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This is another song inspired by the title of a Ray Bradbury story - but it has nothing to do with the story. I've been having fun letting his titles help me recall memories from growing up. Just sharing... I'll stick the lyric below. Here is a link to the song: https://youtu.be/cr_Qe86GxJsScott And the Moon be Still as Bright (c) 2017 by SW Campbell With wood and glue and clamps and clips He builds his model rocket ships Then scans his father’s paper while they dry He cuts stories out of stoic men Shepard, Cooper, Grissom, Glenn The newspapers proclaiming then The moon be still as bright A refrigerator packing crate He christens it Apollo Eight His dad fits it with gauges, ports and lights His best friends at the library Heinlein, Clarke and Bradbury Portray the worlds he’ll one day see And the moon be still as bright And he dreams of mammoth spinning stations Circling Earth and Mars And gleaming ships serve destinations In the distant stars…… (break) Tonight I sit in my back yard Pondering the moon and Mars And how we gave them up without a fight But somewhere in the world tonight There are ships and rockets taking flight If only in one child’s sight The moon be still as bright
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First I'd like to say well done! A very well written lyric, (I'm biased, as I read many books by those authors, as well as finding the joy in creation) Many nostalgic thoughts stirred up. I enjoy a lyric that goes somewhere and where there's a "payoff" at the end, (which of course you accomplished here) As for the music, I think the accordion sound worked very well. Loved your singing, as well as the dramatic flair evidenced in the last verse. The bad? Although I loved the lyric, the "B" section, (And he dreams...) melody didn't work for me. Aside from that, this was a fine effort that I enjoyed listening to. Best of luck! -Mike
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Hi Scott:
Enjoyed my listen and having the ability to see you perform the song. Story telling to music is an old tradition worldwide... and in this instance... I believe the story is probably more important than the melody. No crits from me. Most of us remember the Space Race and you touched nearly every base... and I enjoyed this very much. ----Dave
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Scott,
Glad to see you posting in the threads! You are just one of those guys that everyone would want as a friend. There's an innocence about much of your music especially I'm sure for we Baby-Boomers. You are a ballad master, and you never disappoint. Enjoyed this little trip and can relate!
steady-eddie
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Oh, what a joy this is, Scott! So great to hear a new one from a master storyteller. Those authors were also some of my favs growing up and the genre is still my most read today. Thanks for sharing something of your past that many of us can relate to.
Ricki
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Thanks Mike! Glad it mostly worked for you.
Scott
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Thanks, Dave. I have a much longer song that touches more bases - but then I realized that there is a reason why there aren't a ton of long songs Glad you enjoyed it. Scott
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Thanks Eddie. My current project (which is really dragging on) is a collection of songs that all have titles of a Ray Bradbury story or collection. They bring back memories of my childhood more effectively than anything else seems to. LOL - I'm reaching for that huge music buying demographic of aging male baby boomers! Thanks for the nice words, Eddie Scott
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Cool! Maybe it works for female baby boomers too! Thanks, Ricki. Scott
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Hey, Scott:-)
While working on this year's "Virtual Telethon", which is always a work in progress for 30 days, I chose a "Theme", which is: Songs you would not have known about if not for these forums. So, I ventured to the MP3 Forum a few moments ago...
Hope you don't mind me sharing the song link in the Telethon Thread:-)
Thanks!
Midnite
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Hey Bud, good to hear that signature Campbell sound. I sure missed your harp here, though the synth did fill in brilliantly. I see you’ve mastered the video thing, eh? OK, I see the keyboard player and the guitar player but when you gonna give the drummer some face time? And your Talent be Still as Bright……Yes Sir
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Hey, Scott:-)
While working on this year's "Virtual Telethon", which is always a work in progress for 30 days, I chose a "Theme", which is: Songs you would not have known about if not for these forums. So, I ventured to the MP3 Forum a few moments ago...
Hope you don't mind me sharing the song link in the Telethon Thread:-)
Thanks!
Midnite That was very cool of you, Midnite. Thanks
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Hey Bud, good to hear that signature Campbell sound. I sure missed your harp here, though the synth did fill in brilliantly. I see you’ve mastered the video thing, eh? OK, I see the keyboard player and the guitar player but when you gonna give the drummer some face time? And your Talent be Still as Bright……Yes Sir LOL - the "drummer" is on the lam and doesn't want his image used. I'm just plugging away, Nelson - like the rest of us Thanks - I miss the harp too. Scott
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Thanks - appreciate it! Scott
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I have to wonder if we are going into space. But anyway I had plastic space men as a kid. Thought maybe I was left here by men from Mars. Thanks Scott, I enjoyed your song. You have the amazing ability to find songs in places most people don't look.
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Very much a story driven lyric, in a ballad format. That was very enjoyable!
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Well done Scott! The music and production were right on and you took me to my childhood with the story. Great job!
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Hi Scott, Only Waits could do an oom-pah-ish waltz as well. To further the comparison, your words are as good as his, so damn literate and intertextually of this world and culture (I love all your references).. Meaning, I love this song as I love most of your work. You're an artist of the highest calibre and so..thanks for sharing your work. Mike
Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice Fortune depends on the tone of your voice
-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon) from the song "Songs of Love" from the album "Casanova" (1996)
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Thanks Pal! Appreciate it Scott
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I have to wonder if we are going into space. But anyway I had plastic space men as a kid. Thought maybe I was left here by men from Mars. Thanks Scott, I enjoyed your song. You have the amazing ability to find songs in places most people don't look. I remember how exciting those days were - and how sad it was to see them come to an end. Ha - natural material for a song! Thanks, Pete
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Very much a story driven lyric, in a ballad format. That was very enjoyable! Thanks! Scott
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Well done Scott! The music and production were right on and you took me to my childhood with the story. Great job! Thanks Paul - glad you liked it. Scott
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Hi Scott, Only Waits could do an oom-pah-ish waltz as well. To further the comparison, your words are as good as his, so damn literate and intertextually of this world and culture (I love all your references).. Meaning, I love this song as I love most of your work. You're an artist of the highest calibre and so..thanks for sharing your work. Mike Thanks Mike. It seems like every song of mine is a waltz these days. Gotta break the habit. Thanks for the compliments. Don't feel I deserve them but I surely appreciate them. Scott
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Scott, I'm going to be totally honest here . . . since you’ve posted this, I’ve listened to it again and again . . . and then again. I haven’t had a chance to post till now, but WOW this is incredibly well done. One of the best things I’ve heard on JPF—truly! Beautifully written and performed. I can appreciate how some might not totally buy into the melody of the bridge, but for me it’s killer. I’d write more, but I'm too busy listening to it again! Deej
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Scott, I'm going to be totally honest here . . . since you’ve posted this, I’ve listened to it again and again . . . and then again. I haven’t had a chance to post till now, but WOW this is incredibly well done. One of the best things I’ve heard on JPF—truly! Beautifully written and performed. I can appreciate how some might not totally buy into the melody of the bridge, but for me it’s killer. I’d write more, but I'm too busy listening to it again! Deej Thanks, Deej. Listening more than once is a big compliment I think the bridge melody sinks in after a couple listens. Each line ends on a somewhat unexpected chord. Appreciate it, Scott
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I enjoyed everything about this - lyrics, melody, performance, the accordion sound. As a relative newbie here, I hadn't heard anything from you. Obviously, I've been missing out.
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I always take a little away with read, and listening to you Scott, nice work. I remember learning about "Coffin Ships form some of your work... Lane great music and lyric.
Last edited by lane1777; 11/13/17 06:52 PM.
"Blessed are the words of truth and fiction, one might save you from the other...Vincent
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This is a very tight and professional song. I really enjoyed it. Great lyrics.
A LOT going on for 3 minutes. Tight as a drum. Super job.
I liked all of the tracks. One thing for next time, your acoustic guitar sounds great and is right in the pocket. It could come up a bit so you can really hear those strummed passages a little more upfront and in your face. Again the parts are great, I just wanted to hear the acoustic a little louder.
Awesome.
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Scott,
I don't think I've ever commented twice on a tune since I've joined JPF. But just want to let you know, for what it's worth, your song has been in my head for the last three days--that damn accordion (total ear worm)!!! But I love it. Great tune.
Deej
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Loved this Scott a kind of Cohen meets Tom Waits song Excellent all round loved that intro as well Travis
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. Oscar Wilde
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Meant to comment on this song earlier to let you know I enjoyed listening to it. Neat story! The concept and pairing of a folksy sound with sci-fi reminds me of the Firefly TV show theme song. The triple meter almost hearkens to a sea chanty. And the lyrics of the last verse, to me, turn the song on its head to make it a post-apocalyptic anthem of hope, which I find very cool. If there is ever a movie adaptation of "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert Heinlein, I nominate this for its theme song. A couple of items for your consideration: On the words newspapers, library, and Bradbury, it would sound more natural to me to sing them with three straight eighth notes in the way you sang stoic men, packing crate, and still as bright. You may even want to sing Dad longer to put "fits it" on the downbeat. This is all in an effort to keep words and syllables that would not normally be accented in speech off of the downbeat (-pers, -ry, it, etc.). Also, you may want to experiment with having one more held note at the end of the words "Mars" and "stars" to take you into the next chord. Nice unexpected harmonic changes at the ends of those phrases - made my ears perk up.
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This is friggin great, what a great set of visuals....I can already see the video.
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Hi Scott,
I really like this story. Those details bring us right into the time and place. I like the title too....we can always count on the moon for inspiration. Always there for the next child and the next...
It was fun to see the video with the harmonies "portrayed" as well...kind of a sneak peek into how it's all done. Very enjoyable!
Kristi
A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be. -- Abraham Maslow, American Psychologist
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I enjoyed everything about this - lyrics, melody, performance, the accordion sound. As a relative newbie here, I hadn't heard anything from you. Obviously, I've been missing out. Thanks, Gavin - appreciate that! Scott
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I always take a little away with read, and listening to you Scott, nice work. I remember learning about "Coffin Ships form some of your work... Lane great music and lyric. Ha - I learned about those when I wrote the song Thanks Lane. Scott
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This is a very tight and professional song. I really enjoyed it. Great lyrics.
A LOT going on for 3 minutes. Tight as a drum. Super job.
I liked all of the tracks. One thing for next time, your acoustic guitar sounds great and is right in the pocket. It could come up a bit so you can really hear those strummed passages a little more upfront and in your face. Again the parts are great, I just wanted to hear the acoustic a little louder.
Awesome.
Thanks, David. Appreciate the comments on the mix - one of the toughest things for me. Will take another listen to it... Scott
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Scott,
I don't think I've ever commented twice on a tune since I've joined JPF. But just want to let you know, for what it's worth, your song has been in my head for the last three days--that damn accordion (total ear worm)!!! But I love it. Great tune.
Deej Listening twice is a huge compliment. Thanks, Deej! Scott
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Loved this Scott a kind of Cohen meets Tom Waits song Excellent all round loved that intro as well Travis Thanks Travis! Scott
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Meant to comment on this song earlier to let you know I enjoyed listening to it. Neat story! The concept and pairing of a folksy sound with sci-fi reminds me of the Firefly TV show theme song. The triple meter almost hearkens to a sea chanty. And the lyrics of the last verse, to me, turn the song on its head to make it a post-apocalyptic anthem of hope, which I find very cool. If there is ever a movie adaptation of "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert Heinlein, I nominate this for its theme song. A couple of items for your consideration: On the words newspapers, library, and Bradbury, it would sound more natural to me to sing them with three straight eighth notes in the way you sang stoic men, packing crate, and still as bright. You may even want to sing Dad longer to put "fits it" on the downbeat. This is all in an effort to keep words and syllables that would not normally be accented in speech off of the downbeat (-pers, -ry, it, etc.). Also, you may want to experiment with having one more held note at the end of the words "Mars" and "stars" to take you into the next chord. Nice unexpected harmonic changes at the ends of those phrases - made my ears perk up. I love that Firefly theme song Thanks for the comments on the stress of the syllables. In regard to your middle paragraph: I've probably listened to too many folks songs that do this kind of thing - so I'm not too bothered by the examples you call out. In regard to the last paragraph though: Yes, those bother me. Right now the melody has one note and the harmonies have two - so it sounds a bit odd. I should probably do something about that. I much appreciate the detailed comments - food for thought. Scott
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This is friggin great, what a great set of visuals....I can already see the video. Thanks Mac! Was going to put a lot of imagery into the video but I couldn't find the content that I wanted. Needed a retro feel. A few things out there but not enough....at least that I could find. Scott
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Hi Scott,
I really like this story. Those details bring us right into the time and place. I like the title too....we can always count on the moon for inspiration. Always there for the next child and the next...
It was fun to see the video with the harmonies "portrayed" as well...kind of a sneak peek into how it's all done. Very enjoyable!
Kristi Thanks, Kristi - I was surprised to find out that doing a performance video is not really much harder than doing the audio track. Just have to keep track of a few more things Scott
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Hi Scott. How did I miss this one? I must have been dreaming of the moon. Very well written lyric and fine melody.
Vic
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Hi Scott. How did I miss this one? I must have been dreaming of the moon. Very well written lyric and fine melody.
Vic Thanks Vic. Appreciate it Scott
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I love that Firefly theme song Thanks for the comments on the stress of the syllables. In regard to your middle paragraph: I've probably listened to too many folks songs that do this kind of thing - so I'm not too bothered by the examples you call out. In regard to the last paragraph though: Yes, those bother me. Right now the melody has one note and the harmonies have two - so it sounds a bit odd. I should probably do something about that. I much appreciate the detailed comments - food for thought. Scott It was a cool show. Yeah, maybe the stylized syllable stress is a convention in Folk music that I'm just not accustomed to yet. Very welcome and I look forward to hearing more!
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Hi, all:
I'm bumping this . . . simply because in my humble opinion it's one of the best songs I've heard on the JPF during my time here. That opening verse is so well written, each syllable fitting neatly into each note and chord change . . . and it gets better from there. Just the right touch on production, with a magnetic bridge rich with harmonies. . . and Scott's vocal, gravelly and warm, drivers such emotion. The song, like its object, embodies imagination. Wonderful write, gravitating melody!
This is why we need JPF . . . so that songs like this get the due they deserve. Only 101 views on YouTube--that's an absolute travesty! Anyway, it was great listening to this song again.
Hope all is well with you, Scott!
By the way, for folks not familiar with Scott's work there's a link to his album in the "Success Stories" forum. Another favorite of mine is 'Farewell Summer"--beautiful three part harmony. Check it out!
Best regards,
Deej
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