Foolishness (LITLR) - AndyR Original

[AndyR]

Foolishness - A A J Russe
Written 3rd January 1988
Recorded 1st March 2022
The Shoebox Demos Vol 1

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While writing and recording songs for FAWM 2022 I discovered that I can create acoustic demos of nearly any song I've ever written.

I've spent the last few days getting the contents of the Shoebox (the Andrew Russe Song Repository) in order. The contents of the Shoebox go back as far as 1979 and seem to represent over 300 complete songs and lots of half-baked ideas.

I immediately found 60-odd complete and singable songs that I would like to demo in this way. There are possibly another 20-30 I'm prepared to treat like this. And there's a bunch more that, with a bit of tweaking, might scrub up nice too. And there are some half-finished ideas that I got stuck with, but could finish now.

So, with no particular rhyme or reason, here's the first off the production line.

Foolishness was written on the 3rd January 1988.
Finally recorded as this acoustic demo on Tuesday 1st March 2022.
It's never been recorded (except on paper) before.

I wrote it in Bb, but that sounds a bit squeaky now, so I lowered it a bit.
I made a couple of other tweaks in the final verses to make sure it worked as intended. Mainly this was because the second half was all "you". I used to write to myself as "you" a lot, often switching from I to you halfway through a song! And here it made it feel like two halves of entirely different songs.

Now I'm older, wiser, and can't sing so high, I don't really give a sh1t what the younger me thought or felt - the song has to work first, personal feelings can follow on after as best they might! LOL

I was very tempted to change "little girl", I can see how this could be interpreted in a very different way nowadays. If I were to record this song more seriously, I probably would change it.

However, for this demo, I DO kind of give a sh1t about how the little girl might feel, if she's still alive. She was 15 years older than me!

Foolishness

Words & Music AndyR
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If all this is is foolishness
If all this is is wait for happiness
I'd rather not get stuck with it
But I have it now
I asked for it

There's a little girl lives down my way
But I don't think she can come out to play
I dream about her every night
But she musn't hear
You know it isn't right

I think she knows enough by now
I think she's heard it all by now
She begged me not to write of it again
But my foolishness
Means I have to sing

I'm waiting on my little dream
And nothing's as cheap as it might have been
I can't afford to pay my way
But I've broken it
What can I say

My foolishness
Means I always sing

I can't get off the premises
An apology is sorely missed
I could dream my way out of this mess
But she mustn't hear
Of my foolishness

Copyright (C) 1988 A A J Russe. All Rights Reserved.

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[StephenM]

didn't get to comment yesterday.  I enjoyed reading your info above on the shoebox and all your songs.  I remember you writing of it before.  The amazing thing is that you can actually take something so old and written on a page, likely with chords and sing this so well.  I am sure you practiced it a bit but it's really a gift. 
I gotta say that you have made me much more interested in hearing acoustic guitar and voice...
and some really nice guitar work in here as well.

[Farrell Jackson]

It's great that you have revisited a vintage song of yours and brought it to life, from a piece of paper, for us to hear 34 years later! Now that is cool as is the song. I think the lyrics work as well now as they did when you wrote them. This new-found style of yours with just an acoustic guitar and voice showcases your talents very well, Andy.

[kenny mac]

Lovely song.
Crystal clarity a lovely stripped down performance.
Well done.

[TPB]

While I am a sucker for bare naked playing just acoustic and vocal and letting it all hang out there this song while written 34 years is timeless and has a great presentation
Tim

[Mike_S]

Another beauty Andy. These one voice and an acoustic really pack a punch. They make the listener really bend in and attend to every detail. Very intimate. I think you should stick with the original lyric, not bend to the common trends... most normal people can read into the honesty of intention in your words. Cracking performance.

Mike

[SE]

This is just quality, loving the writing, performance and recording, just top stuff, big respect!!