Sad Theme.
I read a story about 5 years ago concerning a teenage girl who was born with facial disfigurements.
All through her life she had been bullied taunted and a figure of fun for the callous.
Firstly a lyric came from it, then our song
Please have a listen
Travis



Deej( Dave Lekich) saw my lyric on the forum and offered to compose a melody and do a vocal.
Having heard Dave's unique voice and seen his work around JPF i couldn't refuse
Travis


https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13792598


SAME AS YOU INSIDE
v
Look at me, tell me what you see
in my eyes is there laughter or pain?
Talk to me don't turn your head away
been through all that time and again
c
I'm the same as you inside, hurt and I cry
here I am reaching out to you
Seems I'm forever on the outside
wipe away a tear and sigh another sigh
I'm the same as you inside, hurt and I cry
v
Someone to love me be my best friend
and say all the things best friends say
No longer turn my head at cruel things said
just need someone to ask, you OK?
b
Words can be sweet and please the soul, 
words can be brutal and spear the heart.
words won't show the bruises they've made
but leave inward scars that time never fades
c
I'm the same as you inside, hurt and I cry
here I am reaching out to you
Seems I'm forever on the outside
wipe away a tear and sigh another sigh
I'm the same as you inside, hurt and I cry

Well done, Travis and Deej:

Great story line and message. It can be a cruel world sometimes. Reminds me of the hope on the horizon as new medical and surgical break-through's are happening on almost a daily basis now. Thanks for sharing. ----Dave

Very nicely done.
Perfect match, music to lyric.

Vic

I like this very much. A lot of emotion in the vocals. Is it just me, or is there a bit of a Cat Stevens sound to Deej's voice?

The only bit I'm not sure about is the "hurt and I cry" as an aside in my right ear. It's a good idea, but something doesn't sound quite right to me. Also, when Deej sings "been through all this," it sounds to me as if he is telling us he's been to New Orleans.

Great job!

Lovely song...heartfelt, sincere

Lovely song...heartfelt, sincere

Hi Dave
Yiur informed feedback is always welcome and appreciated.
Hope you are keeping welll?
Regards
John

Hi Vic
Pleased you liked this one Deej did a great job
Regards
John

Thanks Gavin
I liked the backing vocals but i suppose you can't please everyone
Good that you liked the song anyhow
Thanks for your ears and thumbs up
Travis

I did like this one John.
Really liked Deej's singing in there, also the guitar playing.

Hi Deej, do you record your vocals and guitar at the same time?

Regards
Mimmo

Thanks Neil. Pleased it worked for you
Travis

Dave, Vic and Neil:

Thanks for stopping in for the listen. Travis provided some beautiful lyrics, and the melody almost magically fell into place. I’m glad they meshed, and that you enjoyed the tune.

Hope all is well with each of you.

Regards,

Deej

Gavin:

Appreciate the listen. Cat Stevens, huh? Well, that’s fine by me (but do I have to give up my efforts to join a Bee Gees cover band?). Anyway, I don’t think I’m anywhere near either universe, but I’ll settle for the next galaxy or two over.

As for the song, this recording was actually a pretty quick take, principally intended to give Travis a feel for where I was going with it. But, as it turns out, I think acoustic style works well, so I'm not planning on adding much more to it.

I agree though that the backing vocals might benefit from some fine tuning. For example, I meant for the “I hurt, I cry” to be more stereo than dominant in the right ear. While I do think the backing vox are moderately respectable here, it’s worth trying to tweak. I’ll play with it and see if I can soften it some.

Sadly, I have not yet been to New Orleans—maybe one day! :-)

Thanks again for the input, and kindest regards,

Deej

Mimmo,

Thanks for giving this one a spin and glad you liked it. As for your question, I recorded the guitar first, then the vocal, then the backing vocals (though see my note to Gavin above—the backing vox are worth revisiting). I record them on separate tracks primarily because then I can adjust each distinctly in my DAW. But, I also do it because I find I don't play as well when I'm singing at the same time.

When I first started on JPF, I was just recording g/v on my laptop in GarageBand, single track. For example, the first song I posted here—“Lonely Tonight”—was done that way. I somewhat cringe when I listen to it now--probably one I should revisit as I’ve improved (albeit slightly) in production (I’d like to think at least).

All the best,

Deej

Hi guys,


Very nicely done, I appreciate your work here.


Calvin


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

Thanks again Calvin for your support. Pleased you liked this one as well
Travis

Hi Deej.
Yeah, I would do the same if I recorded guitars. Lately I don't do much live guitars, my fingers are sore and I won't be able to play for a long time. so I usually try to get help on the live recording from friends here and there.
Thanks for sharing.
Mimmo

Hi Mimmo
Look forwards to working with you again soon
Take it easy too!
Cheers
John

Awesome tune,cool style of vocals with some great music,the right blend there.Mike

Thanks Mike great feedback and rightly for Dave's work.
How about mine lol?
Cheers john

LOL,i would include your lyrics in the "awesome tune" sentence,Travis.But if i must,yes,your lyric is something to sing about,i enjoyed it.Mike

Thanks for the return visit Mike.
You're right or it would be just an instrumental lo!
Cheers
Jo h

Calvin and Michael,

Thanks much for the listen and kind words. Glad you enjoyed the tune.

All the best,

Deej

Travis that is an excellent song, I just loved the lyric and I don`t think anyone else could have
got this across as well as Deej He is just excellent with the vocal and music ...and really I don`t think
anyone could have "fit this lyric, great song hats off to you two.

Hi Lane
Not seen you around for a while.
Thanks for your feedback and thumbs up
Travis

imo...

Tremendously sincere. The story, melody and vocal line were a real good fit for DJ's voice and style.

The story could have come off as ripped-from-the-headlines and gratuitous in someone else's song....but in this one, it didn't to my ear. The lyrics were lovely and evocative and flowed easily from the melody and sounded like someone really meant them.

Very nice dual effort. Regards.

Martin

Thanks Martin for that generous feedback.
Very much appreciated
Travis

This is a real tug in the heartstrings songs for our times. I was a bullied child myself back in the days when we were usually told to just toughen up.

Hi Brian
Thanks for your comments and stepping forward as a victim of bullying.
Sadly the field is wide open for bullies be it at school in the work place or within the home.
There's no excuse and no way is it acceptable.
Regards
Travis

Lane, Martin and Brian:

Thanks for stopping in and for your kind comments. I can't say enough how much these affecting lyrics struck me when I first read them. I'm pleased I could do well by them (and by Travis, who wrote them), and that you all enjoyed it. Travis nailed what it's like to feel like an outsider. Whether we are different by color, gender, sexuality, or, in the case of this song's inspiration, a physical disfigurement--or really any other difference between one and the so-called "norm", in the end, we all have one common denominator: We want to be like and loved. We deserve both. And we shouldn't tolerate the bullies who aim to make themselves feel superior by making the rest of us feel worse.

Again, appreciate the listen.

Kindest regards to you all,

Deej

Hi Travis and Deej...this song and performance are obviously heartfelt. But without your intro, I would have no idea what the song was about. Someone seems to need a friend and ,yes, words can hurt. Those ideas are a little...trite. You
need some show in your opening lines to explain why your character feels the way they do. Many modern songs are underwritten and leave it to a video to do the heavy lifting. I'm somewhat more old fashioned and think the song should
speak for itself. I also think if you tried to pitch this, a publisher would say it needs more detail. If it's a message song, the message needs to be clear.

Hi Couchgrouch,
Thanks for your feedback.I played the song to a few people before any explanation behind it and the concensus seemed to be, it's about racial or sexual intolerence?
Which of course puts bullying in the frame
So if it made them think of these issues, it has worked.
Perhaps the lyric is twee and trite to you but conversley it might mean much more to someone else so it's subjective.
I appreciate your comments, the song being at a work in progress stage, could well see a change or two.
However the theme will remain and of course Dave's excellent vocal/ music
Cheers
Travis