JPF Home Page Forums Lyric and MP3 Feedback MP3 Feedback Forum My Daddy's Knee (floyd & lisa)

I'm SO delighted to share this song, a co-write with Floyd! I'd posted a lyric on forum three about my father’s {magical} garden. Floyd worked his magic on it, both lyrically and musically! Floyd asked Janice (of janice&bud) to do the beautiful vocals and harmony and she said "yes!" (Before Floyd brought Janice in, he'd sent me the song done with his vocals. It sounded awesome and he had me wishing, for the first time in my life, that I'd been born a prince! But then he brought a princess in to sing it!)

MY DADDY'S KNEE

the land was flat when my daddy bought it
an acre needing tending behind our new home
back property line was a forest of pine
miles of trees where we kids could roam
free dirt from a neighbor
that truck dumped a windfall
dad grabbed his wheelbarrow
and started to haul

for years he worked hard
to transform that yard
a realm for his princesses
to oversee
my sister and i
apples of his eye
sharing the perfect throne
my daddy's knee

shovel by shovel he built our kingdom
three terraced levels with stepping stone stairs
we were all so fond of his little round pond
half hidden alcoves tucked everywhere
a big bamboo patch
three trees full of cherries
lopsided rock bench
you should have seen the fairies!

repeat chorus

i can still see the look on his face
the gleam in his eye for that magical place

repeat chorus

© 2015 Lisa Gundling and floyd jane.
Words and music. All rights reserved.

P.S. Below is the original version of the lyric that I had posted on Forum 3. As you can see from this, Floyd completely revamped the chorus, added a bridge and made other super cool changes, before doing the music! — Lisa

Father’s Knee (original lyric)

The land was flat when our parents bought it
Acre of grass seed behind our new home
Property line ended where pine trees began
Miles of forest for us kids to roam

A sign said Free Dirt
Those trucks dumped a windfall
Dad grabbed his wheelbarrow
And started to haul

CHORUS
For years he worked hard
To transform that yard
I felt like a princess
My subjects the insects
My sister the queen of the summertime breeze
I can still see his face
In that magical place
Where a princess could rest on her father’s knee

Shovel by shovel he built our kingdom
Three terraced levels with stepping stone stairs
I was so fond of his little round pond
Half hidden alcoves tucked in everywhere

A big bamboo patch
Branches full of cherries
A rock bench lopsided
Plenty of fairies

REPEAT CHORUS

(c) 2015, Lisa Gundling

Hey Lisa, Floyd and Janice:

Wow, what a musical treat... complete with a story told so well. Lisa, I can sure understand how much you enjoyed this song and it's obvious Floyd knows exactly what he's doing to make every thing fall into the right spot. Well done folks. Great work!

----Dave

The song has an honest homey vibe that's been missing since the Judd's. Well done.

Hi Lisa and Floyd,

Man, Janice has the perfect voice for this song! Really well written lyric, great images, and a really sweet, gentle song to listen to. Floyd does a great job of marrying the music and arrangement to the lyrics. Can't find anything to nit, so no help there lol. Very nice job all the way around folks! -TK

i didn't know Floyd could hit the notes that sweet!This is really nice!Fine job everyone,great vocals Janice.Mike

A double wow! Great lyrics Lisa. And Floyd made some excellent turns of phrase additions. And Janice pulled it all together like a beautiful tapestry.

Very, very nice by all.

Dave

A great nostalgic. sentimental and homely song, nothing wrong with that at all
I remember your lyric sitting briefly on f3 before it was snapped up and turned into a collab with Floyd, Lisa.
Janice has a really good voice and you have a excellent song to pitch now.
Best of luck with it folks!
travis

Hey guys!

What a sweet beautiful song with a great lyrical sentiment. I liked everything about this. I'm sure you experimented as well with the title's statement a bit, I felt myself "wanting" to sing "on my Daddy's knee" part of the time, not sure it makes much difference, as the image is "understood." As a stand alone title, I like "On my Daddy's knee," as that creates a great image immediately. Nice vocals Janice, and very nice work Floyd/Lisa. (I know your in there somewhere Bud)!

steady-eddie.

pitch it Lisa.

Hi Dave,

Thank you very much ... I'm delighted by your comments!

And you're right about Floyd knowing exactly how to make everything fall into the right spot ...that's a great way to put it! I told Floyd that I was trying to imagine this song being sung with the chorus the way I originally wrote it ...and I can't even fathom it now. I couldn't see that it was broken until he fixed it! He makes it seem effortless ... just as Janice does with her vocal!

Lisa

Hi Summeoyo,

What a lovely comment .... thank you!
Calling a song "honest" is one of the highest compliments, I think.
(And I always loved the Judds. "Grandpa" is my favorite song of theirs.)
Lisa

This is a beautiful piece of work, Lisa. I thought the chorus really did its job of wrapping the whole story together, and I thought it was quite catchy as well. The production and vocals on this are great. Really good stuff, I thoroughly enjoyed the listen. Good luck with it, this has a ton of potential.

Kyle

Hi TK,

You've got me smiling -- thanks!!
Yes, Floyd really did do a great job of marrying all of of the components! Although... he wouldn't put a ring on that lyric until he dragged it to counseling and it promised to change -- lol!

And I know ... that voice of Janice's just touches the soul!

Lisa

Hi Michael,

Thanks for hitting that sweet note on your comments here!
Floyd and Janice both did a SWEET job!

Lisa

A beautiful piece from start to finish.
A lovely sentiment in the lyric and a wonderful vocal performance.

Floyd has indeed done another bang up job.

I'm just giving this one another spin!

Hi Dave,

THANK YOU!!
I love that beautiful tapestry image with Janice ... so true!

My sister and I were laughing because when I sent her the original version of the lyric itself that I wrote, she was okay with it, but she wasn't too pleased with her role in it... I could tell she thought it was too goofy

When she saw the rewrite that Floyd did of the chorus ... she was in TEARS!
We then got to laughing because we noted that Floyd's rewrite romanticizes us. We were always fighting and would have been knocking each other off of my dad's knee, chasing each other around with bamboo poles-- lol!

Lisa

LISA!!! Thanks for letting me share your fairy tale world!!! I dig the ingredients!


Janice!!! - Thank you for singing this!!! You're the best! Bud - thank you, too!

Dave - always appreciate your kind words. (Thanks for dropping by Endless Dream, too - I did not want to bump it again...)

summeoyo - that was a nice reference - thanks...

Tim - we do appreciate that...

Dave W - thanks for that!...

Lisa, Lisa...that my friend is a great song, vocals and music so well done, man" I just love to find these jewels. Lane

Super good Lisa, Floyd, and Janice! It's great having fond memories of your father's Magical Garden and then bringing it alive in such a cool production.

Best, John

What a pretty song. The sort that makes you feel happy.

Just one small gripe:
I would have liked to see the "My subjects the insects" line kept in. I liked that.

Well done all of you.
Vic

anybody that doesn't like this one doesn't know what they're talking about....nuff said.

Calvin


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

Had a Mary Chapin Carpenter all over it, very nice indeed

Nice nice, very nice. Reminds me of Mary Chapin Carpenter back in the '90s with Janice's vocal interpretation. This is a good example of painting a picture with words. Love it.

Steve

Hi Travis,

Hey --- I agree with you!!
Thank you for your lovely comments!

Lisa

Travis - thanks for stopping by..

Ed - Thanks. Always enjoy reading your thoughts.
"sharing the perfect throne on my daddy's knee" would mean Dad had a chair on his knee that we sat in.
"sharing the perfect throne.... my daddy's knee" means that Dad's knee is the throne.

Hi Floyd and Lisa and Janice,

Very mellow arrangement with great vocals.....The reminiscences create a vivid picture... Nice work ...all of you!!!!

PS I'm with Vic, I liked that "My subjects the insects" original line......

Hi Lisa, Floyd, and Janice,

This is a very beautiful song. It's a nice performance, too, and the musical production is excellent.

Lisa, this is one of the warmest, dearest things I've read here. It finds a way to work with two major ideas--the garden and dad's knee. But you connect the knee to the throne to the princesses overseeing the garden--dad's knee is the sweet ending to one complex thought that's going on in the chorus, and that is some awesome craft at work, there.

Mike

Hi Eddie,

Ditto what Floyd said about the knee and I always enjoy your visits too!
And, as you said, it is definitely understood that she's on his knee. (Oh yeah, there's my sister there too, hogging up space -- lol!)
And yes ... Janice's vocal .... soo lovely! And Bud's definitely in there, too!!
Thanks for your visit!

Lisa

Hi Neil,

Pitch it? Okay! Biting my nails...

Thanks for your nice encouragement!!

Lisa

Hi Kyle,

Thanks for your beautiful comments!
The chorus I originally proposed didm't wrap it all together like that, so Floyd definitely made that happen, along with the awesome production! He then got Janice's voice all wrapped up into the package and ... it felt like Christmas!

Lisa

Hi Nelson,

Such lovely praise ... thank you!
Yes, another bang-up job by Floyd and Janice and I thank them both very much for bringing my father's garden back to life again!

Last year, I went by my childhood house. The garden looks completely different. They ripped out the bamboo, removed the pond, and kind of flattened the yard out again. They also added a great new deck, which was a huge improvement over some rotting wooden stairs!

Lisa



Lisa

Hey Michael,

Well, thanks for spinning it again!
Spin it all you want!

Lisa

Hey Floyd,
THANKS and thanks again for cooking this beautiful song up!
Lisa

Hi Lane,

A jewel of a comment!
Floyd and Janice sure turned it into one!
Thank you very much!

Lisa

Hi John,

I do have such beautiful memories of that magical garden…and now they’re memorialized in this song, thanks to a couple of magic makers!
I’m delighted you stopped by — thank you!

Lisa

Hi Vic,

I KNOW...right?!
Floyd takes away my insects and leaves apples there instead!
He's like the frog in my dad's pond, eating my insects!
Perhaps I'll have to appeal to Janice to return them, quietly and stealthily ....

I'm smiling that the song gives you a happy feel too!
Thank you!!

Lisa

Hi Calvin,

You always know how to pack a lot of punch in very few words!
Thank you for the very nice punch you packed into these!

Lisa

Hi Scoops,

Welcome to JPF ... it's nice to meet you!
I think you're right about that Mary Chapin Carpenter feel ... that's a cool comparison...
THANKS!!

Lisa

Hi Stevie,

Yes, Scoops mentioned that Mary Chapin Carpenter comparison, too!
Until you guys said it, that hadn't occurred to me, but I hear it now!
When Floyd sent his first version of this to me, with his vocal, I loved it. And then, he sent me the version with Janice and I loved her vocal! It was really cool...they sounded like the male/female counterparts of each other ... Had the song been a duet, they'd have sounded seamless!

I'm delighted you loved it .. thanks!!
Lisa

Hi iggyiggy and SWEET Sophie!

I addressed that insect line in my response to Vic!
You're right! Here I tried to include my loyal subjects in the song and Floyd kicks them out, like ... like they're just BUGGING him or something!
Well, if Floyd shows some mercy...we'll see... lol!

THANKS for your nice comments and for bringing beautiful Sophie in to see us!
Lisa

Hi Michael,

You have a delightful way of critiquing a song ... thank you!
I had some of the ingredients there for that chorus, but Floyd did the crafting there, including teasing out some of the elements and turning them into the touching bridge!
Between my memories and Floyd and Janice doing their thing ... the whole thing feels really special to me!
Thanks so much!
Lisa

Nelson - appreciate it.

Lane - thanks.

John - thanks.

Vic - thanks.

Calvin - appreciate the listen...and the comment..

Scoops - thanks for droppin by..

Steve - good to see you around...

iggyiggy - appreciate that... the bugs stay where they are...

Mike Z - thanks for all that...

Thanks to all who commented on my vocal! This song reminded me so much of my daddy that I had to send it to my musician brother who absolutely loved it. Lisa and floyd did such a great job with the imagery and floyd's melody and arrangement were so singable that I just immediately fell right into it. Thank y'all so much for inviting me to be a part of this. Oh, and Bud wanted to mention that there are support groups available for those listeners who haven't heard a very heavy southern accent

Janice

Sweet sentiment lyrically and the music and vocal compliment it nicely. Well done, all y'all.

Ricki

Lisa & Floyd & Janice, this couldn't have worked out better. It sounds terrific! You've made it shine.

Hi Janice,

I'm still grinning from ear-to-ear over this song ... you and Floyd OUTDID yourselves! OH my, have I thanked you both?! THANK YOU!

It makes me happy that it reminds you of your dad ... obviously, we both had great ones! I'm laughing about Bud's Support Group comment ... sounds pretty good to me ... sitting around ... jamming to Janice ... !!
Lisa