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Suzanne


Marshal

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Yeah. I thought of the way-way thing. But decided for now that my way and a-way would work. I suppose I could look at that.

Classic lines, huh?

Yeah, I worry it's a little too simple and familiar and boring. But I've been trying to be more easily understandable in my lyrics (accessible? main-stream?) I don't know. It's a tight rope to walk. Keep it fresh - Keep it understandable, (yet not boring.)

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"She comes my way," will be "She smiles my way" unless I find another aye sound.

I've got to find some place (open mic) to play this one out. That's the trial-by-fire sealing of the song.
There's a song critique circle at Old Town School in a week. I expect I'll bring it there to be trashed. wink.gifwink.gifwink.gif

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Quote Originally Posted by LeonardScaper View Post
She comes my way
But I hesitate
Should not have let her get away.


Still....it works for me.

And this I really like......

Moonlight in her hair
Laughter in the air
I often think of her that way


Simple and classic lines.
Yep. I sometimes try to make things "better" than they need to be. It's a fine line...
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Quote Originally Posted by oldgitplayer View Post
Very nice song.
My only comment is that it runs to the chorus in a rushed manner compared to the leisurely pace of the rest .
Would you consider playing another measure at the end of the verses?
That's one of the things I messed around with a few different ways. So far, everything additional I've come up with seems contrived. I'll probably stay with it as is, though things morph over time. I already decided to use the hesitation musical measure after the final "laughter in the air." So, who knows.

I'm now beyond the creative fire portion of the writing process and into the mundane smooth it out and tweak it phase. The song is already boring me to death. I'll probably let it set for a week or so and then come back to it with a fresh look and see how it measures up against other tunes I have.
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I still think the song is asking for a bigger change in the chorus, but aside from that, I think a wonderful ending spot would be on a slowed down "I often think of her that way"...

On this take, you would play 2:51 - 2:56 at half tempo and leave that E7 chord lingering. I thing that would kick total ass and having that line be the last thing anyone remembers seems to suit the message.

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With the 5 fingers on my hand that's all the change I'm going to come up with for now. In a recording situation, I'd put a bass part to it that would emphasis the root of the D position chord in the chorus (and the B position chord in the verse). I suppose I could try Dropped D tuning. But that'd cause problems with the G position and E position chords.

I think I'll try changing the chord pattern after the second chorus to another chorus instead of the verse chords. And then sing the the "moonlight" last half of a chorus. It could be an instrumental first 1/2 chorus, except I don't think I can plunk a melody over the chord pattern. But I'll mess with that. That also would make the verse chords fresher as they reprise at the outro.

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Very unusual. I continue to churn this one. Just not totally happy with the flow. The third line of the chorus with 4 syllables is such a lynch pin. I chuckle to think of all the options I've come up with for that line. So far I've tried:

She wants to stay
She asks to stay
She says she'll stay
Says she will stay
Says she can stay
Offers to stay

and,
She'd like to stay.

Probably the last one will stick. But it's funny the options I've churned.

The last chorus and closing is morphing to:

Suzanne
Haunting my world as only she can
She walks away
Cause I hesitate . . . ,
Now I often call her name

Suzanne.


I'll try to spin another recording soon of the so-called final.

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"Opening lines are important." I've said it before, and I'll say it again. But in the final analysis on this tune, I think I missed the mark. I posted it on another forum. Not for songwriters. people liked it, but wanted to see the lyrics because they missed some things. I realized that The opening lines weren't communicating like they should. i was too wrapped up in the story.

So I'm going to change the old lines

"Rolls out her mat as the sun comes up
And strikes a pose to great the new day"


to:

"Lays down her mat as the sun comes up
Her yoga pose greets the new day."


, or something like that. I don't know for sure. But it's got to be something more direct and easily understandable.

Damn. This one has taken a lot of time. I'm already tired of it. I think I've churned just about every line in the tune. So much for inspiration. The idea has always been consistent. But the language has been tougher to smooth out.

Good thing I don't do this for a living.

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Quote Originally Posted by Marshal View Post

So I'm going to change the old lines

"Rolls out her mat as the sun comes up
And strikes a pose to great the new day"


to:

"Lays down her mat as the sun comes up
Her yoga pose greets the new day."
You're overthinking it. It's fine as is. Just really damn fine.
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Ha ha ha. biggrin.gifbiggrin.gifbiggrin.gif True ! (about the overthinking). But I think I'm going with:

"Rolls out her mat as the sun comes up
Does Yoga to greet the new day"


I'm sort of invested in "Rolls." It rolls off the tongue nicely, even if it's not real clear.
But the "Yoga" reference I think clarifies things better.

(Plus I'm going to have her "walk" up the trail. The word, hikes, is too hard to say/sing. It wants to be Hi-eek-suh all in one syllable. "Walks" rolls of the tongue better, though it's not as accurate.)

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