I had in mind that I would write this song for my current project last. And that it would be informed by the other songs.

But they come when they're ready, I guess.

Dandelion Wine is here:


https://youtu.be/1IIVkxKE0y4


I'll stick the lyric below.

Thanks for any comments.

Scott


Dandelion Wine
(c) 2018 by SW Campbell

The summer when I was ten, me and my best friend Cass
Strung up an old hammock just to watch the clouds roll past
Loafing over fresh cut clover, chewing blades of grass
And I’d say
I bet this tastes just like dandelion wine
I bet this tastes just like dandelion wine

Then I’d follow her to the fruit cellar beneath her basement stair
We’d share the cool with her father’s tools and her mother’s canning wares
Breathe the scent of peaches and machine oil in the air
And she’d say
I bet this smells just like dandelion wine
I bet this smells just like dandelion wine

There was more to it we would suppose
Like pedals from my mother’s roses
Water from the garden hose
Cool and glistening
Dandelions and the scents
Of crab apples and canvas tents
But there was one ingredient
We were missing

One day me and Cassie May said our last goodbye
Their moving van sat gassed and packed beneath an empty sky
I kissed her on the cheek just as a tear leaked from her eye
And I thought
I bet that tastes just like dandelion wine
I bet that tastes just like dandelion wine

Hi Scott:

Enjoyed your "Dandelion Wine." Well written and well performed. Bring more when you can... and good luck with the album. ----Dave

Superb song.
Takes me back to an old room when my aunt used to make wine out of anything you can imagine.
Love the chorus melody.

Vic

Hello Scott,


Wow. what a cool performance !!!


Calvin


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/calvinstewart

Scott,

So I have a question: Have you ever actually HAD dandelion wine? Has anyone else here? Just curious.

Brian

Howdy Scott,

I had some thoughts that Brian has just redirected with his comment. I have not consumed dandelion wine, so cannot bring any image or memory to mind as to the experience. Maybe that was Brian's point? But I like that you did not really say what it tastes like either. And that you cleverly left it all up to the listener to decide. Perhaps the whole concept of dandelion wine is a bit mythical.

The lyric is excellent. Production wise, I was thinking it sounded a bit too verby? Or maybe that was intentional? I think I'm just used to hearing your voice sounding dry and raspy.

Good work as it stands though.

I too had a girlfriend of sorts around the age of ten. The girl next door and I would dance to some of the songs on Bandstand. This was just before I was sent away to a boarding school and my life took an entirely different direction; one which I still sometimes struggle with to this day. When I saw the title, this was the first song that came to my mind.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guW0r8R4DQE

Hi Scott,

Really sweet song and production. Nice building instrumentation throughout and a hummable melody, and down-home, conversational phrasing.

I look forward to Farenheit 451.

Mike

Hey Scott,

I enjoyed this song as well, as I always enjoy your music. You always have interesting topics and phrasing. I was in your old "neck of the woods" today. I had an appt in Hubbard, Ohio, not too far from Youngstown. I travel all over Eastern Ohio from Erie to the Ohio River with my work, even in to central Ohio too.

steady-eddie

Thanks Dave. I'd like to finish it soon so I can move on to other things. But they come when they're ready

Scott

LOL - I had similar relations.

And some things you can't...

Thanks Vic!

Scott

Thanks Calvin - this one was fun and easy. Only 4 chords repeating over and over. Didn't have to practice much

Scott

It's a real thing, Brian. I've never had it but would jump at the chance.

Everything's a two-edged sword though - if I knew what it tasted like I probably wouldn't have written the song

Scott

Thanks Wendy!

Definitely mythical to me. I have in mind that it contains every taste and scent of summer.

There's a road I used to pass that looked like it led to a very mystical place. I passed by it for years without turning into it. Finally, I did. And when I got past the entrance, it was completely ordinary. So I thought I better write this now in case I get a chance to taste dandelion wine in the future.

Yes, a bit too much reverb. I used it because I liked the effect with the video - for which I used a filter to make it a little surrealistic. Will probably dial the reverb back some though on the stand-alone music track.

Scott

LOL - I love Randy Newman and have that album. Thanks for the reminder to add it to my iPod, Brian.

Maybe you should write a song about your friend and what came after. Seems like a song in there....

Scott

Thanks Mike. I love that book but I don't see doing a song with that title. Can't think of anything from my childhood that ties in with the title. Well, maybe the time I almost burned the woods down

Scott

Hey Eddie:

Yes, I grew up just a few miles from there in Poland. Used to drive through Hubbard all the time on my way to Pymatuning Lake.

Glad you liked the song.

Scott

Eh, Well,
A neighbor lady who lived down the road from us made some Dandelion wine when we visited her back in 1967. She was a War Bride from Germany and did a lot of things. She put the wine outside for some reason and the Humming Birds got into it and must have got high. There was a lot of them and they dive bombed her and were some nuisance. No we didn't have any.

A well crafted lyric Scott telling a good story. The whole song is excellent and again well constructed.
Classy stuff well done
Travis

Sorry to say, I've never tasted dandelion wine either. Some things are best left to the imagination. Loved this sweet, nostalgic song...everything is so well thought out, lyrically and musically. It was a joy to listen to, Scott and thanks for sharing.

Ricki

Scott,

Gotta chime in . . . I don’t need to know what dandelion wine tastes like to know this tune is just as sweet and inebriating. Me thinks you are pulling together a pretty awesome collection of tunes given the trio I've heard so far.

All the best,

Deej

nope never had any but...watched it being made. took a ton of those little devils to make it.
good song Scott

Scott,

Very nice song, well performed and produced.
I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Paul

Hell that's most of my songs and I still have to practice a lot but you probably can't tell that I do.

Good to hear the harp is back in the mix and getting some face time.

Sounds of classic Campbell. Perfectly written, arranged, performed and produced.

Beautifully done Scott.
Must be nice... to be so good...

There's a song in there, Ray.

Scott

Thanks, Travis. Much appreciated

Scott

Thanks, Ricki. It occurs to me that, as kids, we were always imagining what adult-oriented things were like. Sometimes we found out. Other times not. When we did, it was seldom as good as we imagined

Scott

Thanks Deej. I'm homing in on it. Eight done and another ready to record.

Scott

LOL - I believe it. Glad you liked it Lane.

Scott

Thanks Paul - Glad it worked for you.

Scott

Lol - that's what I think whenever I listen to one of yours!

Thanks, Nelson.

Scott

Scott,

Your lyrics are always both visual and "feeling oriented" - a great combination. And they are always "performed from the heart". This reminded me of very early Don McLean - not that it sounded like him, but in its "honest presentation".

Enjoyed.

fj

I LOVE this song Scott. The world needs more Singer Songwriters like you....B

This is really sweet. On the whole "what does dandelion wine" taste like discussion, to me the song is from the perspective of a ten year old who doesn't know what dandelion wine tastes like and is just guessing at it - "I'll bet that tastes just like...". I love this "just before coming of age" story. Video was pretty good too!

..ant

One more comment. This is just me but I'd change "leaked from her eye" to "fell from her eye".

..ant

That's terrific! Really enjoyed it. Innocent an joyful.
Really liked the internal rhymes such as: Loafing over fresh cut clover, chewing blades of grass
and of course the melody in the refrain.
Very very nice

Great song, great mix, great lyrics, super Americana, totally professional.

And--an awesome video. Please do a tutorial.

Thanks, Floyd - I've been carrying these images around since childhood - thought it time to let them out.

Scott

Thanks, Barry. The world would be a better place if everyone took up an instrument

Scott

Exactly!

Maybe.....

In an earlier version of the lyric, one line indicated they were both trying very hard not to cry. "Leaked" makes sense in that context.

I changed the line - but not the leak I came to like the coupling with "cheek".

Thanks, ant

Scott

Thanks - I sweated over those internal rhymes.

First draft of the lyric was done in a couple of hours.

Took several days of working the lyrics while driving to and from work (hour commute) to get those rhymes and still say what I wanted.

Scott

Thanks! Much appreciated, Dave.

As for a tutorial, I think I only know enough to be dangerous. The things I'm able to do are almost exclusively because the software I use (a Valentine Day gift from my wife) has the capability and I am curious by nature.

Would be happy to answer anyone's questions though.....

Scott

Hi Scott,

Such a charming story! There’s a gentleness in your delivery too. You are a storyteller...such vivid details that fit so well together to create this good one. I like being brought into their world here...reminded me of my grandparents dirt floor cellar and I can still smell it today! (not something you want to sing a song about though! ha ha) Dandelion wine is better off a mystery...and isn't that the fun? I got the feeling they were trying to impress each other too and then that sweetness at the end with the tear. Great stuff!

Very enjoyable to listen to and also watch the video!

Kristi

This is so obviously from the heart...and that made an already fine song all the more special.

My grandmother used to mention dandelion wine but I don't think she made it. Peach wine, yeah.

Most enjoyable listen.

J&B

Thanks Kristi!

Yes, the whole thing is about the mystery.

Scott

Heh - one of these days, I'll try it.

Or, peach wine too. I'm open

Thanks!

Scott