“Post-Pandemic” SONGS with Positive, Uplifting Lyrics

[Horacemix]

Update:
Final Mix

Hi everybody!
It's me again asking for your opinion.
Some time ago I had this idea and I recorded this version. The ending should be shorter (no doubt about it), but what do you think about the composition, the vibe, and of course the lyrics. (I know it's a bunch of positive sayings and phrases, but maybe they're OK for this request, aren't they?)
Also, what do you think about the mix and overall sound? Anything to correct to avoid a return because of the mix?
And finally, what genre is this? Is it Blues? Is it Rhythm and Blues? I'm very bad with genre stuff.

Thank you very much for your time reading, listening and commenting!
Regards!

https://soundcloud.com/horacecomposer/h ... ssnzzHHf7Q

Here the lyrics:

On your line

Never mind, forget it
Another stone in the road!
No time to get tied
Just keep it simple and go!
And when you're feeling
You're gonna fall or break, take my hand!
Relax and let it go!
Keep going on your line...

No matter what you may facing
You got the power on your soul
There's a reason for challenge
It makes you stronger as you grow
And the ones who love you,
by being you, will love you more

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.

Keep on grooving on your line
keep on grooving on your line

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.

Keep on grooving on your line
keep on grooving on your line

The listing:

A WIDE RANGE of SONGS with Positive, Uplifting Lyrics and Male or Female Vocals are needed by an awesome Music Publisher that will be pitching to “Post-Pandemic” TV Commercials in the near future!

This company is proactively stocking up for the onslaught of TV Commercials they anticipate will feature messages and images about “life after the pandemic."

We’ve come up with some key concepts, keywords, ideas, and phrases to get your creative gears turning, but please don’t limit yourself to just these! We encourage you to come up with some of your own!

Concepts and keywords:

A brand new day
Time to go out and play
Getting out
Getting together
Rise up
Living life again
Taking or getting your life back
Moving on
A fresh start
Feeling free
Lyric themes:
Common sense tells us that most of these TV Commercials will show montages of people at the beach, parks, family gatherings, out shopping, and generally living life again once this pandemic is just a memory. We're all ready for that, right?!

General concepts in your lyrics could work better than telling full stories. Lyrics that also avoid references to specific names, places, dates, times, brands, and profanity will likely be the most appealing to Ad Agencies. You'd also be smart to not have lyrics that specifically say, "virus, COVID-19, Coronavirus," etc.

Your Songs should have a positive, uplifting, advertising-friendly mood that could easily work for a wide range of placements in Post-Pandemic TV Commercials. Your productions and vocals need to be strong enough that they would sound great in a big, national TV Commercial. In other words, top-notch vocals and Broadcast Quality.

Possible genres and styles:
We purposely avoided putting references in this Listing, as we felt they could potentially be more misleading or limiting, than helpful. However, this company tends to request the following commercially-viable genres from TAXI, so you’d probably be wise to focus your efforts on Pop, Singer/Songwriter, Adult Contemporary, Indie Folk, Rock, and Hip-Hop Songs.

Tempo:
Up-Tempo Songs that convey an upbeat, inspiring vibe will likely work better in this context than Down-Tempo Songs that feel melancholy or sad.

Our A&R team will have a simple mandate:
Is it GREAT? Can you imagine hearing it in a big, national ad campaign? Does it sound ready-to-go as-is? Does it fit the emotional vibe and message that would likely be in TV Spots about this general subject/topic?

The specific deal points will be handled on a case-by-case basis. You must own or control your Master and Composition to submit to this opportunity. Please submit as many Songs as you’d like, online or per CD. All submissions will be screened by TAXI. Submissions must be received no later than 11:59 PM (PDT) on Wednesday, June 10th, 2020. TAXI # S200610UP

[AlanHall]

My first guess is that it's "southern rock", and then maybe "70's southern rock". It does have a nice groove.

What does the title refer to?

[SteveAlton]

I like the song, but maybe a POP style would work better....IMO

[Horacemix]

My first guess is that it's "southern rock", and then maybe "70's southern rock". It does have a nice groove.

What does the title refer to?

Hi! Thank you for your comment!
About the title, On your line, on your way, on your path. That's what It means to me.

Regards!

[Horacemix]

I like the song, but maybe a POP style would work better....IMO

Hi! Thank you!

[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.

[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

[lesmac]

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.

[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!

[rpeckyno]

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)