I like Exotic voice!
Favorite also configuration of tune!

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Very nice job on this, Scooter. As you know, I find your
lyrics baffling at times, but always fun and interesting to
listen to your work.

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thank you much, atwood. you know that i find your guitar arrangements baffling
all the time, so we can call it even. one day, we should team up and compose a
song together that will baffle the world!

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Only if we can call it, "Baffle the World!"

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High points on creativity, some question marks around
production and performance though. Still, a very
interesting piece that made me listen through to the end,
and that's more important than slick, tight production. I
LOVED the operatic voice kicking in and out. Very cool
touch.

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But in a sense, you're preaching to the choir in the
approach you use on this tune. The people who need to
hear this song won't ever listen to it (not that they'd be
logged on to MJ anyways, but that's a different matter.)

One of the reasons the protest songs of the early 60s
were so effective is that they were presented in a very
unthreatening manner. Baez, Dylan et al cushioned their
(at the time) radical messages in soothing tones, relaxing
audiences to a point where they were ripe for suggestion.

I'm not suggesting you lose your edge. Far from it. In fact,
I think you have a unique outlook on life that could very
well be significant. I'm merely suggesting you consider a
more toned-down approach in an effort to reach a wider
audience.

(Hope I didn't sound like a know-it-all here. I really do like
your stuff and see a lot of potential in it.)
cheers
snow

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you know, i was thinking about this today, and i think you are right on. this is
the third time ive recorded this song, and ive changed it in a significant way
each time. this time, i guess i was going for the bat to the head style, which
generally isnt an effective way of making people think twice about an issue. i
think the next version i will take out the samples (with the exception of the
woman singing the hymn) and amp the up the production and instrumentation.
i would really love to get some drums into this song, but dont really know
anyone who plays.

thanks for the long response.

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Very much appreciate the sentiment. Excellent song
writing and production. Sounds great.

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thank you very much.

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I like the way you put this tune together, with your
excellent guitar playing (very clear and bright in this mix)
and all the samples. You paced them all very well.

Especially interesting to me was when you doubled the
vocals using distorted effects. Very cool.

Your lyrics are provocative and not every phrase is
immediately understood. This is not a bad thing; lots of
poetry is like this. The striving for understanding is half
the fun! Even if I don't totally get it.

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thanks cameron. the lyrics definitely mean something to me, and to me they
seem fairly simple, but it's no fun without some mystery.
this is by far my favorite song to play live, as i really get to pound on the strings
and feel like a rock star.

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I liked this. The coin sound at the beginning was nice, as were the clicks in the chorus. The lyrics were really good in places, especially in the second verse:

"I don't care if the clouds hide the sun away. Baby, you could sing a song in the pouring rain."

The speeches, I thought, were a little overdone. Maybe too loud, maybe too in-your-face. In any case, the whole idea of taking political/comedy/whatever samples and putting them in songs has been done a thousand times before. However, the "Ssssh" before the first bridge, followed by the speeches, was great... so I don't know where I stand with the samples after all.

I wasn't too keen on the backing vocals. They didn't seem to fit the song. Similarly, the guitar parts weren't ballsy enough. I think the guitars need to musically punch you in the gut for this song. It would make the quiet bridge guitar line (already really nice) even better.

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thanks for comments Matt. I actually agree with you about the samples being a
bit overdone. it was one of those things where i thought it sounded great when i
first made it, and liked it less and less with each additional listen.

as far as the guitar work, i have only been playing for a year and a half so i
simply dont have the skills to produce anything too ballsy. maybe one day,
though.


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