folk / singer-songwriter vocals (m/f)

[abbix]

Hi,

I just discovered this great forum a little bit ago - and this "collaboration" section is a wonderful idea! I usually have my wife sing the stuff I make up (my voice is just plain painful...), but have enjoyed working with other singers on a number of songs, and a chance to do it like this via the internet sounds vey interesting.

So I was wondering if anyone would like to help out with a song I wrote the other day. It's called "Hey! Aura Lee" and is kind of a tribute to some folk singers I enjoy, mixed in with a bit of autumn depression. I've included the lyrics and a version with no singing.

I have a version where I sing the melody (well, as good as I can), so you can understand how I meant it to go (the phrasing and such). But the eventual melody, phrasing and even re-writing of certain parts can all be changed, too, if someone wants to give it a try.

I know "Aura Lee" wasn't a folk song, strictly speaking, but it seemed to flow nicely. It starts with a cassette tape being put into a walk-man and a Mary McCaslin sample, because it's more or less what the song's about.

Any help is much appreciated.



Hey! Aura Lee

In November's sad landscape
listen to an old tape
I made in brighter days
the world green like in the songs

In fields of dying reed
a voice in low-fidelity
sings me way on back
to the summer now long gone

It's starting to snow
as Davey tells another joke
John Hurt tries to clear his throat
and Woody lights another smoke
and Uncle Dave just won't behave
playing note after banjo note

(chorus):
Hey, Aura Lee
I heard about you in folk songs
set me free
take me away to a yesterday
where the fiddles and flutes tune up to play
the laddies bold with the lassies in May
sweet Aura Lee

Why's the summer always hide?
and on the other side
I hear, in my cold ears
that April come she will

I'm finding it hard to believe
as I kick through fallen leaves
my fingers counts the months
something inside breaks

In the freezing rain
Mary helps ease the pain
Doc brings me a smile
pick it now son, a while
Pete telling us not to fight
he's setting the world right

(chorus)

(bridge):

I sat down a wet park bench
when the batteries died
didn't want to be there, or any where
back home or outside
In my head heard what Neil said
right before he got high
As I rose, the music flowed
from my thoughts to the winter sky

(chorus 2x)

[troy6120]

Interesting. I wish I could sing.

Sweet guitar work, too. I'd like to hear this with the vocal addition.

[abbix]

Wow! What can I say - I'm really honored someone with a voice like yours took so much time and effort doing this! You sing fantastic and love what you did with it!

Really, I'm amazed how a voice like you have can really change the music like that, I almost didn't recognize it. And the mix is just great, too - I don't know much about those things (and just do everything on a somewhat faulty Zoom2), but it all sounds really great to me.

It's pretty cool, too, to hear your melody. I'm a really bad singer, so I just usually make a melody that follows the guitar very closely. Then it usually turns out a little bland - voice and guitar doing more or less the same thing. You really added another dimension to it - I would have never imagined singing to it like that and it really opened my eyes hearing it this way. So much more feeling, movement, drama - really, I think it's just great!

I don't really do anything with these things - just put them on my site for a bit of fun and let some friends hear them. I'd love to be able to put this one up, if you don't mind. It's FolkBlues.nl , my wife sings some songs, a lady friend of mine sings a couple and the really bad voice is mine...

And I did have my wife sing it just the other night, if you want to hear that. I more or less tell her how I have it in my head, so she does it pretty much like I do - just follows the guitar (and like I said, it might be a little bland...). Also a bit low for her, but she has a pretty low voice.

Again, I'm really honored you took the time and effort - very nice of you and I think it's just fantastic!

[abbix]

Hey... now it's gone..? Hope I didn't offend anyone or anything... I thought it was really nice...!

[daniellane]

ha ha, sorry man. for some reason i got kind of embarrassed and had second thoughts about what i had done with it. im really glad you liked it though. i'll put it back on now.. and yea, i have absolutely no problems with you putting it on your site. hopefully some time this week i can work out some of the parts that didn't sound right to me right before i took it off. thanks so much for the kind words though, and i had a really good time playing with it this afternoon.

take care

[abbix]

Thanks for putting it back on!

I can understand second thoughts, but you sing great, I think, so no need to have them! It's a lot more modern kind of melody and singing than my wife and I could ever think up - like I said, it kind of opens my eyes to what a song can sound like doing it like this (I listen to a lot of old folk, I'm kind of stuck in that kind of music...).

I like most of your melody much more than I had it in my head. Like in the bridge. I always write a lot of words bcause I can't sing (so there's no long held notes) but like how you slow it down there a lot (just a shame I use so many words then, but like how you changed it to fit).

Again, thanks for the time and effort! I'm more than satisfied with this version, so don't spend more time on it than you want to yourself - I think this is very nice! And with a voice like that, you should be working on better stuff than mine!!!