Sink Or Swim by jiguma
Genre: Rock & Roll
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Description:
I've been giving my Telecaster a fair workout lately, trying to get my head around some more complicated things than playing chords (which was quite complicated enough for a while there!). I want to learn how to play better, and a style I like (and am comfortable with) is included here.
Its a simple chord progression with lyrics based on watching two different adventure shows on TV - one on a rafting expedition in Bhutan, and the other "The Long Way Down" with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman.
There are two rhythm tracks, a lead track, bass and drums (midi of course) as well as 3 vocal tracks. My first outing for 2009.
Hope you enjoy it - a little volume helps lift the dynamics, but take care of your ears.
Happy 2009!
Neil
Its a simple chord progression with lyrics based on watching two different adventure shows on TV - one on a rafting expedition in Bhutan, and the other "The Long Way Down" with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman.
There are two rhythm tracks, a lead track, bass and drums (midi of course) as well as 3 vocal tracks. My first outing for 2009.
Hope you enjoy it - a little volume helps lift the dynamics, but take care of your ears.
Happy 2009!
Neil
Lyrics:
Sink or Swim© 2008 Neil Porter
Standing next to that big brown river
A river without end
Smooth as glass/wild and angry
Is it an enemy or just a long lost friend?
Bad weather, keep moving
It doesn’t matter where you’ve been
You jump in thinking
“I wonder if I’ll sink or swim?”
Miles of sand on a wild, wild highway
You can’t believe the state you’re in
Sudan, might be Tuesday
You don’t know if you’d do this again
Bad weather, keep moving
It doesn’t matter where you’ve been
You jump in thinking
“I wonder if I’ll sink or swim?”
Life’s a big, big river
Life’s a long, long highway
You might float you might flounder
You won’t know unless you jump right in
Sink or Swim
Sink or Swim
Sink or Swim
You won’t know unless you jump right in
Just in time for another lesson
Paradise around the bend
River’s running, motor’s humming
Worse thing is it’s going to end
Bad weather, keep moving
It doesn’t matter where you’ve been
You just jump in thinking
“I wonder if I’ll sink or swim?”
Bad weather, keep moving
It doesn’t matter where you’ve been
You jump in thinking
“I wonder if I’ll sink or swim?”
Life’s a big, big river
Life’s a long, long highway
You might float you might flounder
You won’t know unless you jump right in
Sink or Swim
Sink or Swim
Sink or Swim
You won’t know unless you jump right in
Hardware:
Fender TelecasterFender Precision Bass
Rode NT3 mic
Behringer UB802 mixer/preamp
iMac G5
almost forgot, my yellow tambourine
Software:
Logic StudioYou must be registered and logged-in to comment.
Feter
hmmm acoustic rock ? you made it a blast with the sweet Tele !!!
very nice chord progression !! ...I just love you rock n roll man !
head bangin here ...what a stage preformance this will be !!!!!
rock on Neil ...you are the man !!! thnx alot for sharin !!!!!
jiguma
Thanks Feter - I'm hoping that this will be the next one of my songs that we play in the band. You're right about acoustic rock - obviously I meant "Rock and Roll" or "Country Rock".
Cheers,
Neil
thoddi
You certainly are onto something really cool these days Neil. I dig this country rock style you've been feeding us lately. It's like you found your identity. I dunno if it's the tele that's inspiring you - but just walk this way, I think you should just keep on truckin':)
This is catchy from the first note, and tight'n good. It has potential to make it out there! I'm not feeding you sunshine here - I really think you're onto something that could easily get airplay.
What you do in your home studio is way better than many I know of, but I think maybe after you have written a couple of more songs this style, and tried them out here - consider taking this to a pro studio, and get some good musicians to help you on drums and back up vocals and such, make a decent demo - and voila - you have a winner!
But that is of course only if you wanna go that far... I'm just liking what you feed me and I guess I get a little worked up of the cool quality of your songwriting and performance now:)
jiguma
I might have left my run a bit late for fame and fortune I suspect :) I'm having fun learning new skills and getting feedback. Playing with real people is certainly helping a lot. We have a local studio that I'm going to visit when the boss gets back from touring with the Lime Spiders - we'll see what that might develop into. He's a particularly good guitarist.
Thanks again for the positive feedback - we'll be in Amsterdam from the start of July, so hopefully we can catch up.
Cheers,
Neil
mowguy3
Great track. Nice Tele twang and fine playing for sure. Fine start for the new year.
Be well, Russ
jiguma
Glad you enjoyed it.
Happy 2009!
Neil
rtcooper
Top Rocking
Be Boppin'
YEAH,
I'd say you've "Got Your Head Around" that Tele, Alright
GREAT FLOW (no pun, intended)!
Top Lyric
AND What a Mix!
Whew, Brother!
Compliments and Highest Regards,
Cooper
jiguma
Thanks for all the support re this one Coop. I'm really loving having a decent guitar (and now a great amp too) to learn on.
Country rock seems to be my current genre of choice.
:)
Cheers from Oz.
Neil
apb
.. it's Ewan McGregor on a motorcycle .. thought I recognised him ;o).
Excellent song Neil .. you get some fantastic meaty tones and plenty of bite from that tele of yours .. I've borrowed one a few times ..and I love 'em .. almost as much as a Gibson ;o)
Does sound like you've paddled your way into the deep end with new found water wings... and aren't sinking! Graceful strokes .. no doggie paddlin' here...
an' if I could figure out how to get 'flume' into this I would ... but, I can't! :o)
Great way to start 2009!
jiguma
The guitar tones I've been using lately have been all Logic Studio sounds with some tweaking. I got a new Vox VT30 a few weeks ago, and am already discovering much better tones in there - just have to figure how to get the stereo phones jack to give a decent signal into my preamp.
Thanks for the listen and the fluming visit :)
jgurner
This has a great groove to it and is the perfect pick-me-up for a first thing in the morning listen. Who needs coffee...
This is a great message for the start of the new year. And put in such a nice, smooth, pleasant package. It's got a great CSN&Y or Byrds feel to it.
A great offing for you in 2009. Looking for even more goodness to come!
jiguma
2009 was going to be a good year Joseph. I was a huge Byrds (and CSNY for that matter) fan, but this probably comes more from my short but total devotion to the Flying Burrito Brothers and Gram Parsons. It might be a few decades out of fashion, but I love the sounds of this style of music.
Thanks for the comment.
Cheers,
Neil
Dadai.2
... late sixties, early seventies Stones... a little Keith in that guitar of yours (not a bad thing). Great track Neil. Real R&R done real good. This is classic. The Tele sounds like it likes your style. Happy New Year.
Jack
jiguma
Thanks for listening and commenting. It would be great to be as good a rhythmic player as Keef, but I'd prefer not to have his health :)
Cheers,
Neil
Skean
You know I love the thing you do... Your first CD goes warm, still in my car.
Nice Rocking my friend... And cheers for a great start of the new year DL'd.
Kenta
jiguma
Thanks for your support over the years - and for listening to so much of my stuff.
Happy 2009 to you and Linda,
Neil
Moviz
to base the (as always) excellent lyrics on and the sound is really tops, good and rich sounding with those great harmonies and fab sounding guitars, great stuff Neil, all the best M
DWL
As Thoddi said it's great hearing the country rock you're turning out. You sure you're in Australia?
Great overall sound.
Cheers
Dick
saymme
Sink or swim LOL !!! Wonderful hearing YOu again !! : ) Your voice is so good, I wonder what You do -is it the recording thats so good(thinking of early songs which are great too but different vocally) ? I like Your 'musically faster&easy ' songs they are HAPPY though the topics can be tuff !! ; ) A great thing I think from the time I turned 40 or somethin is that I don't worry about sinking or swimmin like when younger - just try to keep 'afloat' or floating !! ; ) ! TX Happy Creative 2009 - i'm sure this year is going to be alot better than previous : ) !
mikkinylund
Love how you handle the guitar and the vocals in this song. The song is nice and tight, reminds me of Tom Petty for some reason, it has that grove to it, that you can't stop loving. The guitar, as mentioned is very well performed, and has a lot of nice surprises for ones ear. I think the vocals are really good on this one, smooth, how they're layered on top of the music. Classic lyrics! Thank you!!!
magnatone
well first of all - COOL COVER ART!! OK, with that out of the way - this is SUCH a fun listen! I love the results of your recent efforts in your studio, and thoddi put it well "i dig this country rock style you've been feeding us lately." Great start for the new year!
jiguma
when I found the song pic Karen! If you haven't seen the series (there are two at least - "The Long Way Down" - from the top of Scotland to the bottom of Africa - and "The Long Way Around" - from London to Washington via Siberia) then you really should. Great shows!
Thanks for the listen.
Neil
Macaudion
...but it has the Jig sweetness of sophistication. very nice, Neil.
Vic Holman
excellent riffs. and a grooving tune.
I like how you found inspiration and combined the 2 shows into one.
I would like to see water at this point. Or grass. Over 6 feet of snow up here. hmmmm, maybe slip and slide
Mcboy
as long as your having fun it will all come around....fun track neil!
Joe Brady
Wow, Neil, you sure got a handle on that Tele; like that tambourine too! The Tele has a nice presence, you know, a good aural location. The harmonies work really well especially towards the end. Looking forward to more of that Telecaster sound. Keep 'em coming.
Joe
LunaTrick
Not my fave style... but I appreciate your playing, polish, and Dylanesque vocals!
MarkHolbrook
Neil! The Tele sound sweet poppin along in this! Excellent in every way!
Ed Hannifin
...or at least that's how I think of it, Neil... I've always loved the music you make, but with the perspective afforded by hindsight I can see how you used to have multiple tracks of everything, and all sort of mixed in a uniform level... Now there's one or maybe two of anything, from guitars to bass to vocals, and they're all strong, and the mixes are leaner and meaner and more focused... It feels like each element is surer, and backed with confidence--a confidence that thankfully never gets coupled to any weird ego--so as it all gets stronger it also pulls one in as well...
Hope that all makes sense. This puppy rocks, in any case, and I'm beginning to feel a little...I dunno...competitive... in the Telecaster department...
Ed
jiguma
You'll love my orchestral piece if I ever get it finished Ed - at last count I had maybe 24 separate instruments :)
MJ and Logic (and earlier, GB) have been a fantastic learning experience for me - and I get to meet interesting people from around the world (and Alf in Cobargo) online. Too much fun!
Cheers, and have a great 2009!
Neil
Ed Hannifin
...is like a cross between the Burritos doing 'Six Days On The Road' and the Eagles doing 'How Long'....
Ed Hannifin
...that when this hits my iTunes, the Genius sidebar starts recommending other Neil Porter tunes I may want to buy...
jiguma
That's interesting - genius shows nothing here. I must have to do something to have it placed on the Oz Apple Store.
N
aclarke
Good time dance music this! Saturday night kick up your heels and cut loose on the dance floor. Really like the vocal melody on this, Neil. The Tele sounds fantastic... you really have it dialed in.
I see you have a new amp... Vox VD30.. very cool. I have a AD100VT that I love... but never gets played... maybe if I could make it sound like this.
egobandit
a picture of you standing next to the river wonder if you should jump in. Very cool lyrics on this.. Always tops in my book I dont even think anymore when I hit the download button its automatic!
mvh9591
Swim Neil..... Great song - Nice mix - I enjoyed.
Thanks for sharing,
mvh : )
PS: You play guitar just fine my man!!! :)
lengold
song Neil and very pro sounding musicianship and production.
Cheers
Len
Lennon714
traveling tune. Perfect for a road trip compilation.
I loved "The long way 'round". I'm intrigued by "Long way down", but heard it wasn't as good. So it's worth the effort?
Komrade K
Nice one Neil - great feel to this, lovin' that Telecaster.
KK
guygrooves
the sweetest sound out of that Tele Neil. I love mine, but I'm not sure I could make it sound as good as this.
Peace
Guy
davisamerica
indeed you are .... :-]
bud
Sounds like you've got it pretty nailed down. I like the lyrics and vox too - "you might flounder" lol. I have but one crit and it might just be my ears - but I find the tambourine a little on the high side (frequency I think - not volume) - steals my attention. But that's a small nit on a great tune.
timothy devine
I love the upbeat sound
a hit single for sure
you have great song writing skills
nicely put together and arranged
the playing and vocals are primo
The guitar solo is just so perfect
sweet sound
richardhowardjones
Rock on, Neil!
TEXASFEEL
on the Tele of yours... Fine tune with some tight changes... and a pic of some cycles... really cool.
Ibstrat
a great rock tune here.I could hear Los Lobos doing this song.Somehow you manage to make virtual drums really groove.You have a unique style- perfect guitar and bass playing!
dolby
...getting quite good at this! Great sound, and good guitar playing -and a memorable classic rock southern boogie hook! Nice -
Phil