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The Ballad of Billy and Lily by Joanna [Email]

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SONG STATS:
Hits: 2538
Comments: 31
Votes: 18
Plays: 573
Last Played: Sep 30, 2008 - 01:20:50 AM
Downloads: 107
Fans: 6
Uploaded: Jan 21, 2005 - 09:15:48 AM
Last Updated: Jun 09, 2005 - 11:18:09 AM
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Description:
This is really a children's song, but there's no category for that. Some of the sfx are from CDs, others I made myself. Play it for your kids and see if they like it!

Lyrics:
Once there was a little man
They called him River Rat Billy
He liked the docks
And gulls in flocks
People thought him very silly

Once there was a little gal
They called her loopy Lily Lou
She lived on a boat
That couldn't float
People thought her silly, too

River Rat Bill met Loopy Lil
And they were never apart
They both liked ships
And morning dips
Even though it left them with a chill

Doodley doodle de doo...

Billy said they should sail away
Out to the deep blue sea
Lil agreed
So they decreed
On the sea, on the sea they would be

They gathered twigs and some twine
Tied old clothes into a sail
And when the wind
Blew round the bend
They left never to be seen again.

Some folks say the wind that blew
Took them to a land of gold
Others think
Their raft did sink
But no one really knows, I'm told

[Chorus]


©Copyright Jan. 2005 Joanna Sandsmark

Hardware:
eMac, Shure SM58

Software:
GB
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This was great! &mdash 01/21/05 - 10:14:16 AM
Like a female Raffi, this one delivers the goods!
What a fun, innocent song. The lyrics were great. I
am definitely going to play this for my kids. Was the
guitar a loop? Because it fit perfectly with your
singing. Sound effects were great too... aw man!
You still have to do a children's song with me! (That
is, if you still want to...)

I love it, love it, love it!!!

[ Reply to This ]
This was great! &mdash 01/21/05 - 04:47:03 PM
Thank you, Stun! Actually, I had originally intended to play around with a
song for both of us, but you had asked for an up tempo ditty, and to me, this
just didn't sound like what you were looking for. So I figured I'd try again for
our song, and post this one as is.

As for the guitar, yes it's just two loops. I wish I could've used more to add to
the variety, but I didn't have any other loops that fit. I spent quite a long time
trying things out until I finally accepted the fact that I only had the the two to
work with. I wish I played guitar well enough to do it myself.

[ Reply to This ]
Whimsical love song for youth and elders alike &mdash 01/21/05 - 11:38:15 AM
I love your low low resonant voice. This song has a
wonderful sense of whimsy. Such a cute love story,
simple, with interesting overtones (left them with a chill...)
There are moments when the song seems to cut and
pasted, at the end of some of the phrase and the start of
others, like the sound pops in or out at the end or
beginning of loop. Maybe using effects as reverb tails
and pick up notes would alleviate this. Very entertaining
folk-jazz kids song. Delightful.

[ Reply to This ]
Whimsical love song for youth and elders alike &mdash 01/21/05 - 04:50:07 PM
Thank you, Tobin. I'll give it another listen and see if I can find the cause of
what you're hearing. I'm glad you enjoyed the story!

[ Reply to This ]
this is fun! &mdash 01/21/05 - 10:59:43 PM
the little effects in there just make the imagination go
wild! i love how the song just, ummmm.. 'paddles' along. i
think this will be a giggle-generator for sure!

[ Reply to This ]
this is fun! &mdash 01/22/05 - 04:34:10 AM
Thank you, _nder! "Paddling" indeed! LOL! I love that you guys are accepting
of this kid's song. I hesitated posting it, because I knew there was no genre
for children's songs. This proves that Macjams is open to anything!

[ Reply to This ]
How cool is it... &mdash 01/22/05 - 02:15:47 AM
...that you are doing these wonderful little pieces of
whimsy?
Very, very cool! There is a delight to such playfulness and
carefree connection to childhood. And you are so well
suited to doing it--in voice and verse.

(And yes, I'll be looking for the picture book on this one,
too!)


[ Reply to This ]
How cool is it... &mdash 01/22/05 - 04:38:46 AM
Thank you, Mystie! I've always liked children's songs, so it's a real treat to get
to indulge that part of me. They're so much fun to sing!

[ Reply to This ]
brilliant . . . &mdash 01/22/05 - 02:09:45 PM
loved the tune, the effects, the words . . .

. . . everything !

nice one . . .


[ Reply to This ]
brilliant . . . &mdash 01/22/05 - 08:28:30 PM
Thank you, Dennex! I'm so pleased to get such a positive reaction. I really
appreciate it!

[ Reply to This ]
Well, this kid... &mdash 01/22/05 - 04:54:23 PM
loves this little children's ballad. I hope to have Julia
review it later in order to supply a more expert review.

8-8-8-8

Jack

[ Reply to This ]
Well, this kid... &mdash 01/22/05 - 08:30:23 PM
Thank you, Jack! And I'm really looking forward to Julia's review. With this
song, the true experts are the kids.

[ Reply to This ]
Makes me wish &mdash 01/22/05 - 06:38:14 PM
my kids were little again. Love the chorus, especially. And
the fx.

[ Reply to This ]
Makes me wish &mdash 01/22/05 - 08:32:52 PM
Thank you, atwood! I find myself doodley dooing all day long now. Thank you
so much for listening.

[ Reply to This ]
my kids loved it! &mdash 01/22/05 - 11:33:20 PM
of course i told them i'd beat them to a pulp if they didn't.
like all good kids songs this has the mysterious
creepy ending. FX were great. Mucho Enjoyo!

[ Reply to This ]
my kids loved it! &mdash 01/23/05 - 04:16:43 AM
Thank you, eleven! And please thank your traumatized children as well! You
know, the creepy ending did worry me, but a friend reminded me that lots of
kids' songs had them, so it sounded like a fine idea to hint at their possibly
untimely demise.

[ Reply to This ]
The Kid in Me &mdash 01/23/05 - 12:12:27 AM
Loved this. :)

[ Reply to This ]
The Kid in Me &mdash 01/23/05 - 04:17:55 AM
My thanks to the kid hanging out inside Mungo!

[ Reply to This ]
Billy and Lily both Drown, is this an appropriate childrens topic? &mdash 01/23/05 - 03:13:04 PM
I like the song overall, I think that the overall
production quality was its stongest point. The
wind sounds were cool, and the vocal pickup that
you got with your Shure SM 58 (I have a Shure PG
58), is really impressive. Those are rugged mics
aren't they, and for a great price.

The aspect of the song I didn't like is that it has a dark
ending, and perhaps morbid feel. It left me feeling sad
inside. I was sad with the thought of not knowing what
happened to Billy and Lily, with one "l" (I also think that
Lily should have 2 "l" 's it just looks better). Maybe in the
end they could sail away happily instead of sinking to the
bottom of the ocean or finding gold.

The children that I had listen to this almost looked like
they were going to start crying when the song was over.
They were entertained however, so I credit you in that
area.

Keep up the Good Work.

Sincerely,
Johnathan J. Stegeman
MidiMacMan.

[ Reply to This ]
Quickie &mdash 01/24/05 - 02:23:22 AM
One more little thing, check the spelling in your description for the word
"catergory".

Sincerely,
MidiMacMan

[ Reply to This ]
cute, child-like and entertaining! &mdash 01/24/05 - 11:40:59 AM
Great little story, which you delivered with the perfect
amount of whimsy and enthusiasm. Your obvious love for
children comes through loud and clear on this track!

It would be cool if you could somehow edit the guitar
loops (were they green, or blue tracks?) to have slightly
different chords at the ends of verses. But this was ok "as
is".

Nice little FX's, added a lot to the story.



[ Reply to This ]
cute, child-like and entertaining! &mdash 01/25/05 - 06:16:40 AM
Thank you, Cameron! The guitar loops were both blue, so I couldn't do a lot
with them. For such a simple song, I spent hours looking for another loop or
something else (i.e. my own bad keyboard playing) but in the end, all I really
had were these two loops. So I did the best I could with them. I could hear
what I wanted in my head, but there was nothing available to me that
matched what I was hearing internally. One of the many disadvantages of not
being a gifted musician.

[ Reply to This ]
do a whole album of this! &mdash 01/28/05 - 08:45:06 AM
delightful! as someone who never had kids, i think i have been missing a whole lot! you should do a whole album, i hear it is a big market. generous and clever. great fun to hear.

[ Reply to This ]
do a whole album of this! &mdash 01/28/05 - 10:18:32 PM
Thank you, Suzanne! An album of children's songs would be a deilghtful
undertaking. Maybe some day in the future.

[ Reply to This ]
Two thumbs up &mdash 02/06/05 - 09:27:08 AM
One from me and one from my three-year-old (Oh, sorry,
"free-and-a-half"). She did dance to it, But further
comment was lost when she had to be sent to her room
for pulling the cat's tail.
From my perspective, excellent vocals and production.
Nice story - I'll choose to think they found gold. You do a
great job integrating your vocals to loops. But loops are
limiting. I like it best when you collaborate. There are
some really good guitarists on this sight that could add to
those 2 loops you're confined to (Thetiler and
atwood1956 come to mind).

JG

[ Reply to This ]
Two thumbs up &mdash 02/06/05 - 09:37:38 AM
Thank you, JG, and much gratitude to the cat puller! I would love it one of the
site's wonderful guitarists would collaborate with me. I always feel a bit shy
asking, though. I'd hate to rope someone in on a project they have no interest
in. As for loops, they have their advantages in that I can write a song
whenever I feel like it, instead of having to ask for the charity of others. Or
perhaps I should just learn to play the guitar, huh? I've got one; it's just been
years since I played it. Anyway, give your daughter my best!

[ Reply to This ]
Totally cute &mdash 02/19/05 - 11:06:05 PM
This is a very cute tune.
A beautiful kids story song that delivers the goods.
The music, the effects, just very complete sounding.
Thanks for sharing!



[ Reply to This ]
Totally cute &mdash 02/19/05 - 11:21:57 PM
Thank you, Tiler! I could've used your expertise with the guitar because those
two loops I used (the only ones I could find that fit) leave it a tad spare. But
I'm so happy you enjoyed the result anyway!

[ Reply to This ]
Fun song &mdash 10/19/05 - 04:07:44 PM
Thanks for sharing this. It was a delight. Nice effects and well sung. As Inigo might say "You have a great gift for rhyme."

[ Reply to This ]
One has to like... &mdash 06/06/06 - 05:15:52 PM
...children's music - it's so innocent and happy that one can't help but
smile!
This had exactly that effect on me!
Very fun and very well delivered!

-E

[ Reply to This ]
Curious &mdash 06/11/06 - 04:51:48 AM
i was curious to hear this after reading your post in the "Best Comments"
thread, and I really enjoyed the light-hearted feel of the music (especially
the chorus) juxtaposed against the sense of (possibly) impending doom
that you have in the lyrics. Dark and light at the same time.

[ Reply to This ]
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