Vitameatavegamin
(c) 2008 Ted Johnson
This is me on acoustic guitar, bass, twangy Telecaster, synthesizer and voice.
On lead and distorted rhythm guitar is the great Terry Dumdei (http://www.webari.com/terrydumdei/).
On angelic backing vocals is Anne Wittke (http://www.linkedin.com/pub/anne-wittke/10/65a/725).
This song was a long time in the making. I'll get to all that later.
Without further adieu or explanation...
Really enjoyng this Ted. Genre defying acoustic rock, really catchy and intriguing. The words sound very interesting as well, I can only make some of them out, could you post them please? But it sounds like there is a story here so I suspect we may be hearing more.......
It's very well produced and I really like the bass playing going on there. Neat drums as usual as well. Great original number.
Cheers,
Nigel
Great work Ted - couldn't get any more polished. Killer bass playing, too.
Yes, the lyrics if you could - Sounds like you are singing about Britney Spears or some crazy actor...
Cool, man
Mark
I like the way it moves to the smooth 'B' part after the frantic 'A' part. Of course the angelic voice helps... but the melody there has almost an Andrew Lloyd Webber quality. But it's all very tight and under control. Very nice production!
Catchy catchy catchy! I'm bloody hooked on this. I love the breakdown where the vocal goes almost choir-like... it really reminded me of The Who. In fact, I can hear The Who all over this, in the chords, bass, and the Daltrey-like vocal delivery. Fantastic stuff.
I'm so glad I took time to listen to this !! This is catchy, fun, great production, well played, great singing !!!!
Love it !!
Wonderful! I'm in awe of all the talent on this board... 8)
And references one of the best 'I Love Lucy' episodes, too.
I thoroughly enjoyed this!
Thanks y'all. Ego sufficiently boosted for now! Especially asking me for the lyrics and the Who comparisons. Are you psychotherapists?
Quote from: launched on July 27, 2009, 05:56:36 AMSounds like you are singing about Britney Spears or some crazy actor...
It's not
or, it's
and.
I tried to make lyrics that could simultaneously describe the antics of both Lucy Ricadro (Lucille Ball's character in "I Love Lucy") and Britney Spears.
Vitameatavegamin© 2008 Ted Johnson
She's got the smile. She's got guile.
Her face is in style. She's got the booty shakin'.
Her latest get-into-showbiz scheme is a
Nervous breakdown, and she might not be fakin'.
She wants to be in magazines
On radio, on every TV station.
An object of desire.
Second choice: one of humiliation.
You know that the money hardly matters
'Cause the coins of the realm are eyeballs and chatter.
And a high return comes from outrage and flattery here.
The answer to all of your problems: Vitameatavegamin.
The answer to all of my problems
Is right here in this little bottle.
Just get me on TV again.
The babies came. What a shame.
A setback that changed her hot dimensions.
Dressing up like an Indian now,
Or a bald-headed clown, just to get attention.
Eventually, she'll bare it all,
Then settle down, maybe get religion.
Find a conspicuous bench in a park to
Sign her autograph, or draw a crowd of pigeons.
(repeat first verse)
(chorus & out)
Quote from: cuthbert on July 27, 2009, 07:59:08 AMAnd references one of the best 'I Love Lucy' episodes, too.
For the uninitiated, here is the source of the title:
Everything went wrong in the production of this song. I'll write it up later, in hopes that I can prevent others from the same fate.
Cool lyrics - so a kind of homage to fading female screen godesses? Specifically about Lucille Ball or a montage?
Look forward to hearing the story about the song!
Cheers,
Nigel
Love the lyrics. This verse is particuarly inspired...
Eventually, she'll bare it all,
Then settle down, maybe get religion.
Find a conspicuous bench in a park to
Sign her autograph, or draw a crowd of pigeons.
Great stuff!
Quote from: Ferryman on July 27, 2009, 09:51:23 AMSpecifically about Lucille Ball or a montage?
A montage. The song was inspired by a fading beauty I know who is going through a narcissistic meltdown. I imagined a person so desperate for attention, she'd lie, manipulate, suffer ridicule and indignation--in lieu of respect, praise and adoration. Lucy Ricardo and Britney Spears came to mind.
And I'm careful to say Lucy
Ricardo--the fictional character--rather than Lucille Ball. Ball apparently was quite well-adjusted and savvy about business; not much like the neurotic character she made famous.
Very catchy song, fantastic playing throughout and the drum arrangement is spot on.
Nice one Ted , what an absolute wicked song , clever , catchy lyrics , love the acoustic part , it drives the song along very nicely , very reminicent of Pinball wizard , then those superbly delivered vox , and good use of background electric distortion , bass and drums
Top song
Facemask93
Quote from: facemask93 on July 27, 2009, 05:19:09 PMvery reminicent of Pinball wizard...
At first I thought, Huh? Then I remembered the intro, with the "pedal point" note on Townshend's guitar.
Thanks.
Hmm, I just had another listen. This song is really out there and I like that kind of stuff. Thanks for posting the lyrics for us - obviously a first listen wouldn't pick up much, and I think cuthbert was clever to pick up on the Lucille Ball end of it. I just heard bald headed clown and the babies came and thought "Thats Britney Spears!!"
Anyway, the music is great as well and I'd like to congratulate you for creating an excellent song.
Mark
This was really a cool idea!! you really nailed it. What fun!! Great production good job on using the br's features.
This is a really well done song, crystal clear production, great variety in the changes. I have to agree with all the Who comparisons. To my ears this would sound perfect alongside the tunes on "The Who Sell Out". Great stuff. We don't hear enough music from you Ted, your music is brilliant!!!
What a great listen. Lately, the quality of production on this site has ramped up exponentially.
What a great pop tune, and I mean that in the best way (where "pop" is not a dirty word...in a land where even "prog" was once not ridiculed). Man, the bass is cooking at 2:45 or so. I almost wish it were louder, but the mix is too good as it is.
A jolly good listen. I will revisit this one for sure.
Kudos.
Blooby
Love this Tune!
Smart, Catchy and against the grain......
Are you Sure you aint "The" Ted Johnson of Youtube fame....?
Wow a Lucy reference, nice! My sister and gramma are still obsessed!
Very well done, nice energy to it.
Quote from: launched on July 27, 2009, 05:56:14 PM... I think cuthbert was clever to pick up on the Lucille Ball end of it. I just heard bald headed clown and the babies came and thought "Thats Britney Spears!!"
There's an episode of I Love Lucy where Lucy dresses up like a clown to sneak onto Ricky's show. I just added "bald headed" to make it relevant to Britney. I guess it worked.
Quote from: Bluesberry on July 27, 2009, 06:57:18 PMWe don't hear enough music from you Ted...
Thanks! As you'll see in my next post, it's because I don't make enough music. This song was produced in spurts over one-and-a-half years.
Quote from: osckilo on July 27, 2009, 07:26:04 PMAre you Sure you aint "The" Ted Johnson of Youtube fame....?
I'm pretty sure I'm not. You'll have to send me a link of this other Ted Johnson's video, or post it here.
Quote from: Davo on July 27, 2009, 11:53:48 PMWow a Lucy reference, nice! My sister and gramma are still obsessed!
Sadly, when I watch I Love Lucy, I now see only obsessive attention-seeking behavior. If I knew someone like that in real life, I'd think she were mentally ill. It dampens my enjoyment of the show (just a little).
Quote from: Blooby on July 27, 2009, 07:04:45 PMWhat a great pop tune, and I mean that in the best way (where "pop" is not a dirty word...in a land where even "prog" was once not ridiculed). Man, the bass is cooking at 2:45 or so. I almost wish it were louder, but the mix is too good as it is.
I'm fine with "pop," as a musical form. It's the word I use to describe most of my songwriting, and many of my songwriting heroes.
As for the bass, my favorite run is at the end of the guitar solo. (As long as we're talking about attention-seeking behavior here.)
The talent just keeps coming........nice, original song, i agree with the other guys about the comparison to the who.......its refreshing to hear putting pen to paper and telling a story. Has anyone ever compared your voice to the lead singer of a band called Mercury Rev...check a song called the Dark is Rising and see what i mean, maybe its just me. Liked the song, top stuff, very original and beautifully executed.
Dan
Quote from: danarm101 on July 28, 2009, 04:35:51 PMHas anyone ever compared your voice to the lead singer of a band called Mercury Rev...check a song called the Dark is Rising and see what i mean, maybe its just me.
Thanks. Nope. Never heard of Mercury Rev. Listening to
Dark is Rising on YouTube right now. I'll take the comparison.
People usually compare my voice to either Pleashuh Tup or Fin Gernails. Apparently they're both very obscure.
This song survived many disasters, and I learned a lot while recording and mixing. I'm hoping it will be valuable to the community for me to recap here.
Disasters are in red.
Lessons Learned are in blue.
If you are not interested in the drama, just read the blue parts.
I finished writing this song in January 2008 and recorded a demo.
Terry came over and recorded his parts--but I wasn't too savvy about AUTo Punch, so I accidentally deleted some of Terry's work.
Test out the features you need to use if you won't be able to re-record the performance or undo a mistake.
The song languished while I sold a house, moved across the country, and got married. I know: Where are my priorities?
I managed to repair and loop Terry's guitar part late last year, which was probably about three hours of work. I got really good at copying and moving tracks.
In March this year, I was preparing to do some more work, and I fried my Micro BR--including the SD card.
1 (https://songcrafters.org/community/micro-br/first-post-fried-my-microbr/msg17522/#msg17522) I not only lost my Micro BR, I lost all the work I'd done over months--since my last backup. I replaced the Micro BR with a new one and restored what I had backed up.
Backup your data whenever you connect the Micro BR to your computer for any reason.2 (https://songcrafters.org/community/micro-br/lessons-learned-from-a-fried-micro-br-%28don%27t-fry-your-micro-br-and-backup%29/)
Earlier this month, I re-did all the lost edits on Terry's guitar part, and recorded my own guitar and synth parts. I also recorded Anne's angelic vocals only to discover later that one of our cats meowed just as Anne's voice faded out, on the last note, on her best take.
Remove and isolate the cat when recording into a microphone.
Trimming that meow would have been 100 times easier on a DAW.
(https://songcrafters.org/community/introduce-yourself!/if-you-don%27t-know-me-by-now/0/?action=dlattach;attach=3776;image)
On several tracks, I experimented with the "Exciting Compressor" technique described by AndyR (https://songcrafters.org/community/micro-br-b65/sooner-or-later-(andyr-original)/msg34529/#msg34529). And I also did some doubling on a few tracks. Both of these techniques, of course, took up twice as many v-tracks as they otherwise would have. I started to run out of v-tracks. Rather than erase tracks that had already been bounced, I bounced the tracks I had done to a "working stereo pair," I OPTimized the song, and then created a new copy.
I'm so sensible.
I did about an hour of work on the new copy before I realized that on the "working stereo pair" (T34V1) the "left" v-track was out of sync from the "right" v-track by about two measures. On the original copy of the song I discovered that the "working stereo pair" was also out of sync as well. The culprit had to have been the optimizing process. So I re-bounced those v-tracks, EXPorted them to a WAV file, and then IMPorted them to the new copy of the song.
I'm so sensible.
On the advice of 64Guitars (https://songcrafters.org/community/micro-br/weird-optimizing-outcome/msg40159/#msg40159), I backed up the SD card, reformatted it, and restored the files.
Things got worse. Every time I tried to work on the song, I got Card Read Errors, and Disk Busy problems. The new copy of the song was unusable. I had to do all of that work again.
Never optimize (https://songcrafters.org/community/micro-br/weird-optimizing-outcome/msg41607/#msg41607). Backup immediately when you get any error. Resolve the problem before continuing any work on the song.
Don't assume your SD card is the cause of the error messages. The Micro BR apparently can't tell the difference between a corrupted song and a corrupted SD card.
I deleted the new copy of the song (losing an hour of work, plus the time I spent fiddling with the problems), and created yet another copy.
I was able to work on the Twangy Telecaster and the synth parts. I bounced them together to a mono v-track (T1V3), and then made a copy of the v-track (to T2V3) offset by .005 seconds for a doubling effect.
Strangely, when I tried to listen to the new sterio pair (T12V3) along with the other stereo pair (T34V1), the "left" track (T3V1) began with what sounded like the fade-out of one of my guitar tracks, and then was silent until about the 5th measure before the music that is supposed to be there came in. I went back several steps, and repeated my steps making sure that I didn't unintentionally copy something to T3V1. The results were the same.
When copying or moving tracks, listen to them to confirm that the copy went as intended before continuing--especially Track 3 for some reason.
Not to worry, I still had the WAV file of T34V1. I could just re-import it.
I'm so sensible.
The import process hung on the last bar for a long, long time. I got impatient and clicked Exit. The first 14 measures got imported, but then there was a noise that sounded like radio static on the remainder of the track. So I re-imported the WAV file and went to bed, and let it run all night. In the morning the display said Disk Full, and again the tracks had radio static after the 14th measure.
"Disk Full" my ass. I had 200+ MB free, and the WAV file is only 35MB.
The Micro BR likes to have lots of free space to do hard things like a track import.
Well, at least I had the first 14 measures, which I could copy on top of the tracks that were missing data. That actually worked.
I recorded my vocal part last, and bounced it to a new "working stereo pair." Then I mixed and mastered. After mastering, the Micro BR asked me if I wanted to EXPORT TO MP3/WAV? I clicked YES, and WAV. The resulting WAV file had only about half a second of sound on it: my voice saying, "...wa..." So I checked the stereo pair of v-tracks where I had mastered. Again: "...wa..."
I mastered again and when asked to EXPORT to MP3/WAV, I answered NO. I checked the mastered v-tracks and the whole song was there. So I exported these v-tracks to a WAV file, and all was well.
When the Micro BR is already acting temperamental, let it rest between difficult tasks.
I loaded the WAV on my computer and trimmed off the beginning and end silence, encoded an MP3, and uploaded it for this fine community.
Last night I started to write up this tale, and suddenly I got a Blue Screen Of Death on my computer.
The ghost of Lucille Ball doesn't like being compared to Britney Spears.
I thought I had trouble with card read errors.......
Damn.........
Wow - that was quite the odyssey. :o
The very next thing I'm going to do after this is back up my MBR SD card, even if there isn't that much on it yet. Might even back up my computer hard drive, just for good measure.
Quote from: Ted on July 28, 2009, 06:47:23 PMThe ghost of Lucille Ball doesn't like being compared to Britney Spears.
Ha ha! I would not at all be surprised by that! :D
Damn thats epic, this deserves a term in the terminology thread you started Ted, hell it deserves a song on it own. "The Ballad of ..." What would be a good name, "The Ballad of Despair and Redemption with a microBR, a shotglass and a shotgun". It would make a hell of a song. I can't imagine going through all that.
Quote from: Bluesberry on July 28, 2009, 07:10:24 PMDamn thats epic, this deserves a term in the terminology thread you started Ted, hell it deserves a song on it own. "The Ballad of ..." What would be a good name, "The Ballad of Despair and Redemption with a microBR, a shotglass and a shotgun".
It would make a hell of a song.
Do it BB!!!!!!
Ted thanks for the lessons. There are several bugs on the MBR, I hope that Roland is familiar with them.
Quote from: osckilo on July 28, 2009, 07:30:13 PMQuote from: Bluesberry on July 28, 2009, 07:10:24 PMDamn thats epic, this deserves a term in the terminology thread you started Ted, hell it deserves a song on it own. "The Ballad of ..." What would be a good name, "The Ballad of Despair and Redemption with a microBR, a shotglass and a shotgun".
It would make a hell of a song.
Do it BB!!!!!!
OK T, you have talked me into it. I am going to write "The Ballad of Despair and Redemption with a microBR, a shotglass and a shotgun". Lets see what kind of fun I can get up to here, apologies in advance to Ted, I may use some of your true life disasters/lessons from this thread for inspiration and lyrical content. I will change the names to protect the innocent ;), lets get to work now! Thanks for the encouragement T-man.
Quote from: Bluesberry on July 29, 2009, 09:08:39 AMI am going to write "The Ballad of Despair and Redemption with a microBR, a shotglass and a shotgun". Lets see what kind of fun I can get up to here, apologies in advance to Ted.
Leave the bass for me, eh?
Quote from: Ted on July 29, 2009, 09:49:06 AMQuote from: Bluesberry on July 29, 2009, 09:08:39 AMI am going to write "The Ballad of Despair and Redemption with a microBR, a shotglass and a shotgun". Lets see what kind of fun I can get up to here, apologies in advance to Ted.
Leave the bass for me, eh?
Excellent idea Ted, I'll see what I can come up with in the next few days here...I'll keep you posted. I am thinking mainly acoustic for the guitar part guitar right now, we'll see what comes out.
The song has been written and posted here... (https://songcrafters.org/forum/micro-br-b65/3845/0/)
Quote from: Bluesberry on July 29, 2009, 10:00:07 AMI am thinking mainly acoustic for the guitar part guitar right now, we'll see what comes out.
I've got my acoustic fretless bass that I've been neglecting. It's the one I used on
Three Days of the Condor (https://songcrafters.org/community/micro-br-b65/three-days-of-the-condor/0/).
We could be like
O, BR Where Art Thou.
This one deserves a major
BUMP
( the story about the making of the song deserves one alone)
wow-sorry i missed this one
This is freakn great Ted
very tight production-awesome mix
love the Lyrics and vox
alright
i'll take a bottle of that stuff-what the heck
Wow great song Ted!! Sounds like you put alot of work into this baby!!
So clean & pro sounding - great job!!!
The bass in this is Fan-F*cking-tastic!!!
Still think this sounds like "Who Sellout" era Who here, wonderful stuff Ted.
Thanks for the Bluesberry bump!
I'll take comparisons to The Who most days.
This is so Braw !!! FMGWABP..................!!!!
It reminds me of one of Pete Townshend's jauntier tunes (There's even an Entwistle-style run in the guitar solo). Very cool.
Great sounds. It's all recorded well, but the acoustic and bass really sound wonderful. The understated electric adds a lot.
I'll come back to this one.
Blooby
how the hell did i miss this one, great song ted and well bumped bb
Where did our good friend Ted get off to, where you at Ted? Have a listen to this beauty. The missing track from "Who Sell Out".
Quote from: Bluesberry on July 31, 2010, 04:58:26 PMWhere did our good friend Ted get off to, where you at Ted?
I'm here. And there.
Life is throwing lots of time-consuming grownup responsibilities, changes, and stress at me. My lifelong and infantile time-management skills are inadequate. But at the end of the tunnel is a new home with a special room for my pastimes. This room will be acoustically separated from where The Missus and the kids sleep. But here in the middle of the tunnel, my calluses have gone soft, and my songwriter's pencil dull.
Thanks for missing me.
Thanks for the bump too.
This is great... really enjoyed. Thanks for posting.
Kinda late getting to this one but now I'm here I really love it especially the concept. Songcrafting at its best. Top notch in all departments...........Willie
Great song, Ted! The comment I added to this song (https://songcrafters.org/forum/index.php?topic=7504.msg118800#msg118800) was actually meant to be posted here. I'm a little dizzy after an 8 hour meeting at work. ;)
Regards,
Steffen
Quote from: stoman on October 14, 2010, 12:47:40 PMGreat song, Ted! The comment I added to this song (https://songcrafters.org/forum/index.php?topic=7504.msg118800#msg118800) was actually meant to be posted here. I'm a little dizzy after an 8 hour meeting at work. ;)
Thanks, stoman. I was thinking about this song the other day--Terry's lead work in particular--and had half a mind to masterbump (https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=3785.msg41446#msg41446) this. But I decided against it.
... and you were wise to bump it, Sir, for I haven't yet listened to this fillet mignon de chanson!
fabulous!!!!
there we go, fantastic vision here
Masterbump. I performed this at an open mic a few hours ago.
Don't tell me you didn't record it !!??!?!?!!
oh and it's still a bloody good song that pops up on my piPod from time to time ;)
Fabulous - would love the hear the live version too.
the kids started dancing and bouncing all over the flat when I pressed listen. Ted I'm going to have trouble with the lady of first floor.
And now the little one is asking encore !
well done
daniel
Super intense thread, increditastic song!
Rock On!
I'm fixing broken links on my website. Had to come here and re-upload the MP3. So...
Masterbump.
Great bump and glad you fixed this Ted. Now will you also please fix the link to Dechromium Cob? I was going to point some of the new folks on here to that one and the link is dead.
dammit man...the music is just fantastic... and could be used for a hundred different vocalists...and it sounds great...but the vocals are so lovely really....its like when Linda Ronstadt (a male version here) started doing rock...her voice was just so lovely (and that is entirely ok...everybody don't need to be screaming all the time!)....and the backing vocals are really good too...
great stuff Ted...glad I got to hear it...just don't ask me to say the title of it...