No Matter What the Weather Does

I grew up in upstate New York, the Catskill mountains. A rather rural and spectacularly green area that is especially beautiful in the spring. This setting is where this song speaks from.

This is version II of the song. Thanks to all who gave suggestions on version I.

Rick

No Matter What the Weather Does

I really like this one, Rick. The arrangement might need some work, but that's not my forte, so I'll let someone else chime in on that.

Yeah, the pancake rhyme is clunky, but it's a fairly minor annoyance to me. I don't remember whether this was suggested in the other thread, but here's one way you might make it a little better:

The sunshine's warm on my face

What's that you say?

Let's go back home and have pancakes

You could also say "your face" if you want to keep the emphasis on her.

I love this - the interlude is perfect (feels a little beatlesy again BUT I love this fact)

I have to say the pancake line isnt bothering me at all when sung.... I know youre still not happy with it so do what you will.

I will tell you what is holding this song back a little.... and its the case with a lot of your songs. Its a production issue (you may or may not be interested in this). All the sounds are great, the ideas are fab.... everything works BUT there are quite a few timing issues which are stopping the songs sounding properly finished.

If i was you id spend a little time just making sure that bass line is right with the drums.... im not saying grid it and make it sound robotic but just stop it from feeling haphazard and try and make it sound loose and groovy

In case you dont know what im meaning a good expale is 59secs to 1 min 09 compare that to any part before that and you may notice its just a little sloppy

Im sure this isnt a massive issue and with a few tweaks could be sorted

LOVE the song though.... id keep/eat the pancakes

Thanks Monkey!

Stick.... Yes yes yes!... I can hear what you are talking about! I wish I would have heard it first, but never the less I am hearing it now. More important still, I (now) know what I need to do. I (re)started writing music in June of last year and about once a month without fail someone points some fundamental issue with my songs that opens new doors for me. You are Mr. January 2012. :-) Thanks!

Rick

Well i know this isnt a production forum... but i think the song is great , and was worth mentioning these little issues just to get the song completely finished

You know, songwriting to me is the most important. But at some point, song production must keep pace or else the song writing can't move ahead. It is boxed in. Suffocating. Needs oxygen. This is what I got out of your post. And it's true. Mega thanks. I mean that. Rick

I think the song is better than your past standard, so progress is good. Here are a few observations that may provide some improvements:

At 0.15 the drums that work with the other instruments sound somewhat clattery on their own.

It could use something more defined and deliberate - like what a human drummer would do.

Chorus : Try singing it prolonging the words 'the wea-ther' in the same way as 'to-ge-ther' and just pop the word 'does' on at the end.

I like the interlude - It works - I would definitely keep it. 'In the future' is too many words - see suggestion.

There's a looseness in the instrumentation. Maybe the timing needs to be a bit tighter or something - I'm not sure.

I think the music needs to be tight so that the vocal delivery can remain loose.

I think V4 is a bit too down home - flannel, TV, weather channel. They feel incongruous with other aspects of the lyric which deal with people and nature. Maybe a re-write?

You have set up a spontaneous scenario in the lyric, but I find a weakness in the use of 'Let's' do this an 'Let's' do that cuts into the spontaneity.

It works where you have set it up by prefacing it with 'What's that you say?', but not in the other instances. Why not maintain the lyric as a descriptive passage.

Here are some suggestions:

C1:

We have fun together, no matter what the weather does

V3:

We go to town

Those clouds look like they mean business

It feels like rain

While we laugh, maybe they'll miss us

And then it pours

We laugh some more

C2:

We have fun together, no matter what the weather does

INTERLUDE: (vocal):

Sometime storms may come

And rain on our parade

Falling down upon the best laid plans we've made

But always remember, we

Git:?

C1:

We'll have fun together, no matter what the weather does

V3:

We go to town

Those clouds look like they mean business

It feels like rain

We laugh and hope that they'll miss us

And then it pours

We laugh some more

C2:

We'll have fun together, no matter what the weather does

INTERLUDE: (vocal):

Years from now storms may come

And rain on our parade

Falling down upon the best laid plans we've made

But always remember, we

That feels better to me Rick. How do you feel about the changes?

The 'young and free' set my cliche-meter spinning though, so if you have an alternative, I'd give it a try.

Actually, it felt great. When you suggested those changes, I *got* what you were saying. I mean the reason behind the changes you made. And I thought "wow.. insight ... wow.. another insight.... I may not have gone with your exact wording, but I did understand the more important message each of them conveyed. Thanks!!!! I'm-a-getting-better.

The sun is out.

Last week we had snowflakes.

What's that you say?

Let's go out for pancakes

a cup of tea

And you love me.

LCK

This is really good. Great melody expansion. I too love the Beatlisms. Don't castrate off what you love. Keep it.

One performance tip. Don't look at your melodic rhythm as only the attack of the note. In other words, sometimes you tend to cut off notes cause you're leary of holding them. I don't mean a screaming legato of some sort. I just mean, don't clip them off. Take a more relaxed approach to your delivery. We're not going anywhere. Enjoy the word.

You're amazing in your ability to improve. This is really good.