Life's a Song

grah3am

Genre: Rock

Get Flash to see this player.

Description

The vocal version of "Clockwork Cat". The title is a cunning summary of Ian Anderson's "Life's a Long Song".

Leave a Comment

You must be registered and logged-in to comment.

Lyrics

Hurry - life may pass you by today
Lifelines thrown to you may float away
Songs you forgot are flooding back
Sounds you thought had fallen through the cracks
Quickly - life's too short to live alone
Struggle with a world that's overgrown
And if you're searching for someone, your life's a song
And if the battle's lost or won, your life's a song
And if your life has just begun, your life's a song
And when it's all been said and done, your life's a song.

Song Stats

Hits: 578
Comments: 33
Fans: 12
Plays: 27
Downloads: 23
Votes: 1
Uploaded: Jun 26, 2012 - 01:39:49 PM
Last Updated: Jul 31, 2012 - 09:19:37 PM Last Played: Feb 24, 2013 - 06:20:44 PM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Song Actions

Hardware:

Ovation guitar, SX guitars, M Audio keyboard, the claps

Software:

GB 11

Comments

gadzooks	gadzooks said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)
	Life's a Song Perfect!! Love it man ... the vocals really put the icing on and the bass is sitting real good in the mix. Cheers . . life is a song. SG Check out my latest song called Song of Life

grah3am	grah3am said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)
	I need a monitor Thanks for listening. I cannot tell what the bass is up to, so I appreciate your comments. I cobbled the lyrics together very quickly, but I rather like them. They fit many occasions. I quite like the tune too, and have been listening to it a lot, not just for editing purposes. It's nice when your own tune is pleasing. Check out my latest song called To the Dump

Philip18	Philip18 said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)
	Life's a song Nice tune - bit of George Harrison/Beatles from the "Lucy in the Sky" period in there. Has a good flow to it. Warm vocal and the harmonies work well. Much enjoyed. Check out my latest song called Close to Midnight w/ alackbass, rok41, paul f. page, & KyasheMusic

grah3am	grah3am said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)
	Thanks I was thinking "Within You" when I did it. George is my favorite Beatle, though I love them all. Check out my latest song called To the Dump

867-5309	867-5309 said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)
	affirmative captures that YES zest for art rock presentation. ' Good to hear it still so alive. like the bass, voices, and reflection of the good green life in general. Check out my latest song called Berceuse in Ab

grah3am

grah3am said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)

Yes, Yes
Although a bandmate compared him to Hitler, I think Jon Anderson is the unsung hero of Yes. I don't know who wrote what, but I suspect he had a major hand in my favourites. (Yes Album, Relayer, Oceans, 90125, Magnification) I love "Fly From Here" but I think it should be considered a Buggles album really. Oh, thank you for listening to my song. It's my favourite recent tune, and is growing in popularity as I write.

Check out my latest song called To the Dump

Feter	Feter said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)
	a Song This reminds me of the Beatles ideas on Revolver ..finding new boundaries into a whole new groove .Excellent vocal work ..but first of all I need to kudos the guitar work structure that set all the mood for this song ..great song my friend. thanks a lot for sharing !! Check out my latest song called Roll with it

grah3am	grah3am said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)
	Revolver = Nirvana ... and I don't mean the band. That four such young chaps could produce something to rival Bach is still astounding to me. But I was there and it happened. And I played that album smooth on my Woolworths record player. So thank you, is what I'm saying. Check out my latest song called To the Dump

sammydix	sammydix said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)
	Life's a Song absolutely wonderful melody. i knew some vocals would work for this. can't get it fast enough. have ta disagree about the bass sitting well, though. but i really don't care the song is so good. Check out my latest song called House Terrace w/Yomar

grah3am

grah3am said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)

Tell me about the bass
I was listening to this in the car using an ipod adapter, and it nearly blew the speakers. Was it the ipod or the mix? I can't tell, seriously! I appreciate the nice things about the song, which I actually like for once (I'm my own worst critic) but I don't want to blow people's stereos. So should I remix with a lot less bass? Thanks for your continued support, Sam.

Check out my latest song called To the Dump

sammydix

sammydix said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)

bass
just sounded like it could be contained more. as it is now, it sounds smeared in the spectrum as opposed to just being too loud like i can do sometimes. maybe monoized the bass frequencies around the 100hz area. that way, the thickest parts would be straight down the middle.
if your daw doesn't have one, there's a few free plugins out there that monoize bass frequencies. there's one called Basslane, but i think that's PC only. also, i think Brainworx has one for both PC and Mac.

Check out my latest song called House Terrace w/Yomar

grah3am	grah3am said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)
	daw? Digital - analogue - widdle? I'm using GB's slap bass approximater and a smeary SX fretless here, so that might explain a few things. I need a real bassman, stat! Check out my latest song called To the Dump

sammydix	sammydix said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)
	i just listened to my copy again and the bass sounded fine until you started singing, so i don't think the bass itself is the problem. i think it's too much on your vocals and it's masking the bass itself. in this case, i think you should roll it off your vocals. and the bass might actually be just fine. Check out my latest song called House Terrace w/Yomar

grah3am	grah3am said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)
	Vocal conflict So what you're saying is that there's too much common ground between the bass and the vocals. Maybe I should move the vocals up a bit on the scale, or debass them a bit. I'll get on it and let you know the results. Check out my latest song called To the Dump

sammydix	sammydix said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)
	yep ...and quite frankly, i think they're (the vocals) are dominating everything. grab that high pass filter! it's win/win because both the vocals and the rest of the mix will benefit. Check out my latest song called House Terrace w/Yomar

grah3am	grah3am said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)
	Parlez Franglais? I dunno what a high pass filter is! But I could turn the vocals down a tad. I'm a big believer in turning things down. And removing stuff that gets in the way. (There was a Plymouth station wagon that I EQed out of the way on the first mix, for example.) Check out my latest song called To the Dump

sammydix	sammydix said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)
	lol! tears are streaming! i'll pm you as this is getting too long... Check out my latest song called House Terrace w/Yomar

michael2

michael2 said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)

wow
this is very cool. sounds very contemporary to my ears and not "rock" at all (when I see that tag I picture ZZ Top or something). great harmonies, melodies and I am really loving that guitar/rhythm section repetition through most of the song). if you ever want a remix in a slightly weirder direction, please hit me up. this would be really fun to play with. some good songs on MJ today.

Check out my latest song called yes you told me (that you're cynical)

grah3am	grah3am said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)
	I'm not often ZZ Topp I love ZZ Topp - they combine dumb and smart in such a smart way. I combine Crim and Fairport in My Own Special Way. How do I get the GB file to you? I'd love to hear a remix. Check out my latest song called To the Dump

sammydix	sammydix said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)
	nosey and i'll def be watching for that! Check out my latest song called House Terrace w/Yomar

michael2	michael2 said 328 days ago (June 27th, 2012)
	well since you like ZZ Top, I may be tempted to rework the track in a Tejas electric blues fashion. gotta get to work growing a beard though. Check out my latest song called yes you told me (that you're cynical)

alackbass	alackbass said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)
	Life's a Song The vocal melodies and harmonies took this into an XTC zone. Like a lost track form Skylarking! Downloaded! Check out my latest song called Just Ain't Worth a Song (2 Track)

grah3am	grah3am said 328 days ago (June 26th, 2012)
	100 Umbrellas were needed here in Freeport when it peed down earlier, just as I was remixing this, my magnum octopus. The next one sounds more like Pete Hammill, which I think is a bit of a shift. Glad you enjoyed this one, Mr Bass. Check out my latest song called To the Dump

Jarvoid

Jarvoid said 328 days ago (June 27th, 2012)

This made me smile:
"Parlez Franglais?
I dunno what a high pass filter is! But I could turn the vocals down a tad. I'm a big believer in turning things down. And removing stuff that gets in the way. (There was a Plymouth station wagon that I EQed out of the way on the first mix, for example.)"

You could have just EQ'd Plymouth out the way and I would have been happy (howl of protest from The Deep West....nothing personal just my ex boss came from there)

Vox does dominate a tad,Sammydix is right ....but hey I've got the instrumental version as well so wt......h be polite Jarvis.

PS What comic strip.....? curious and alittle envious ...but in a nice way ...I bet it is not all as glam as it sounds ...I could be a complete dickhead and be totally wrong of course !!

Jarvo

Actually you know on the second listen through the vox does not seem out of place/overpowering .

I think there is something about putting vocals on what started out life as an instrumental that people expect to hear the instrumental with a voice on top....if you know what I mean....I think the voice has to carry the lead and therefore must suppress the melody in the instruments.

This is my problem when I multi track...I do not harmonise enough and let all the instruments I nearly play do the melody then get cross at why it sounds so muddy....hmmm this has been by way of an eppifanny for me....right 3rd time thru'...no I think that the voice is just right ....Sorry Sammydix I just U-turned that Plymouth station wagon.....estate car ,whatever, out the way of the EQ ;0)

Bloody hell,just realised how long this omment has got....I'll just sod off then !

Good Tune ,sorry about the Cat ,they are the best.Naughty,but that is there job description....we are on our 5th ...Biscuit says Mow!

Jarvo

Check out my latest song called Cripple Creek Revised........By Jarvoid and the Banjo Bedraggled Manic Mandolin Accordion Squeezers

grah3am

grah3am said 328 days ago (June 27th, 2012)

Never been to me
or Plymouth. It's difficult to get sound balanced when you're working with primitive gear. I usually try things out in the car, on the iPod and on the house stereo to assess them, but I'm sure having proper studio monitors is best. I take your point re instrumentals becoming songs. It makes you want to turn the music up, which drowns the vocals, so you turn them on and pretty soon you've got a real mess. I went through this one and removed all the echo, spaced things out across the soundstage and still ended up with the voice interfering with the bass. So that goes to show something or other.

Check out my latest song called To the Dump

Char	Char said 328 days ago (June 27th, 2012)
	Well, so far, this is fantastic. I was totally engrossed in hearing everything you did. It seems you will be perfecting this "with a little help from your friends." Damn good. Check out my latest song called The Sea

grah3am	grah3am said 328 days ago (June 27th, 2012)
	I certainly will I look forward to whatever Michael decides to do with it. I'm sure you were thrilled with what Reggie did with your stuff. Thanks for listening, Charlene. Check out my latest song called To the Dump

tokai	tokai said 327 days ago (June 27th, 2012)
	perfect now it's a rock tune? Apt sequence of words and sung very well, just what the song needed. Warm hearted music. Check out my latest song called yucatec

grah3am

grah3am said 327 days ago (June 27th, 2012)

Cheers, Tokai
I've remixed my iTunes version to clean up and separate the bass from the vocals. I'll have to send Sam a copy to see if I done good. (See above conversation!) Yes, its ambient days are over, thanks to a few extra claps and some arpeggios. If it soothed a soul in its previous incarnation then its mission is accomplished. Thank you for your kind remarks.

Check out my latest song called To the Dump

rok41	rok41 said 325 days ago (June 29th, 2012)
	Life's a Song Wow, this just really breathes life from the first note, digging the bass tone and the harmonies. Clever lyrics and fantastic melody. This is really a very nice song Graham...wow! Check out my latest song called The Game

grah3am	grah3am said 325 days ago (June 30th, 2012)
	Glad you liked it I'm very impressed with COTES too right back at ya. My little nephew came into the garage (of course) where I was playing the introductory notes to this and said, "That's nice," so I knew I was onto something. I've cleaned up the bass and vocals a bit since, but the difference is such that I won't repost, unless provoked. Check out my latest song called To the Dump

Les_Kloo	Les_Kloo said 303 days ago (July 21st, 2012)
	Life's a Song Sorry I missed this one, Graham. I was "away" for awhile. I love the sound of the bass on this. I can't offer anything regarding the mix, since there are greater intelligences afoot. The harmony vocals are wonderful, so laid back, yet confident. Excellent composition. One of my faves by you. Check out my latest song called SugarBubbleWater

grah3am

grah3am said 302 days ago (July 22nd, 2012)

Thanks. Les
I just commented but wasn't logged on, so I have lost all those wise words. I'm happy you enjoyed it. I'm currently obsessed with Major Lazer's "Get Free", which is just brilliant. What I like about it most is that it's just eccentric enough to be done by a very competent MacJammer. I also DL'ed your latest, but couldn't think of a flipping thing to say. I'm going to rectify that now.

Check out my latest song called To the Dump

Fan List

Artist Info

Name: Graham Exton
Location: Bahamas

One - time British comic strip writer, now full - time teacher in the Bahamas. I've been waiting patiently for Apple to come up with Garageband since I had to abandon my Portastudio in the UK. ... [see more]

Check out some of my other songs:

Genre Info

More songs in Rock:

Chat

cyt	25
Sigmund	53