'Help Me Cheat at Cards' - a Greeny original

[Greeny]

Acoustic guitar, bass and vocals, plus Garageband electric piano, organ, strings and drums, and Thumbjam cello and trumpet.

All recorded and mixed on the MBR.

The biggest change is that I'll never use the MBR drums again now: the new virtual drummers on Garageband are infinitely-tweakable, perfectly sampled, and just downright wonderful.

Lyrics...

This hand
every hand
i get dealt
leaves me further out my depth
and every plan
that i plan
is like diving for a wreck
where the sharks stare with black eyes
at my appalling etiquette

you've got something up your sleeve
to end this losing streak
and take me from the brink of a defeat
to read 'em and weep

you could teach me
and really reach me
you complete me
so i beseech thee
to help me cheat at cards

this life
what a knife
what a cloud
that comes raining down on me
buried stars
insomnia
i just wish that i could sleep
in your arms forever
with no more jagged dreams

you've got something up your sleeve
to end this losing streak
and take me from the brink of a defeat
to read 'em and weep

you could teach me
and really reach me
you complete me
so i beseech thee
to help me cheat at cards

[kenny mac]

absolutely fantastic Greeny,you remind me of crowded house on this ,that recording and performance is stunning.
well done.

[Geir]

WOW !!!!!!!!

So good to get a new Greeny song. And what a treat this is !!

Just fabulous !

It has all the usual Greeny qualities and then some ... Your production is absolutely stunning and the lyrics really hit me hard !!

My new Greeny favourite !

[Geir]

I'm also a bit curious about your workflow here... do you start in GB or on the mbr ? Final mix on mbr I guess?

[Oldrottenhead]

Yeah baby! a green monday on a friday.

[Redler]

Stunning Greeny song for a long time! A worth of waiting!!

Really melodic and beautiful composition with top class vocals! And well arranged!

Enjoyed the doubled cello spots, sounds so good!

[Greeny]

I'm also a bit curious about your workflow here... do you start in GB or on the mbr ? Final mix on mbr I guess?

Hi Geir :-)

My new way of working is to write a song on guitar (as I always do), then start the recording process by building a drum track in Garageband. I just have the song playing in my head as I get the drums exactly as I want them.

I then import the drum track into the MBR and overlay regular guitars, bass and vocals, plus any Thumbjam extras over the top.

There is also the option of adding extra stuff in Garageband over the drum track before importing to the MBR (in this case electric piano, organ and some strings). It's only possible if the song is completely written though, and I know exactly what chords go where. And it's also only possible if I write the song without a capo!

It's a slightly longer way of working, as I tend to hone the song structure much more before I start any recording. It makes the results more polished though.

[hooper]

WOW !!!!

Always fun to hear one of your new songs for the first time, Tim... and this one has so many little surprise twists and tweaks.  Love the tasteful little splash of harmony at the start of the choruses.  It's such a clever idea and concept with the story line and the musical arrangement works perfectly.  The drums and strings sound great. You are getting so much out of GarageBand and a MBR.  A really, really fine production!

[ODH]

WOW !!!!

Me too

Great to hear a new Greeny song, quite a rare thing nowadays, but all the more cherished for it.

And immediately recognisable as a Greeny song from the outset.  Your touch with those string parts is impeccable.

Great work, welcome return.

Nick

[bruno]

Where have you been?? We've all missed our Greeny Mondays. Cracking tune and production :-)
B