Hi all,
Yes, I finaly have a new song up on my player. This one is called "I Don't Care". It is a bit different from my other songs. But I suppose that is nothing different for me as my music tends to reflect my very eccletic tastes. I don't quite know what to make of this one. Maybe one could say it is my "pop" song. This is the first song I didn't start with lyrics first. I was just messing around with a couple of chords and once I had the riff, the melody got stuck in my head. It had a bit of a happy feeling, So I quickly recorded a vocal and guitar demo of a couple of verses that I adlibbed. It is amazing what one comes up with on the spot. I had crazy lines of being in love with orange pigs and having moths in my hair. Well, I knew that wouldn't do, so I sat down to write some propper lyrics. I had a vision of a happy go lucky eccentric guy that made everyone laugh. Then I thought about why are there these crazy people in the world. They might be bright and colourful, but there is definately a sadness there. So, I thought I would look at both sides of the coin and came up with these lyrics-

Words and music © Copyright Jamie McPherson 2009
Written by Jamie McPherson on Saturday 28 March 2009
 

The first step was to write and record the bass line. Then it was the organ. I wanted something light and cheery and a bit off kilter, so I wrote the different arrangement that you hear. I put a strong emphasis on the seventh chords, especially that last B7. Then I decided it was time to put some drums in a track. I didn't want a full kit as that would be too far removed from all my other songs that do not have any drums. So I went for a basic set up of kick, snare and hi-hat all with brushes. I think the drum lines suit the song. Maybe that slightly military sound is a by product of too much time in a pipe band. Then I recorded the 12 string guitar. I tried a vew vocal styles, but always kept going back to the higher register I originally envisioned. I went a bit stronger for the seconds. It just seemed a natural way to go, especially after watching a special on Tom Jones on the tele . I recorded these separately so I could treat them differently with EQ and effects. Then it was final mixdown and mastering and there you have it. I hope you enjoy. If not........I don't care.

Beannachd leibh,

Jamie

New Song - Doing Serious Time

Hi all,

I've got my next song up, 'Doing Serious Time'. I hope you all like this one.
It's a bit of fun and very much tongue in cheek.
This one came to me on Monday morning in the bus traveling from Mount Barker to
Adelaide on the way to work.
I thought it would be a bit of sport to poke fun of growing up and old as well
as the dopey way some of us spent our youth.
And who better to be a part of that fun than the Devil. I thought it was about
time I did a "me and the Devil" song.
I wanted to delve in that very close relationship many of us have or had with
"the Devil". No, I don't believe in Old Nic as a being or entity.
It is more the devil in us when we live a debauched life. The devil is not in
the debaunchery, but in the fact we like it and enjoy it.
The song is fun, light and upbeat and I enjoyed writing it and very much
enjoyed performing it.

You might wonder why I called the Devil "Bob". This is a bit of play on the demon
name Bealzabub (not in reality a name of the devil). So, it became Bealza"bob".
And, I also thought it would be good to show that the main character has a more
personal relationship with the Devil, by having him refer to the Devil with a
name no-one else knows.
They were mates and palled around together. Got up to a lot of michief and shared
things only close buddy's could share.

The lines...

“If you had found Jesus,
I wouldn’t be so mad.
Hell, half of them are mine,
The other half are bad.

...were the first to pop into my head. No, it's not a direct attack on Christianity.
It is an acknowledgement that people who proclaim to be good still do bad things.
Very much the case in our modern world.

Sitting "down by the river, ‘Neath my willow tree." is very much me and brings me
personally into the song straight away. This is my ideal way of spending time. I
love my willow trees. They are my friends.

A Qasideh is a Persian poem and I put it in there for Tikarma as she is a great
poet and just loves Persian art.
For me, Tikarma is that sublime woman. Why would I want to go back there when I
have such a wonderful life with a wonderful woman.

Well, here are the lyrics in full and below that the very quick recording process.
I hope you enjoy.

Doing Serious Time

I was down by the river,
‘Neath my willow tree.
Up swaggered the Devil,
And sat down next to me.
I said “Hey there Bob,
It’s been quite a time!”
He said “Shut your mouth Jim,
Don’t ya spin me no line.
You never called me, buddy,
Didn’t even drop me a line.
And now I find you here,
Doin’ serious time!”

I said “I’m sorry Bob,
Things are not the same.
I found a good woman,
Who am I to blame.
You just weren’t no fun no more,
You took all my time.
And while I was young,
I never did much mind.
But now things have changed,
And I don’t mind.
I’m happy sitting here,
Doin’ serious time!”

He said “What’s your problem boy,
Have you just gone mad?
We’re just two lads,
Never were that bad.
I gave you malt whisky,
And Women, oh, so fine!
Our house was a bordello,
A place of pleasure to find.
I gave you all my favours,
Now repay me in kind!
You’re just a stupid fool,
For doin’ serious time!”

I said “Now just you wait there Bob,
I gave you all I got!
And you just left me there,
Left me there to rot.
You spent all my money,
Didn’t leave me a dime.
Left me lying there,
Swimming in my grime.
Listening to you Bob,
Has been my only crime.
And now I’m happy here,
Doin’ serious time!”

“If you had found Jesus,
I wouldn’t be so mad.
Hell, half of them are mine,
The other half are bad.
You were a devil of a lad,
A master in his prime.
I left you there to revel,
Revel in your slime.
I had you set up,
You were my partner in crime!
You stabbed me in the back,
By doin’ serious time!”

“I didn’t mean to hurt ya feelings Bob,
Or hang you out to dry.
But you’re a big boy now,
And I’m sure you will get by.
But for the love of my woman,
A mountain I will climb.
Or write a Persian Qasideh,
In reverse order rhyme.
So don’t you worry about me ol’ Bob,
I’m doin’ just fine.
I’m happy sitting here,
Doin’ serious time!”

“I see you’re quite resolved.” Said Bob,
“I’ve seen you’ve made your mind.
Then there’s nothing more to say,
But love is truly blind.
It was fun while it lasted,
We both had a good time.
So now I’ll have to leave you,
To that woman so sublime.
For whom that bell tolls for love,
In your heart will chime.
So good luck o’ pal ol’ buddy,
With doin’ serious time.”

Words and music by Jamie McPherson
Written Monday 27 October 2008.

Words and Music © Jamie McPherson 2008

Once I had the lyrics written I also formulated the basic melody and had some
ideas for chord structure.

So, I sat down today and worked out the chord sequence and that finalised the
melody. I wanted this one to be basic and upbeat.
Just me and the guitar and only a smattering of harmonica (cross harp).

I decided to record it live with just my vocals through a studio condensor
microphone and my 12 string guitar plugged straight into the desk.
I knew there would be bleedthrough the microphone from the guitar, but that
was of no concern to me due to the simpleness. It is all one take with only
the harmonica at the start and end overdubbed.

I thought "stuff it" and pushed my vocals rough and hard with no refind style
as it is all fun. Then some basic effects on the vocals and guitar and a bit of
reverb on it all and you have "Doing Serious Time"

I hope you have as much fun listening to it as I had making it.

Until next song,

Jamie

New Song – Don’t Cry Me A River Murray

Yes, I have my third song up, ‘Don’t Cry Me A River Murray’!

For those of you who do not know, the River Murray is Australia’s largest river stretching from The Australian Alps on the East coast of Australia and forms the border of New South Wales and Victoria before running through South Australia, draining into the lower lakes of Alexandrina and Albert and exiting into the sea at Goolwa. It forms part of the Murray-Darling river system that begins in Queensland and runs for approximately 3750 kilometres. The Murray-Darling system provides for approximately a third of Australia’s food production.

The heartbreak of it all is that the ‘Mighty Murray’ is a dying river and is very close to taking its last breath. This is a tragedy as it is one of the worlds most beautiful rivers steeped in history and home to our unique Australian wildlife and rare fish species. It also has a very strong connection with our Aboriginal brothers as it has been part of their lifeblood and dreaming for thousands of years.

The plight of the Murray has featured prominently in the South Australian media for the last few years, as being down-river; we get what is left of the water once the Eastern States have bled it dry. What we are left with is dryland salinity and a dying eco-system. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not just blaming the Eastern states. South Australia bleeds what is left out of the river before it enters the ocean!

The River Murray holds a special place in my heart as I have many childhood memories of swimming across and sailing down it. I have put my rod in many times to try to catch the much sought after Callop (Golden Perch), only to pull up many of the introduced pest European Carp instead. I have eaten yabbies caught in nets on its banks and have shared a meal or two with its resident pelicans. I have spent a lot of time at the lower lakes in our backyard with my wife Tikarma and have explored the magical world heritage listed Coorong with close friends.

I felt compelled to write this song because it is important to me. I didn’t want to tug at heartstrings. I didn’t want to make any grand political statements or point fingers. I just wanted to say that this river that I love is essentially dead. What took over two million years to create has been decimated in less than two hundred! It is too late to save the Murray completely and nothing we can do can rectify that. That’s not to say that with the right political measures, there can be damage control to preserve what is left of our ecology and wildlife.

So, after a VERY lengthy introduction, I present you with the lyrics to ‘Don’t Cry Me A River Murray’. Below that will be an explanation of some of the references used in the lyrics as well as the recording process.

Don’t Cry Me A River Murray

A tale of crime for over
Two million years
Washed away by the
Salt of tears

Too late for sorry
Don’t cry me a river Murray

Hume and Hovell
Sturt and Cadel
Found the old man was
Doing well

Roll me a durry
Don’t cry me a river Murray

Lady Augusta
Sweet Mary Ann
How they raced for a
Dirty old man

Why need to hurry
Don’t cry me a river Murray

Irrigators and regulators
Punched him in the mouth
They wanted to steal from
Mississippi South

For the spoils they scurry
Don’t cry me a river Murray

They picked his pockets and
Stole his time
For their greed they
Committed this crime

Face down in slurry
Don’t cry me a river Murray

I watched with sadness
Couldn’t make them stop
They took everything to
Seed their crop

You got your quarry
Don’t cry me a river Murray

Throw me a lifeboat
Throw me a bone
Old Man Pondi is
Dead and gone

Too late to worry
Don’t cry me a river Murray

No last rites
No time to pray
Mr. Percival just
Flew away

Too late for sorry
I‘ve just cried me a river Murray

It’s too late for sorry,
I’ve just cried me a river Murray

Copyright © 2008 Jamie McPherson

Written by Jamie McPherson
Wednesday 27 August 2008

So, here is a rundown of some of the lyrical references for those that might not know-

“Salt of tears” is a reference to the salinity that is killing the Murray River.

Hume, Hovell, Sturt and Cadel were all pioneering explorers who travelled to and along the Murray and who were among the first Europeans to see a pristine and healthy river system.

“Durry” is slang for a cigarette.

Lady Augusta and Mary Ann were two paddle steamers that made an historic race down the Murray River and thus started the riverboat trading boom that supplied goods all through New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

The “irrigators” refer to the practice of irrigating unsuitable land for food production thus robbing the river and the “regulators” are our governmental bodies that make the decisions that helped destroy the Murray.

“Mississippi South” is taken from Mark Twain’s description of the Murray River when he travelled its length and referred to it as the “Mississippi of the South”.

“Old Man Pondi” is a reference to the Aboriginal Dreaming of the Lake Alexandrina people. The Murray River was created by the tracks of the Great Ancestor, Ngurunderi, as he pursued Pondi, the Murray Cod. I won’t go into the full story, but it is a great piece of Dreaming!

“Mr. Percival” is the Pelican from Colin Thiele’s book “Storm Boy” and the subsequent 1976 movie. The movie was made by The South Australian Film Corporation and was compulsive viewing for every child in the 70’s to the mid 80’s. It is beautifully shot at The Coorong and surrounds and is guaranteed to make you cry. If you want to experience the true magic of The Coorong and can not get there yourself, please, watch this movie. Or even better, watch it and then visit The Coorong! You will find true magic! And also you will see much of my ‘backyard’. As a side note, I have actually met Mr. Percival (from the movie) as a child. I never knew at the time how special that memory would become in later life!

And….. for those interested…. the recording process.

While writing the lyrics, the melody formed in my head. The next step was to sit down with the guitar and work out the chords. I wanted to keep it light despite the subject matter as I just wanted to say what I wanted to say and not try to manipulate the listener with a touching tune. I decided to write it in the key of A Major for a bit of variety and I originally wanted maybe a more of a country feel, but these things tend to have a life of their own and so the song developed its own unique feel.

After laying down the bass line, I decided a bit of piano to drive the chord sequence. Then some organ holding down the chords just to fill any blank spaces. A bit of banjo to add some dynamic and violin to keep it interesting.

I struggled a bit with the 12 string guitar trying to fit it in without it becoming too muddy and so eventually kept it extremely simple and low to add a bit of colour.

My original plan with the vocals was to sing it higher and then lay down some backing vocals, but on the day my voice decided it was more comfortable taking the lower part that is more natural to me.

Then came mixdown and mastering and finally the song as you know it…..’Don’t Cry Me A River Murray’. You will notice the song is considerably shorter than this blog. Such is life.

I hope you enjoy.

Jamie

Hi All,

Just letting you know that my song "Dail Chuinnidh (Meeting Place)" is now available for free download at JJJ Unearthed. Just click on one of the Unearthed banners on my profile page to take you straight there. And if you are an Unearthed member, you can rate the song or even write a review. Not an Unearthed member? That's no problem. Just sign up to unearth a wealth of undiscovered Australian music such as Adelaide bands The Pleasure of Books or Sleepless.

Happy downloading,

Jamie