Why talk about walking?

"Grooving", I like. You're using it to mean "perseverance",( even under pressure) I find this to be relevant to dealing with "another stone in the road" but I have no idea what " you get notice" is about.

But then, when I listened to the song, the way it all came together musically, made me want to like it a lot. So my impression is that developing the concepts in the lyrics could make a big difference.

Hope it's helpful.

Hi:
Thank you for your comments!
Of course, it's helpful!

You know, every song in the world has a story of how it was conceived. 2 years ago I became TAXI member for the first time. Watching the TAXI's YouTube Channel, I've heard Michael talking about lyrics and the importance of "universality". That's why I didn't develop what happened in the first place. Because I assume that what happened will be given to the audience by the context in which the song would be used. If I sing about a very specific situation that happened in the first place, probably it won't be universal.
For example, If this song is used as a positive message in the context of a post-covid19 documentary, the whole message makes sense. Also, it's like giving to the listeners the freedom to assign to the song their own context and interpretation, their own "stones in the road"... Maybe a listener got fired, made a mistake or finished a meaningful relationship, and I'm saying "never mind, another obstacle, no time to get tied, so keep it simple and move forward". But also it's possible that my English is not as good as I think it is (I'm not a native English speaker) and that's why my lyrics don't make sense to native English listeners...(?)

OK. That's my explanation but I understand your point. Without a context given, seems pretty difficult for the lyrics to make any sense.

Thank you for your words about when you listened to the song. I'm about to release the final version (better mix, shorter ending, etc) although I've never pitched the song and probably never will for TAXI listings.

Thank you once again!
Regards

Interesting perspective. I see how that could work. I've heard of the importance of "universality" but my mind didn't take it quite so far. In my comments, I was looking not for a lot of detail, maybe just a line, here and there, to add a reference that gave more body to the lyrics. It didn't occur to me that the song could be written, actually anticipating that the "body", or context, was, in fact, created by the storyline of the show where the song was being used. I'm really curious about where to draw the line, how much the song needs to stand on it's own, compared to relying on the story to fill in, fit in the gaps. My thoughts were to avoid conflicting with a potential storyline, but did not include using the storyline to create the context. I'm curious how other song writers approach "universality'.

Hello!
I get your point! TAXI changes the paradigm because Michael gives away a lot of information about composing for Media. I don't know about you, but in my case, I'm old school band musician minded, Beatles fan, and always thought about songwriting as autobiographical, and that's when lyrics become not so universal for Media usage. There are lot's of exceptions, of course. But in general rules, Media people need the lyrics to be versatile.
The point is that in fact, when you listen to music, you give your own personal context to the lyrics and, we as humans, do that all the time with everything in the world, even when writing our own lyrics. Using the story to give context to the song is exactly the same that screeners and Media producers do, but reversed, they have the context and try the song with it.
Pandemic context says that this virus is a huge stone in the human road, and the advice is, OK, let's get over it.
The grooving thing is just to walk the paths of life relaxed and cool, the fast lane that takes us "there" (the accomplishment of our own dreams, task, etc)

Thank you again for your participation!
Here the final version that I'll release soon.
Kind regards!

[Horacemix]

Love this track, Little Feat vibe and lots of Southern rock flavour. Like your voice too, nice!

The mix sounds slammed to me. Everything is competing. You need to tame down individual instruments and give them their own space a bit.

Try cutting the low end 3 dB at 75 to 100Hz; a general 3dB cut at 328; 1 to 2dB cut @ around Hz on the keys and gtrs [away from the main vocal]: 3dB from the main vox @ 2.45k; maybe bring the shaker, tambo down a bit at 8-9k.
Do things like hi pass the acoustic once the band comes in. Hi pass the keys and gtrs bit higher. Automate the acoustic out of the way of the keys a bit. EQ to unmask the Ac Gtr /keys/ Elec Gtr. Tame some harshness on the low BV maybe. You could push the keys into the sides a bit and maybe the BVs.

If you lose some guts with all the cuts [rhyme there ] then push some EQ on the master or see what Ozone or some other mastering plugin throws up.

You may already be doing this with your new mix.

Nice track, looking forward to hearing a new mix.

Hello! Thank you very much for your words and advice!
A couple of weeks ago I've made a lot of changes in mix and eq, but honestly, I don't remember what did I do.
I'll check and compare with your suggested changes and I'll share the new mix soon!

Kind regards!

Hi! As promised, here the new mix. I hope you find it better.
Regards!

[GPDoc]

The new mix is great. Love especially how the base and vocals stand out, so clear and resonant.

[Horacemix]

The new mix is great. Love especially how the base and vocals stand out, so clear and resonant.

Hi! Thank you! I really appreciate your words!
Best Regards!

[Horacemix]

Hi,
I like the vibe.....

I have a song that could use lead vocals and possibly those soul keys. Any interest?

Tz

Hi! How are you? I hope you are fine!
I'd like to listen to what you have (if you have any DEMO) but I must let you know that I'm a very limited singer and I don't sing for other's songs very often. In fact, I don't like my voice (as many of us ) so I'm lacking confidence for singing other's music.
Said that, again, I'd love to hear your song and maybe help you in some other ways.

Best wishes!

[lesmac]

Hi! As promised, here the new mix. I hope you find it better.
Regards!

Sounds good to my ears.

"On to the next one" to quote Dave Grohl.

[jefflaplante]

I’m not a lyric guy, so I won’t speak to that...but I will say that the vocal performance on this track is phenomenal. You have such a wonderful tone to your voice, and the pitch is spot on. I really enjoyed listening.

Jeff