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Mike did the demo.


https://soundcloud.com/wabash-cannibal/gone-with-the-ghost-of-the-sun


Gone with the Ghost of the Sun ©2018 Ricki Bellos/Robert George BMI

When the sunlight slipped away to die
A pale moon haunted the evening sky

And I met her in a boardwalk tavern
Late that night near Galveston
O her eyes were cloaked in myst’ry,
And her lies were soaked in hist’ry
Then she was gone with the ghost of the sun

Moonlight walked on water toward the west
As she described desire as a quest

Then we danced together by the ocean
Waltzing and melting as one
And although I never knew her,
I revealed forever to her
Then she was gone with the ghost of the sun

[i]Things that touch us sensually
The things we spend a lifetime dreaming of
All must leave eventually
And once it’s lost, there’s no redeeming love

Certain shadows only shine at night
She vanished through a veil of misty light

Was she just a sister of enchantment
Or a web whiskey had spun
Maybe life is only sadness,
Maybe love is lonely madness
Cos she was gone with the ghost of the sun

Gone with the ghost of the sun
The ghost of the sun…


[/i]

Great demo. I really like it. No nits.

It has a poetic feel to the lyric, which I like.

Vic

I missed the vocalist credit but immediately recognized that voice. I agree with Vic... it does have a poetic feel to it... but the genre listed is a mis-match to my traditional ears. I would also prefer a more-crisp recording but it does not take away the value of the melody. Nice work, you two... and I'm always glad to hear Mike's voice.

Thanks guys. Dave, I hate to disagree, but on my headphones and stereo, that's a very clean, detailed and layered track with great vocal harmonies.

Thanks Rob, for asking me to be involved with this one...it really spoke to me.

Thanks Gaby, Vic and Dave for listening...it's much appreciated.

Thanks Mike for giving it your very special touch and taking it to such a high level.

Ricki

I liked it better on a second listen.
I really like the tag (outro) melody better than that of the hook line...

Thanks folks.

Dave, since the recording is fine, I wondered about your comment and think I figured it out. There's a few instruments in the song that emit, as part of their sound, what might be considered "noise" to an untrained ear. In V2, I think you catch that the drummer is rubbing the snare with a brush not a stick--something quite normal in jazz balladry, and that emits a kind of "mist" which might be considered noise to an ear unfamiliar to that technique.

But maybe it's one of the synths in the chorus that your ears were perceiving as noise? In the choruses there's a synth that has a misty windy sound as well as a well defined pitch and rhythmic element, but that wind is clearly there, and again, if not familiar with this kind of synth sound, one's ear has nothing to compare it to, and so one might perceive it as noise that wasn't meant to be there.

And also, as I'm sure you know, there's some kind of noise factor in everything that makes music--some things more than others, and with some instruments--depending on how it's played it can sound more noisy or less noisy. Sax players are a good example. Some put lots of phlegm in their sound. Some hear it as "intimate" while others hear it as...as...well..phlegm-y haha..

The noisy elements in the song were by design, intended to add a mysterious, exotic flavor to the song.

I agree with Rob categorizing this as "country." Broadly speaking, like it or not, if you listen to "modern country" playlists synths are no strangers anymore..I think instrumentation is not much of a guide, anymore, as to what category a song belongs to. There are country songs with classical orchestras and modern jazz pieces with pedal steel guitars. I think this is part of what "post-modernism" brought with it: a love of recombinant musical DNA..country is just catching up..jmo..

Of course, maybe you're streaming software somehow "bit-reduced" the recording and your "not crisp" comment had to do with that, or for some other reason. It is so non-specific, it's hard to tell.

Anyway Dave, I hope all is well with you..

Mike

Hi Gang... and especially Mike:

I'm not here to create controversy and I'll admit, I only listened once. The other aspect to what I heard may be caused by the laptop speakers I'm having to use since our Wi-Fi is "out of service." Genre-wise, I live in a part of the country where traditional country is giving way to what I think of as "edgy" country... but not completely. Most of the radio stations here still play "traditional" stuff and that is what I heard as I emerged from teendom... so old ears are trained to give ground grudgingly... LOL! That "label" is not a condemnation of the work of the talented team attached to this song... only an old geezer's opinion. Thanks for taking time to provide rationale and clarity, Mike.

As I approach the "fade into the woodwork" phase of life, I've decided I need to begin telling folks I know and respect more of exactly what I heard and felt. It's so easy to give a "nice" review but if you don't know the gritty side of a listener's opinion after listening, you never have a chance to improve on what you do. (...or ignore the comment and just "go with your gut.") If I really have something negative to offer... I'll always give you the courtesy of a PM to prevent controversy.

All my best, ----Dave

Dave, I say this humorously. I wouldn't watch a cut of a new movie on a 13" tv then tell the director the cinematography was fuzzy. It's great on hq headphones or a stereo.

Hi again Dave,

When you said "laptop speakers' I audibly groaned "uughhhhh"

That's equal parts endearing, frustrating, and funny to me. You cared enough to share your thoughts that you did so even though you had no good way to listen. You listened the only way you could, and I appreciate that.

You did give me a great idea for a single frame Gary Larsen/The Far Side type of captioned single frame cartoon. A man with dark glasses on is gazing at colorful, squiggly-lined modern art with the artist himself by his side. He says to the artist, "I dig your post-Pollock abstraction, but your work is so dim I find it rather depressing. Maybe dayglo pastels would fix that." The caption below would read, "full-time sunglasses critic branching out into art criticism."

Anyway, not to seem like we're ganging up or ragging on you cuz I honestly love you like a dear brother, but maybe consider investing in a decent pair of headphones? I can't imagine how you mix your songs? Certainly not through laptop speakers?

Take care, friend..

Mike

Couch and Mike,

Really like the opening—the slow rise in volume leading to the vocal—nice! Everything that follows is equally sweet sounding. Interesting way to end the bridge . . . the “redeeming love” moves to such a cool note, I almost would have liked you to stay on that for a bit, rather than or just before rising up and falling down with the vocal. But that’s an artistic choice, and you likely made the right one.

Nice tune, gents.

All the best,

Deej

I think Dave was referring to the vocal. I dont like the harmonies split left and right, and the vocal as a whole is kind of blurry. I dont know if thats intentional or not.

It's a pretty good song, no way its country. Even if Modern Country uses different instrumentation, the lyric is old school and so is the melody.

Thanks Neil and DJ.

Breathtaking.

cheers, niteshift

Thanks niteshift.

Thanks for listening (twice), Neil.

Ricki

Mike, I can visualize that cartoon...do you think Larsen would be receptive to suggestions for the future?

Thanks for listening, Deej, even if you've excluded me from the "gents" club.

Ricki

Thanks, Niteshift. I think so too.

Ricki

Thanks for letting us know what you think, Fdemetrio.

Ricki

Ricki,

Oh my gosh, my apologies . . . I didn't even focus on the byline. Just saw "Mike did the demo" and moved onto my listen. Too late to amend my post to "Rikki, Couch and Mike" with a "Nice tune, folks" close? :-)

All the best,

Deej

Oh my pleasure.

to you both, Deej & Fd.

Ricki

Hi,


I gotta send out a big WOW on this one.

and this is really nice.......

Was she just a sister of enchantment
Or a web whiskey had spun


Calvin


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

Thanks Calvin.

Great song and a great demo recording. Congrats to all three of you.



Regards,


Bob

Thanks 90. At first, I was hesitant to post this, having been intimidated by Beto O'Rourke's poetry.

Now, I think it's one of the best songs I've ever been involved with.

Ps

I'm not gonna bump this song to make this comment. Apparently it's an issue that I called it "country" on SoundCloud. I did that as a goof. I think I did it with Nurse Yes, too. When I sign for my credit card I often sign "Elmer Fudd" or "Norman Bates". That's just my nature, to be goofy. I wasn't trying to make a statement, although country is widening its scope.


Thanks again for listening.

And a big THANK YOU to you, Calvin.

Ricki

Thanks for listening, Bob.

Ricki

ohthankgod...I was having a really hard time working through putting it in that genre, Rob!

Ricki

When I think about "what genre is this" my gut tightens up and I feel sick ..and I think I've figured it out..

For over 25 years I worked for a record store chain (Tower Records) and one of the toughest questions, daily, was when deep catalogue would come in, and there were artists that could go in two or three places..The first George Winston record, Autumn, for example..big hit..acoustic piano..not jazz..New Age was barely a genre at this point, and usually involved electronic instruments..new folk wasn't a genre yet....

anguish!!!

gnashing of teeth!!!

and then comes..like the song "Elephant Talk" by the later day King Crimson, "arguments..disagreements.." I clearly remember arguments about where to put some artist that blurred the boundaries..

But that's not now, and we're all grown-up..this will be a pillow fight if even that, because I hold no great passion behind talking about genre and do so with much trepidation, really.

With a lot of my work, especially with Rob, my finished work does not really land squarely in ANY genre either. Nurse Yes, to me, was Robert Palmer does Electonicamericana..I mean, where to put that?

Answer..hard to know..with artists, today, the trend I see is to take a "preponderance of evidence" to figure an artists genre..and then stick with that genre for every song they do. In other words, drop the needle on a Sturgill Simpson record, and you might think he's Roots Rock, or Blues, or Americana..but taken all together..the guy seems pretty country, as a whole..to me..

And so I worked on this song, and I'm feeling a strong "outlaw-ish" feel to the music and lyric..and thought to myself, would a modern version of outlaw country, given the trend towards electronica in country, still have a Waylon Jennings, back and forth, basically a polka bass line, or would it be a hipper sound? What would constitute outlaw country today? And an outlaw country ballad at that?

I thought Rob's song here had at least that atmosphere, both lyrically and musically, and the trend towards electronica made me feel it could truly be country..and these were thoughts I had well before any talk about genre landed in this thread. It was truly, genuinely, what I thought, right or wrong..cuz like I said, much of my work with Rob does not land squarely on any given genre and this certainly did not. But I am always asked to supply a genre, from certain clients, and I do my best with that, based on my authentic experience.

Ricki can vouch that about 2 months ago, she asked that I make a project sound like more modern country, and sited Kacey Musgraves as an artist..so I listened and liked what I heard..heard a ton of synths on her records..I googled synths in country and this article came up..

http://blog.pandora.com/us/country-music-synth-disco-funk/

And then listened to a ton of Modern Country on Spotify..and so here we are..

I arrived at these thoughts well after work on the song. I try to let a song take me where it wants to go, allowing for a more organic process, that way. With Rob, I have lots of help, cuz he's supplying lots of notes concerning the song and instrumentation. We never talk about, make it THIS genre or THAT genre.

Bottom line: it's really not important to me what genre Rob ultimately puts this in, just that my "seconding" Country as genre came authentically from me.

Just wanted to share my thought process with y'all..don't hate on me, please..

Mike

Here's the important stuff, right here..

I am really grateful for everyone who's listened and commented.

Thank you very much. I appreciate your listening.

I really enjoy working with this dynamic duo.

Mike

Excellent story telling. Good structure. The music matches the lyric. What's the "Ghost of the sun" mean?

Summeoyo

hi Summ...thanks for your comment. I'm glad you liked it. The "ghost of the sun" is the moon.

Hey guys,

Truly an interesting song and production. I like it for sure. It is a song that will grow on you rather than grab you on the first play due to the unconventional music approach and poetic lyrics which is typical from Couch. I enjoyed it more the 2nd time for sure.......but that could be true of any song to some degree if you like the song in general, as once we anticipate, our pallet is then satisfied.

Mike you had to have some fun doing this one! I also think hearing this mix on some great "client speakers" would even have even a better effect than headphones for total appreciation of this production given it's ethereal feel as well.

Super Demo guys!

steady-eddie

Thanks Eddie.

What a fantastic track. And what a great combination of collaborative talent—a power trio of long-time members!

I'm loving the lyric, loving the composition, and especially loving the clear but lush production. You all make each other shine on this one. BRAVO!

And then the ghost of David Bowie takes us out, Lazarus style. Absolutely awesome.

Thanks Mark and it's good to see you again. If you like this, give Nurse Yes a whirl. Also, the Underground Railroad medley. They're back a page or two.