Circles by The Orbiting
Genre: Pop (Alternative)
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Keywords:
ledebutant (48), illuminati (27), crop circles (2), devil (24), mowing (1), night (95), circle (7), round (15), spaceship (3), aliens (21), vocoder (20), listen on headphones (1)
Description:
Last summer, I had a new piece of music from Matt and wasn't sure what I wanted to write about and happened to come across a forum here on macjams about crop circles, which lead to me reading about them online, which lead to me writing these lyrics. I wrote the whole thing in August, but have had a ton of vocal trouble since then and haven't been able to get it recorded properly until just now. The delay is actually kind of a good thing, because Matt and I both got Logic Studio in the interim and have both made the switch from Garage Band and, though we've both worked in Logic before, this is our first song written, recorded and produced entirely in Logic Pro. We both love the new version and plan to keep using it.
We worked a little differently this time. Usually poor old Matt gets stuck doing all the production work, but I helped out more this time, so if something sounds wonkier than usual, you know who to blame...
We worked a little differently this time. Usually poor old Matt gets stuck doing all the production work, but I helped out more this time, so if something sounds wonkier than usual, you know who to blame...
Lyrics:
Devil mows his hay at nightcuts it down
takes such delight
in the way it bends
under his will.
Devil I know's
the one I don't know.
Kept him close,
but never realized
he was so far away.
The circle grows at night,
but no one's really there.
The circle grows at night,
I'm watching from the hill,
but no one's really there.
The stems are bent
but never broken,
What's kept inside
will never open.
Flowers meant for life
will never grow.
The circle grows at night,
but no one's really there.
The circle grows at night,
I'm watching from the hill,
but no one's really there.
This ring's a chain
that keeps me waiting,
still debating
always chasing.
Trying to understand
the reason why.
What could grow again
on this broken land
we will never know.
Devil I know's
the one I don't know.
Kept me close,
but never realized,
I was so far away.
I one loved you.
(but no one's really there)
Take my hand.
Lie with me.
Watch the sky
and the world
go by.
Watch the sky
and the world
go by.
I once loved you.
(but no one's really there).
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Ed Hannifin
I hope....
Ed
The Orbiting
How did you do that? You have a space-time continuum machine!
Ed Hannifin
...mortal minds of the electronic prog alt rockers told themselves that they were 'modern' and 'powerful', control of the Interwebular Mental Confibulum slipped into the hands of the ones no one noticed, or suspected... the folk singers!....
Bwah ha hah hah....BWAH hah [hack, cough] hah hah!.....
Well then. Evil-doing done, I suppose I should actually LISTEN to the darned thing, eh? Right. Off we go.
Ed
ledebutant
Nobody expects the folk singers! Our chief weapon is SURPRISE!
jgurner
...your two weapons were fear and surprise... ;)
The Orbiting
You know me well enough to know that it's not ruthless efficiency.
(We do have nice red uniforms, though.)
Ed Hannifin
...are fear, surprise, groovy red uniforms, and an almost fanatical devotion to Logic Studio...
So I think you post a song...hehehe
Very nice and pro done... I can't play it so loud I want right now.
But I will tomorrow :D) It's always nice to see you2 post a song.
I really love what you2 do.
Good luck with your CD.
Peace, Love & Respect
---
Kenta
U see I fave it first Ed...hehehe
The Orbiting
You're both first!
:-)
Kenta, thank you for the kind words and I hope you get to listen to it as loudly as you want to, soon. I always love your comments (and songs).
L
We never groove up JUST playing around and have fun...hehehe.
I love your work I always do... And I have listen so loud I want it now.
And I think all in this song is great but one thing you maybe should draw attention to like I did OR is it only MY ears the treble on hi-hats is for me too sharp/high in some parts of the song.. sorry hard for me to explain... I hope you understand what I mean.
Peace, Love & Respect
---
Kenta
Monstermama
as always.
xoxoxoz
The Orbiting
Thanks, as usual. :-)
ktb
you guys always make yummy collabs. diggin your vocal. Matt continues to amaze me in his constant reinvention of cool sound beds. the mix sounds perfect to me.
The Orbiting
Thanks, John. Matt always surprises me, too. I write stuff I never would if it weren't for his beds and love working with him so much.
bud
I can hear the improved Logic production - sounds great. Wonderful set of lyrics and top notch vox chops over a delicious bed of tasty beats and lines.
The Orbiting
Thanks, Bud. You have no idea how good it is to hear the positive comment on the vocal. I had a really hard time getting it and was, quite frankly, still not sure I had. I kept trying to sing before my voice was back because I was tired of waiting and it always seemed plausible until I listened to the playback. There are some heinous versions of this vocal out there and Matt could extort my house from me with them if he were so inclined.
Ed Hannifin
...such as when it gets to 'the circle grows at night', when the arrangement/production lets there be a nice, uninterrupted bit of Lisa singing melody... Don't want the WHOLE thing to be sliced and diced and pitch-shifted, bit-shifted...
This'll be another one that settles in for the long-term, repeated listenings. You two are among those at MacJams with whom I almost feel I'm cheating if I leave a comment after one puny mortal [sorry] listen... I always get more after I've had a few listens...
However, noblesse firstinimus oblige, as we say in Latinish French...
I eagerly await your singer's next rumored hit, "I Loved You And It Worked Out Perfectly Forever (No Complaints/Regrets/Wistful Wonderings Remix)...
I love the throbbity bass line that kicks this into gear...It's cool that it could exist as a folk tune--and it really could--but here it's flat out danceable...
Ed
The Orbiting
Ed, Ed, Ed, are there really very many hits about I Loved You and It Worked Out Perfectly Forever? Which begs the question why not and why are the ones that do actually exist usually show tunes?
It's so funny how we know each other. I knew you'd like the chorus best of all and thought of you specifically when I was making the vocal production there. The funny part is that there's a vocal track under that whole section that has a delay on it that alternately runs the track backwards and forwards which is actually one of the weirdest sounding things in the whole song. I had it in there as an experiment when I added in the floaty background voices, but it was a bugger to get right with the timing. I did find that it added a nice harmonic though, so I ended up keeping it in there, just barely audible, because the vocals sounded thinner without it. So, that section of the song is secret-weird.
Matt and I have the delusion that we're folk musicians and that no one has noticed yet. I was thinking a lot of the Carter family's Will the Circle be Unbroken while I was working on this and experimented quite a bit with delays that approximated rounds, but could never get that to work out. I don't know why exactly that Carter family song was stuck in my head, other than the obvious thing of the word "circle," but it was.
Thanks so much for firsties and yet another thoughtful comment. How many words do you type per minute?
kristyjo
And, as usual, compelling lyrics. Wow, you two have the best collaborations ever - even if it's not folk music. :) Your music is becoming recognizable to me as 'The Orbiting Sound'.
The Orbiting
I swear it! It's folk music...okay, maybe not, but I'm glad you liked it anyway. I'm also glad you think we have a sound. I had to think about that a bit this time doing the vocal production, making sure that I was stealing plays out of Matt's book so that it would sound like an Orbiting song and I'm glad you think it does. Of course the music is pure Orbiting since Matt's the boss of us.
Thanks again.
Jim Bouchard
And it has some recognizable acoustic guitar in there, too! One of my favorite Orbiting songs so far, I think! Great production! Exclamation point!
The Orbiting
The seal of approval from one of my favorite producers. That warrants an exclamation point back! Glad to hear you like the song and our recognizable acoustic guitar. (See! It's totally folk music.)
perceptualvortex
Well, I just watched 'Signs' again, how appropriate. The production is fantastic, the singing is superb. Lisa, you're stretching your vocal cords, it's cool to hear you keep pushing yourself and getting better. I love the beats and electronica touches. Excellent work--send more Orbiting tunes, please!
The Orbiting
You watched Signs because I communicate with your subconscious via the ray that the space aliens gave me the last time they were here making a crop circle in my back yard.
No, really.
paddler
It has to be said Lisa that your voice certainly does great things.That little rise up and dip with each phrase in the verse is yummy-scrummy.I like the whole subject of the lyrics - kind of a hobby of mine is exploring old legends and there was one ufo hot spot I visited on a number of occasions on a very high hill with a ring of trees where if you ran backwards round it 7 times you were supposed to meet the devil.I did give it a try but thats quite a distance to be running in the middle of the night,without breaking your neck on a rock or something.Its the only time I saw a truly crimson moon.I like the idea of stuff happening when no-ones there too.
Musically - loads of colour.I'm trying to think of something i dint like but can't.Even the way everything pretty centered in the mix is excellent - you dont always need to be surrounding everything.Lovely.
Richard
The Orbiting
I know you've been to music college, so I think yummy-scrummy is probably a highly technical term used by all the best musicians. :-)
I love the idea of you running around a ring of trees and I wonder what you might have said to the devil had you managed to make it around all seven times. I think you're probably right about the neck breaking probability and I'm glad you packed it in midway so that you're still here to make music.
jiguma
Lovely vocals Lisa, as always, and a really nice set of words. Excellent driving (but not quite) beat and bed, and a really smooth production. Nothing wonky going on here Lisa!
I would have been first, but for some reason didn't get (and still haven't got) an email notification - that Ed is a sneaky piece of work the way he saboutaged things like that!
Excellent post ....... again!
Neil
The Orbiting
You know, I noticed that Ed was already here when I came to post the song, as though he already knew I was going to post it, as though the space aliens had tipped him off after they went to David's house and told him to watch Signs. So, I can't hold you responsible for any delays in firsties action, since a certain someone was laying in wait.
I'm happy to hear you like it and BIG CONGRATS to you on the CD release!
Pizzaz
Hey
A mystic sound
The Orbiting
A very nice comment, thanks.
P.S. I like your rocket.
L
cchaplin
Great song !
The devil - as I've suspected - must be a jolly interesting chap, with a keen sense of aesthetics.
In our country retreat, we are surrounded by crops, but he hasn't paid us a visit yet. If one morning, looking out the window, I suddenly find out that he did; I will take great satisfaction in knowing that much pleasure was derived from his nightly cavorting.
I love those devilish mutterings at the start of the song !
The Orbiting
The devil IS in it!!! I'm so happy that someone heard all the devil noises I put in the song. I put three voices in there, the devil, me and the space aliens, but I didn't think anyone would notice, but you did! How cool.
I wish I had a country retreat. That sounds nice. I think you're right about him enjoying himself during his nightly cavorting. I know I said so in the song, but he doesn't seem like the sort of guy that ever does anything he doesn't enjoy. He's not really into chores and responsibilities, as such, it seems.
Thanks, Christopher!
dolby
...and better. Your vocals improve with every new song (and as paddler said they are very scrummy indeed). Also agree that you are really starting to get a very 'recognisable' sound.
And I'm a sucker for anything that's got that repetative Steve Reich 'Six Marimbas' kind of thing (which this has). All in all top quality stuff - as you'd expect by now :-) Logic seems to be working!
Cheeers,
Phil
ledebutant
See, there you go, too, with the technical music terms. :-)
I'm so glad you liked the song. I'll have to check out Six Marimbas. Sounds interesting and I get turned on to so much great stuff through this place. Thanks!
echoroom
Well, this is by far and away my fav tune from you guys - groovy and poppy, with great lyrics (and the all important great first line). Lisa - you can hear you've grown in confidence with the vox and harmonies... gotta keep thi short ... dl'd and fav'd .... more, sooner!
steve
ledebutant
I got past you with the lyrics. That IS a relief, though I'm surprised to see you here typing against doctors orders (but grateful).
The whole song came out of that opening line which sprung out of the wikipedia entry on crop circles (hey, what can I say, I was a bit stuck that day), but I was afraid it was kind of, erm, 80's sounding and then I was afraid that my vocals made it go even more in that direction, so to hear you like it a lot is very nice, thank you.
Now get off that keyboard, mister! We need you in good health!
Feter
cool singin and very nice lyrics .great colab
welldone !!
The Orbiting
Thank you, Feter.
michael2
this is so cool, your voice sounds great in this context. Matt is no slouch either. i love the aggressive feel of the music, and the lackadaisical feel of the vox. it's also a really nice song. keep it up guys.
The Orbiting
Thanks, micheal. You know, every time I go to sing to Matt's music, I always think this is going to be the time I manage to pump out a vocal that matches the intensity of his music and every time it turns out lackidasical, so I'm happy you like it that way. I do wish that I could sing like a bad-ass one day, because I think that would be a lot of fun.
This is great thru headphones. I like the effected vioce. So many layers to this.Im a fan Excellent!!!
The Orbiting
Thanks for listening on headphones! Logic Pro had so many new tools and I tried to be disciplined about not going too crazy with the vocal effects, but I did end up putting a lot of things in the background because it was very hard to give up any of the f/x once I'd made something with them. Matt's music always has a ton of stuff going on, too.
So, thanks so much for doing that and I"m glad you liked it.
Nicely done...very clean sound on the vocals particularly.
The track sounds a bit bass light on my system (a bit like a recent tune of yours that I commented on - maybe its my speakers?) and the drums dominate a bit too much (I think this piece would benefit from more space in the mix with a less cluttered drum track)
Great production overall!
Well done folks
racerat
This is a really cool song. There are so many influences, but this transcends them perfectly. Eurythmics, Morphine, Garbage, Mazzy Star, The New Pornographers, PJ Harvey, Portishead, others as well. Driving beat, poppy, dirty, clean, mystical and direct all at the same time. Great driving bass, arty effects without being overbearing, smooth pads and trippy arpeggio's.
You seem to have made the leap to Logic pro admirably. That's a big jump from GB! Great stuff. I'm a new fan! D'L'd!
Philip
Macaudion
Fierce...
You guys are bad asses!
I can't even stand how much I like this...
Eh eh eh...
If only I could think to imagine such beauty...
Peace
Dion
guitapick
...a wonderful piece...pure as the newly fallen snow...
...downloaded...
guitapick
...your voice is sounding better than ever, ledeb...
i am impressed by the talent shown here. fantastabulousisticly amazincredibitchenly wikkcoolwesombaddasseriously wonderfulistic
Diviner
everything about this track is great. The production does sound crsip, so Logic Pro certainly works ( as well as your skill with using it of course).
Nice lyrics and well sung, I like the lyric about 'the circle grows at night and no ones really there', spooky and evokes lovely images.
Crackin' track
lengold
song and lyrics. Very well produced and the vocals sound great. Pro level.
Cheers
Len
craft
Great vocals with a really good sound... Dig the vibe of this one!! Heavy stuff!!
Moviz
I thought this was going to be a kind of electronic Flamenco, but then I heard the Devils chariot in that great backing to the dreamy vocals. Great subject and take on it, regards M
Mystified
...that you'd been having vocal trouble, in listening to this, Lisa.
Your voice sounds so clear, so confident! I love the tone and texture of it...Way to go :)
You two make a fantastic team! Kudos to you, and looking forward to your next project :)
I really enjoyed the mix. Listening on my monitors, I felt like the guitar was right in front (slightly left of center) of me during the intro. I liked that. There's a nice width to the mix overall. I'll have to listen to this later with the headphones- I'm sure that it will sound really cool!
This is a wonderful, catchy, well sung track!
Montgomery California
again, you two are a perfect fit to one another!
this is just an outstanding tune. i can't say enough.
lisa your voice is just hauntingly beautiful and again matt, this music is just unreal!!!
this is an instant download and will go immediately on my ipod! thanks.
Heightened
life? This is totally, massively original - can't get enough!
The Orbiting
We're glad you're enjoying our music. We've been here 2 or three years now and we plan to be here 2 or 3 more before we hit the big time or flame out, victims of creative differences, infighting, and restraining orders.
The Orbiting
Planning our Behind the Music episode... ;-)
I really like the work here. Different from what is posted mostly under Pop genre but I love variations. Cool music work and superb vocals!
Take Care
- Yeman A. Al-Rawi
fambroski
It's so great to hear this. It's reminiscent of so many things I love. Ultravox, Blue Nile etc and Lisa is a doll. I'm a fan.