Pennies On A Dollar [looking for new vocals]

[stoman]

This is an old collaboration. I posted an instrumental draft at a collaboration site that no longer exists and was looking for lyrics and a male singer with a voice similar to Tom Waits.

Lyricist Angela Baird found the draft and wrote a very nice lyric for it, and she also provided a vocal track. That track was only meant as a demo, but I liked it. Unfortunately it was a very low quality MP3 file recorded through a cheap head set. I lost track of Angela, so redoing the vocals was no option. I did the best I could do, but the technical quality is so bad that it really bugs me. That's why I had removed the file from my web site in the meantime.

But, anyway - I do like the song and Angela's performance, so I decided to post the file. IF any singer here should be interested in doing a new version of the song, please send me a PM!

The background singer is TSV. He had done a completely different male version of the song, and I thought adding some bits of his version to Angela's original version would sound nice.

I don't have any written lyrics, sorry.

Lyrics & Lead Vocals: Angela Baird
Drums: Gerald Langenfeld
Bass: Hazz
Background Vocals: TSV
Composed, arranged & mixed by Steffen Offermann

Edit 9th Oct 2010:

I tried to write down the lyric as I hear it. If you see any mistakes, please drop me a note!

Pennies On A Dollar
(C) 2007, Angela Baird

A game of gin and tonic
A penny for a dime
A condition melancholic
A woman past her prime

I would offer no pretends
Unlike others who would call her
And she took no offense
For pennies on the dollar

There she stood
Her eyes as soft as grey
Her cloths the color
Of damp red bricks

With so many others
she would often stray
On the alleyways
waiting to get their fix

A game of gin and tonic
A penny for your thoughts
A condition melancholic
A life that's old and bought

I would offer no pretends
Unlike others who would call her
And she took no offense
For pennies on the dollar

A call unanswered
A tale untold
Though some romanced her
Her heart was cold
A childhood broken
A door was closed
A pain unspoken
Sleeps unexposed

A game of gin and tonic
A penny for a dime
A condition melancholic
A woman past her prime

I would offer no pretends
Unlike others who would call her
And she took no offense
For pennies on the dollar

Regards,
  Steffen

P.S.: My mixing skills were rather poor then.

[danieldesete]

Very catchy song. Sound is more than OK IMO. Like the subtle harmonies and that smoker's female voice...

[Ted]

Is that you on the squeezebox? 

I love this song.  I agree that the mixing could be much better. The lead vocal is too loud, and the backing vocals are too subdued.

It reminds me of one of Elvis Costellos genre pieces. 

[launched]

This is slick. I like it.

Mark

[stoman]

Morning!

Is that you on the squeezebox? 

Yep. But it's not a real accordion. All parts not explicitly credited in the first post were done by myself on my synthesizer.

Thanks for listening! I'll improve the volume balance when time allows.

Still hoping to find a new singer though ...

Regards,
  Steffen

[Geir]

Good morning Steffen!!

Yeah I like this a lot too !!

Great song, and I do love that vox too, even tho the recording cold be improved. I think you'll have a hard time finding a female vox here to do it, but if you can settle for a male vox there should be plenty to choose from. Try making a mix without the vox and post it in collabs I'm sure you'll get some response soon. (lyrics would be a plus tho )

Back for another listen now !!

[Donna D]

This is pretty, Steffen. I hadn't heard it before. Definitely worth resurrecting. 
The accordian sound suits the vibe.

Donna

[stoman]

Thank you, Donna & Geir!

Yes, I noticed that there aren't many (any?) female vocalists here. But I hadn't originally been looking for female vocals anyway. It just turned out that Angela's demo vocals suit the mood really well.

Male vocals will be ok. I'm always interested in different versions of my songs anyway, so I'd probably even be delighted by a kid singing this.

I do have partial bedtracks, but I'll have to check them before I post them as they seem to be older than the mix I posted.

As for the vocal balance: I probably can fix that with an M/S mastering technique - that would be faster than changing the mix as I do not have the same equipment now that I had when I did that mix.

But if I can get new vocals for the song, I'll start a new mix from scratch.

Regards,
  Steffen

[stoman]

Update: I posted the bedtrack in the collaboration forum:

https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=8828.msg117898#msg117898

Now, don't let me down!

Regards,
  Steffen

[lg]

I don't really understand why you'd like a different vox when
this present vox is so good and fits perfectly!?!....?

LG