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Hi, everyone:

I’ve been doing a fair bit of listening of late . . . man, folks are knocking things out of the park. Some really great music I’ve been treated to. Thanks so much for that.

I feel like I’ve been busy enough on the songwriting front this year (for me at least), but when I look back on what I’ve posted I’m on my usual song a month pace. Thing is, though, I’ve had some irons in the fire and a few tunes are coming together at the same time. So, with one song still active on the board, I’m going to test your patience in the coming weeks or so and release a few in fairly rapid succession.

This is the first, a solo effort—a rock ballad. I began writing this song a year or so ago maybe, but it never quite came together for me lyrically—so I set it aside. I usually try to record snippets of song ideas so I remember them, but I never did with this . . . and it almost fell into the land of forgotten songs until I stumbled back upon it a month or so ago. As with most songs I post, I'm never sure it's quite ready to go, but it's as far as I can take if for now. Here's the the end result.

As always, appreciate the listen and the feedback.

Kindest regards to you all,

Deej

Here's the song:

LIGHT IT UP

Here are the lyrics:

I was wandering in the dark
You were there, you were the spark
And from the spark the fire grew
And if I burn I’ll burn for you
Girl, I’m yearning to
Baby, I’m in love with you
Light it up

This city feels like frozen stone
A heart should never call it home
But you’re the warmth I never knew
So melt it down and make it new
Bake it bright and blue
Baby, I’m in love with you
So light it up

These days are hard
The world’s gone nuts
It will run you through
Still here you are
You fill me up
It’s just what you do

That’s why baby, I’m in love with you
Baby, I’m in love with you.
I’m in love with you

I don’t know what’ll happen next
It’s never quite what you expect
But if the whole world breaks in two
I’ll be fine because I’m with you
I’m always going to
Baby, I’m in love with you
So light it up.

And here's the band: (Note: It looks a bit busier than it seems. The drums switch off, and the second Piano is only used for fill in certain spots).

RealTracks 2474: Bass, Acoustic, Held
RealTracks 2504: Piano, Acoustic, HeldChords
RealTracks 1007: Piano, Acoustic, Solo-Accompaniment, PopFlowing
RealTracks 1596: Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Pop16ths
RealTracks 879: Guitar, Electric, Rhythm NorthernRockGrittyQuarters
RealTracks 1530: Guitar, Electric, Soloist PopPower Ev 120
RealTracks 2370: Strings, Rhythm PopCountry Sw 120
RealTracks 1543: Synth Pad, Pop Believe
RealDrums: ModernPopBallad16ths^01
RealDrums: ModernPopBallad16ths^02

Deej,
cool song.
The main rhythm guitar seems to be pushing the beat - pushing for a change in tempo or emphasis which is achieved when the drums come in but I think you could co-ordinate those two better a chord change that goes along with the drum intro perhaps.
Strong vocal,the room seems to have been eliminated, & melody.
Well done.

Deej,

We must be on the same wavelength this week - I was just about to post my new song "Light It Up" when I saw yours... I'll hold mine for now. LOL!

Your song is excellent. Love the vocal and production. I really enjoyed everything about this one.

Bob

Excellent!

Man, that vocal ... one of your best I think, lots of passion.

Good song, just what I needed for my first listen of the day

Love it, Deej. Hey, release the bottleneck of songs, man. You never fail to please. What a great song!! Light It Up. An emotional and strong vocal. Dang what a range. Chilling how you flawlessly and effortlessly swing into the falsetto.

Deej,

An excellent BAND. Good use of a range of BIAB tracks.

A top-notch vocal...the vocal itself AND the recording AND how it sits in the mix. Truly Excellent.

The solo guitar is nice. Fits the song well. (that last note cuts off too abruptly)

An excellent production. And a good mix.

fj

Strong love song with effective title phrase, giving the listener enough room to imagine in which way she is the spark.
Great band, I like the use of strings and synth pad to create the lush sound. This time I think the solo guitarist is an excellent choice, fits perfectly with the heavier sound.
The chord progression has familiar start of descending bass, but you break that impression nicely with those chords per beat.
Vocals with passion support the lyrics very well, I really admire how convincingly you manage to sing those higher notes.
Thanks also for the backstory, always nice to read some history about the songs.

Janne

Hi Deej.
Emotionally strong and I like the falsetto.
Good one.

Vic

Another great one from you, I think of your vocals as Cat Stevens but with the dynamics of Meatloaf. Those falsettos were terrific, always hope to hear some of that in your contributions. You're also good at writing bridges, this is another example. Fantastic work, Deej!

It's a "yes" from me.

Your journey on this one took us all to a great destination.

So true how you need to capture the snippets when they come.

Well done!

Some of the best songs are slow cooked :-). Loved this tune. Excellent vocal and loved the lyric. Well done

Cat Stevens was mentioned ... never thought about that re your vocals but yeah we hear it!

Your passionate vocal well delivers the hopeful write. Excellent phrasing.

We thought the build was very effective and the entire mix is strong -- great soundstage.

Well done!

J&B

You're hitting new heights even for you. Loved that descending bass, it had the effect of getting my attention from the first couple of notes - and the rest of the song kept it thereafter.

I hate to gush, but - every time I hear your songs, I'm reminded of what an honour it is to share a forum with you. In a fairer life, you'd be a superstar on worldwide radio by now. Regardless, it's a joy to listen to this. You write great songs all the time, but I couldn't help thinking that, if this one was written with anyone special in mind, I can't see how she would do any other thing but melt emotionally when listening to this. I don't know what brings that effect - maybe it's the sincerity in your voice, maybe it's your skill in writing, most probably everything contributes to it ... in any case, it's a great ballad, one of your best songs, so there you go. Don't worry - I can be a mean critic, too, if I feel a song deserves criticism, haha (I used to write music reviews for a local paper, back in a "previous life" of mine, i.e. a few years ago, haha ... how on Earth I got THAT gig, goodness only knows, but that's another discussion altogether, haha ...) ... but, if I like a song, I'll say so, too.

In short: be proud of your musical achievements. Bravo.

Deej,

What a passionate vocal!
The singing method that gradually gets excited on the repeated chord progression is wonderful.
The combination of electric guitars is very good.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Love your vocals, and the falsetto is super-effective.

Good song, good write, good production. The song does everything a rock ballad should do.

My only nit is that the vibrato on the guitar solo makes it sound a bit like it was a faster RealTrack that was brought down in tempo, but maybe that's just my imagination.

Also, there's a small glitch at 3:04 on one of the guitar strums.

As others have already said, the passion that you bring to this song makes it a treat to listen to.

One word describes this production: Fantastic!

Everything is outstanding. The use of the band, the mix, the lyrics, and, especially the vocals. I love you voice. It sounds like a classic rock vocal that I've heard my whole life. I can't put my finger on it but I know it works every time for me.

Oh, by the way, this is gold:

"This city feels like frozen stone
"A heart should never call it home"

rayc, Bob, Dave, Marty, Floyd, Janne, Vic, TuneMonger, Ghostgum, Cap’n, Scott, J&B, musician 17, Shigeki, David and jpt3:

Thank you all for giving this one a listen and for the feedback and comments. It’s very much appreciated. A few comments below on individual feedback.

rayc: I’ll definitely give that section another listen and see what I can do with regard to your suggestion. I think I get where you’re going with it and worth considering. Thanks for that.

Bob: Had I only known you had another “Light It Up” tune, I would have held this back (given I had a few more coming). But glad you liked the tune, and looking forward to hearing your version.

Marty: Well, the benefit of recording and mixing is that you get a couple of chances to make that falsetto seem flawless and effortless, LOL!. I’d like to say its alway such, but sadly not. The tough battle here was deciding on the key for this song. I wrote it in C and ended up recording it two steps down in A. The key of C doesn’t allow me to get on top of the lead vocal during the bridge, but going down to A made that falsetto a bit more of a challenge, in a way. It’s always a bit of a trade-off.

Floyd: Easy enough for me to extend that last note a bit. Will definitely do so when I revisit.

Scott: So true . . . seems though I have a lot more half-cooked tunes than one would want . . . but so it goes!

David: Interesting comment on the lead guitar . . . I’ll have to give that some thought. You’re right, though . . . it’s a faster RT tempo than what I recorded this at. But also the best of the bunch that I “auditioned” for this song. Not sure what I can do about that, but will revisit. Oddly enough, this same RT was a contender for a collaboration with TuneMonger. Ultimately we went with another RT solo for that tune because that vibrato type sound to that solo didn’t quite fit the tune. Not sure I’m hearing the glitch at 3:04—at least not on the laptop . . . will have to don the headphones as see, but will try to address if so.

Thanks again all for the comments. Stay safe, stay well--

Deej

I agree with all that!! Just such an easy song to listen to!! EVERYTHING sounds great!!! Take care. Greg

Deej,
A strong write which your awesome vocal ( no surprise!) takes to another level.
The best falsettos ever heard here... and the band sounds darn good too.


Robert