Something's Wrong (lyrics)

Something's Wrong


Something's wrong
I can feel it in the air
I can hear it in the silence
I can see it in the troubled faces

Something's wrong
I can feel it in the wind
I can see it in the angry sky
I can hear it in the rolling thunder

Something's wrong
I can see it in the eyes
I can hear it in the voices
I can feel it in the heavy tension

And I can't make it right
No matter how I try
I can't make it right
No matter how I try

No I can't make it right
No matter how I try
I can't make it right
No matter how I try

Something's wrong
I can see it in the flame
I can hear it in the crashing waves
I can feel it in the ground below me

Something's wrong
I can feel it in my soul
I can see it with my mind's eye
I can hear it in the desperation

And I can't make it right
No matter how I try
I can't make it right
No matter how I try

No I can't make it right
No matter how I try
I can't make it right
No matter how I try


©2017 Ren D, Exit World Music, all rights reserved

Spring Update

So we're into the final third of April and I have not written any holiday or seasonal tunes! And to be honest, I don't really feel like it! I knew this would happen. I have not able to immerse myself into that genre of music as I had wanted to. But fear not--I have been working on other music. I have about four songs I am working on right now. One is lyrically complete and ready to start recording. The other three are more in the infant stages of writing. But I feel good that ideas are flowing. And at this time, I feel as though I'm going in the direction of shorter songs. The bulk of the music I love is pop & rock of the 1960's & early 1970's. If I had to sum it up into a range it would be 1964-1972. The majority of the hit songs of that era were all just about under three minutes long. So I'm probably going to keep them short and (hopefully) sweet. I'm also considering mixing all the songs in mono just to give the project that extra 60's sound. Some of my all-time favorite songs are in mono and only available in mono (as far as I know). Here are some of them:

Heart Full of Soul (The Yardbirds)

Gimme Some Lovin' (The Spencer Davis Group)

Can't Be Still (Booker T & The M.G.'s)

Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)

Take a Heart (The Sorrows)

Down Home Girl (The Stones)

You Need Lovin' (The Small Faces)

Baby Don't Go (Sonny & Cher)

Barefootin' (Robert Parker)

Good Time Charlie (Bobby Bland)

I realize some of those may fall outside the specified range, but it's not an exclusive range. Anyway I'm not a huge fan of mono but it does give a recorded song more of a vintage, lo-fi feel. Plus, when comparing mono mixes to stereo ones of the thousands of songs I have in my library, the mono mixes usually sound louder and more balanced. Of course, that could have to do with mastering techniques as well. In the 60's most singles on 45 were punchy mono mixes made specifically to sound loud over the radio and on your home turntables. The Beatles released all their albums in both mono and stereo up through 1968. They involved themselves in the mono mixes and left the stereo mixing up to the studio staff.

I'm going to do this. And it's cool because I will still have access to make stereo mixes whenever the mood strikes or if need be. That's the difference between my recordings and the ones listed above. Many of those were recorded on two or three-track tape with the masters no longer available. Thus they are preserved for posterity in mono and nothing else. But it is fun to think about how they would have been mixed in stereo. I got used to a lot of The Beatles' earlier stereo output where most instruments would be panned to one side and the vocals on the other, with nothing much in the center. Those stereo recordings helped me better hear and figure out the different instrument parts so I could learn to play them. That's one of the reasons I prefer stereo overall--there is a lot more to be heard that mono mixes do not permit.

I think the four songs I'm working on will be interesting. If I can get really serious about finishing them up and doing a few more things I may actually have something to release this year.

Submit 'Milestone' For Review?

I really want to get working on my next album. And I would really like to have it done this year. At the rate I've been going the last decade or so I would think that is impossible. But a 'new' band I just discovered said they recorded their latest great record in 3 days. Of course they are a 4 piece band which makes things easier. And their album is over 60 minutes long. I know I can do it but it will require extreme dedication.

I want my next album to be great in every aspect that matters to me. What that means is that I want solid musicianship, really good vocals, lyrics that are at least somewhat meaningful, relatively simple productions and great mixing. While I do feel accomplished at having released "Milestone," the songs on there were recorded over a period of 12 years. I grew and learned a lot during that time. Some of the songs on there will always be personal favorites of mine. But others were lacking in some way or another. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to my music but I am limited by certain things.

I have considered several times sending in "Milestone" for review on websites that accept artist submissions. But I almost know what they will say. The musicianship is solid in my opinion. Some of the older songs had some recording issues which I could not fix without re-recording. However my biggest concern is the vocals. I'm not a good singer and some of the songs have flat vocals in spots. Perhaps to the average ear they may go unnoticed. But I'm confident that reviewers will not miss that. Thus while I'm curious to read some reviews of the album I also want to spare myself the outside criticism of what I am already highly critical of myself. It's not that I cannot handle it. It's more of a matter where they may decide to focus so much attention to that issue that the rest of the product will go largely unnoticed. Of course, they may dislike the music as well. They may conclude that the album does not flow well and that there are too many styles on it. They may deem it uninteresting. If they're going to say that the songs are badly produced and poorly vocalized, I will not completely disagree. I already have my reservations about those things so I do not need to hear that. The next project will be improved in those areas. Hopefully they will realize this was not created in a state of the art studio. But I would like more focus to be directed towards the musicianship, the arrangements, the lyrics. I want to hear who they think the music reminds them of. I guess I'm seeking more of a focus on the creativity versus the technical aspects.

So I don't know. I'm already overly critical of my material. I don't need to hear more criticism. I'd like to focus on the positives. Again, I'm not afraid of criticism. I'd rather not read anything that may discourage me. There's plenty of that going 'round already. Of course, there's no guarantee anyone would ever get to doing a review of my album anyway. Just something to think about.

All I Ever Want

If you cannot wait for tomorrow
You will never be satisfied
It never comes
If you know how to live in the moment
You will never know wasted time
And know regrets
But knowing what you want you're halfway there

All I ever want
I found in you
All I ever thought
Could never be so true
Is here before my eyes
Beyond the greatest prize
I want you

Always looking for a reason
Searching high above beyond the stars
And never find
Diving into many waters
Spreading so thin you can't recognize
Just who you are
But when you find your treasure hold on tight

All I ever want
I found in you
All I ever thought
Could never be so true
Is here before my eyes
Beyond the greatest prize
I want you

© Ren D Music

New Lyrics for Older Songs

Believe it or not but when I first became really serious about being a professional musician, I was looking to enter the Christian music market. Most of my first songs and recordings were actually Gospel-themed (as I have shared previously) and I was hoping to create music that would be used in churches and worship settings. I was really influenced by the music of Hillsong church and of the various Vineyard churches being made around the world. There are some truly amazing recordings that have come out of both Hillsong and Vineyard, and even the non-religious would be hard-pressed not to like some of them.

I didn't limit myself to just 'church-type' music but I also tried making songs under the genre of CCM which is Contemporary Christian Music. This genre differs from 'worship' or church music in that it would not normally be used in church services. Rather it would be radio-type music with overtly Christian themes.

However, my own recordings and songs did not really go anywhere other than a few Billboard Contest Top 500 or Top 1500 awards. The last recording I made of any Christian-themed music came about in 2009. Since that time, I have decided that I could do a lot more through my passion for music and my abilities by creating non-Christian music. Some of my songs may still have Biblical themes but nothing overt and most likely with ambiguous lyrical meanings as some already do.

CCM has a very modern sound to it. And some of it is really good as I mentioned before. But as I draw the greater majority of my influences from 60's and 70's pop/rock music, the CCM-type songs I made were definitely out of place with what the big-name artists put out there. I don't think there is a market for 60s/70s sounding Christian music. There are just some things they're not open to. And the Christian music business is really no different than the non-Christian music business. They are both businesses with goals of making profits. That being said, my best chance lies with secular music, non-Christian music, regular music--whatever you want to call it. There is a lot more room for creativity in this area as my personal tastes encompass a wide variety of colors on the music spectrum.

The trouble is that I have several really good recordings that come with Christian-themed lyrics. What to do with them, as really they aren't going anywhere. What I have decided to do is to write new lyrics for them. In my opinion the songs are just too good to leave them lying around. And that's what I've started to do. A couple posts back I wrote about a song that I was editing down from 5 minutes to 3 minutes. That's one of those that I had originally written Christian lyrics for. In fact it was titled "All For You." I've scrapped those lyrics and even changed the melody completely. As I stated in that blog entry, I never released the song with vocals before. So when I do finish up this one it will actually be a fresh, new song. On the other hand, a song I have already released 2 years ago on my EP may need a re-working of lyrics.

Don't get me wrong. It's not like I have a slew of songs that I will now write new lyrics to. There are just 3, 4 tops. Some of the other ones I'm not even going to touch. They will remain in the dark recesses of oblivion. But only the ones that have solid instrumental backings or a cool riff that needs to be transported to a new song will see new light and life.

Re-working An Old Song

I have a really old song--I'm talking 2006 old--that I never satisfyingly recorded the final vocals for. I had complete lyrics for the song and recorded a few demo vocals. The vocals didn't come out well and I never went back to redo them. Subsequently, I never released the song, originally titled "All For You," and it has just been sitting there. Here is a clip of the song--specifically the bridge--that I put up on YouTube:




The complete song is actually about 5:20 long. I have been exploring some new possibilities with this track and I'm going to write some new lyrics for it. Additionally, I'm going to trim the song down about 2 minutes which means eliminating an extended chorus section, a guitar solo and the above bridge. I already came up with a few new lyrics and melody lines. When it's completed, I think this will end up being the 10th track for the album.

I had thought about including the Christmas song I made last month on the album, in the vein of The Band having their only Christmas song on the final album they put out with the original 5 members. I'm not sure though. I'd rather keep it separate. If this old song I'm reworking goes well I'll have a solid 10 songs with a total run time of over 40 minutes. Won't need anything else but I still may throw in the Christmas tune as a bonus track.