This sounds very very emotional Leon. I am sorry to hear about your friends death.. The honesty of this songs shines through all the way. The song is very sad, but stil i dont feel that it is without hope. I am glad you made this so simple in arrangement as you did, this songs stands well alone with your voice and the strumming guitar.The song is beautiful Leon!

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Writing a song is a good way to remember a lost friend. I always find that
some of the hardest things to deal with brings out our true identity and
creative expression. I also feel hope in this song more than dispair. Even
when a friend is taken away the memory of them can bring joy. Again,
great song.

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Leon, your voice is unbelievable and you sing with tremendous passion
and love for your friend. What a wonderful tribute to your friend.

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First off, sorry about your friend, Leon. With each passing we all move
a step up in line toward the same destiny.

The new microphone sounds great; and the guitar had a good, solid
sound, as well.

The more of your work that I hear, the more I am reminded of an artist
that was probably before your time, but a great one... Jose Feliciano.

It's a quality in your voice, your intonations and in your excellent range
that suggest that comparison.

Your vocals in this emotional piece are daring --- reaching for the
outer limits of your range. Close call here, but you might want to try
this a half-step down to give some of those notes more authority.

Still, I really admire the emotion you bring to your songs --- and to
your performances of them. Keep up the good work, Leon.

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Hi Leon, I too detect hope in this deeply moving song. Your hope will be
realized one day. You will see your friends again.

God bless,

Rick


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You definantly put your heart into this. Sorry about your friend, and I
hope you can feel better as time goes on. Your voice is always so
expressive. I'm glad you just kept guitar to this, it also makes it more
expressive.

Ben

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Wow, i've haven't heard you sing like this on any of your other songs. This
song is a powerhouse! There is so much passion and depth to your
performance here, It's brilliant and inspiring.

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...you must be going through. A high school buddy and college roommate
was killed in an accident a few years back. It was a blow to think that this
person I'd spent so many years growing up with was suddenly gone.
You've captured the sadness of loss, the hope we've all had growing up,
the wonder of the discovery in a wonderful way. A very touching song,
Leon. A very fitting tribute to a friend....

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Offering solace in the face of difficult times is not my strong pont.
Silent support is usually the best I can give.

Your vocals continue to amaze me.

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Sweet song. Good straightforward singing and strumming. A well
written, nicely sung song doesn't really need anything else.

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Nice song Leon, I can sympathise - always hard to understand why
death takes people close to us. Vocal excellent, and agree with Joe H
about the Jose Feliciano comparison - your voice will get even stronger
the more you use it in that higher register. Nice tone on the guitar, but
the crackle at start and finish was a bit distracting to me.

Sometimes songs just happen and we can't be totally sure where they
come from - one night's work has turned out a great memorial to your
friends and relations.
Neil

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this is the best yet - I know that you like to mention in your song info section that there's nothing deep about your pop, but this tune goes as deep as it you will let it, and I let it go pretty deep. The lyrics are poetry and the music is simple and supportive; your voice really nails this one emotionally and technically. My one little nit - I'm not really feelin' the vinyl crackle at the beginning and end because it doesn't continue throughout, and though it may suggest that this is an older tune, the production is very modern and not at all aged. I think this tune stands skyscraper-tall with just your voice, guitar and beautiful soul. Bravo!

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I'm sorry that I was curt with you in your recent bomber thread.
I have enough education in mathematics that I could have
calmly explained in detail why that quoted statement was untrue,
I was feeling too sick to put forth the effort. I should have just
said nothing, but my inner urge to clarify innacuracies overpowered
my judgement. I regret that.

This is a really good song. The praise that dreadmon gave you
is right on, in my opinion. I think your voice is very natural, powerful,
and pleasant here. The lyrics are very good too.

I like the vinyl cracle at the beginning and the end, but agree that
the absence of it throughout the song makes it seem unnatural.
If you're using the needle drops from the software instruments in
the Remix Tools jam pack, you could probably fix this easily by
just holding it down throughout the song, and mix it in as appropriate
to remove the stark boundaries where they stop and come in now.

There was one jarring rhythm in the guitar right after "paint
our own picture" that you may want to avoid if you record this
again. (And I think you should because this piece deserves it.)

For what it's worth, I would trade my ability to go into mathematical
minutiae for your voice if I could.



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I was trying to avoid to give a response to any comments on this song as it
was not primarily an exercise of music for me but rather a simple expression
of my emotions to honor my departed loved ones. I have appreciated all the
sympathies and musical remarks in insightful silence. Your comment made
me feel the need to break that silence because of what recently transpired at
the forum board. That thread started out of anger when I thought somebody
tried to dishonor this song with a "malicious" score. I guess you can say I
reacted from my heart rather than from my brain.

I admit my own error in mixing philosophy and science when it came to the
statistical aspect of my argument. I failed to draw the line between the
objectivity of math and the subjectivity of judgment, which is what the ratings
system controversy is all about. Well, after all has been said and done, I have
decided to fall back to everyone's original position of resignation when it
comes to that issue. To quote somebody whom I can't quite remember, "to
talk about music is like to dance about architecture."

Despite the heat and unnecessary hostility it generated, I have to admit it
was a great discussion as it exposed our own limitations in fathoming the
mysteries of things that are intangible, like music and style and taste and
judgment. It also tells us how passionate we are about what we do, and I
think that is a VERY good thing :-) Now that you have explained your
position, I take no offense at all. I humbly ask the same of you as I offer my
apologies. I will look back at that thread as an experience and lesson in
many other things apart from music and math.

As for the musical comments, I have taken notice of the same things you
mentioned. This song is imperfect in so many ways, not the least of which is
the guitar playing and even my vocals. I stopped a few times when I was
recording this song as I would get too choked up, sometimes with a tear in
my eye.

Thanks so much for taking the time to write your very sincere comments. It
soothed a lot of my turmoil and to a great extent put everything back in
proper perspective. I just might want to give away a half octave of my range
to gain your depth of rational thinking. :-) Peace, brother.

---
The lion roars, the eagle soars.

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I'm greatly relieved at your reply, and I harbor no ill will either. I'll try to figure
out how I can accept that tritone in trade. :-)

---
<font color="#cc9966">screaming</font><font color="#6699cc">.</font><font color="#cc9966">org</font>

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Hey, Leon...

In a world filled with so many people moved primarily by their
appetites, I appreciate the passion you bring to your music and
probably to many other aspects of your life. But passion is a powerful force... and should be approached and used with care, lest it consume you.

Let it serve you, as it does so well in your compositions and
performances, rather than lead you. Passion is a useful beast, but
truly, most useful when harnessed.

I'm glad you had time to reflect and get it together. I look forward to hearing
more of your passionate work. ;)

---
LATEST Hollywood: "Dance, Dance, Dance" & "My Heart's Defender"

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Thanks, Joe,

Somehow, this site needs you to put reason into all these wayward passions.
You have my great respect, for your music and wisdom. :-)

---
The lion roars, the eagle soars.

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First of all, this is one of the better pieces I have heard here..which is why it makes me want to break it apart a little.

You are obviously a very talented vocalist but I think the melody of the song is compelling enough so that a more straight forward vocal rendition might be more powerful here with just a little funk in key places. Vocals are a bit too much right now and steal attention from the rest of the song.

I disagree with some of the other posters in that the song could really use a some accompaniment. Some bass and drums I think would really fit in well.



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Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I am primarily a vocalist so my voice
unintentionally becomes the center rather than the melody and message itself.
In a sombre song like this, you are right in saying that strong vocals may
become a little bit overpowering . Thanks for your observation that the
composition is its main strength as that was my real intention. I hope to make a
more elaborate arrangement for this in the future as an alternative version.

---
The lion roars, the eagle soars.

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And you managed to put real emotion on it. Great one!

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You share your emotions with grace and power. Although I could hear this
song with more of an accompaniment (bass and rhythm, maybe a bit of a
string bed) It's powerful with just your voice and guitar - it conveys
honesty, to me. The soaring vocals are great on the refrain, and the words
and melody fit together quite well. Thanks for posting this.

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I am sure the Red Sea would gladly part for a performance like this,
wonderful vocals in this, great song, fav for sure

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Aside from the personal meanings of this song, you play and sing very well. It can be cathartic to play your instrument, letting the emotion flow from your fingers.
In all my experience with death, I have found that the only ones who are sad are the ones left behind.
Thanks for posting.

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Not being able to follow.

You play well and you got a good full, clean sound out of your ax.

I listened to a couple of your other songs and your vocals, which are always good, are improving. You got some nice dymanics out of your voice this time around.

Nice refrain. Might be cool to hear you stack your vocals here and get a kind of celestial chorus effect. Just a thought.

Good work.

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Leon, i just finished puruesing your collection of tunes here at MJ...and
who man, what a talent. "Pop" in my opinion is actually one of the
hardest genres to conquer and you do a fantastic job lyrically and with
melody. what a voice...

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Leon, i just finished puruesing your collection of tunes here at MJ...and
who man, what a talent. "Pop" in my opinion is actually one of the
hardest genres to conquer and you do a fantastic job lyrically and with
melody. what a voice...

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Thanks so much for your inspiring comment... Pop/rock is my style of music,
and I do have great respect for other genres..They are all challenging. in the
end, it is not the genre that lingers in the listener's mind..it's the effect the
music had upon him. So thanks... You have given me a reason to be
proud about pop music.

---
The lion roars, the eagle soars.

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Hi Leon:
Well, I feel I've really gotten to know you tonight....Your lyrics are so
expressive and I would encourage you to keep writing, I feel a big-time
classic song lurking in your soul...Excellent vocals to top it off with...and
your sentiments are so similar to A heartbeat Away, but a vocal
expression of the same feelings I had when writing that composition...I'm
sorry so many of those close to you left so early, that must be a hard
one...I will stay tuned for more...Peace and Light, Norman

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Again, thanks, Norman. Your words of commiseration are as soothing as the
cool balm of your music on a wounded heart. Music has been therapeutic for
me in so many ways. This was a song that I had to stop recording a few times to
wipe my tears. But listening to it now, it offers me a lot more comfort than the
amount of pain that inspired me to write it. Your song and mine both express
the sorrow of losing a loved one but at the same time it also overwhelms you
with the comforting joy and satisfaction of knowing they are in heaven and living
eternal blissful life.

Thanks for your generous assessment of my musical abilities. It made me
realize that I have indeed put it to good use. And so have you.

---
The lion roars, the eagle soars.

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You bring a lot to the table and turn out a good meal. I wouldn't want to
be where you were on the night that you wrote this but, it comes through
just the same. Music always sounds so much better when you can feel the
passion of it. You hit it out of the park here.

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Like your voice Leon and I wish you could sing on one of my tune.
Take care I do and I make MUSIC to you.
-----
Kenta

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Thanks, Kenta, for your continuing appreciation of my songs. Compliments
coming from someone like you who's got great musical sense makes that
appreciation twice as precious. I sure would love to sing on one of your songs
sometime in the near future, when time allows. :-)

---
The lion roars, the eagle soars.

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I've got to agree, this is your best yet.
A lovely sound, thoughtful lyric and the best vocal performance you've recorded yet, which is saying something.
You really do hit those high not beautifully, man.

Music to watch sunsets to.

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