JPF Home Page Forums Lyric and MP3 Feedback MP3 Feedback Forum Hey Yea

This is the first song I did at my open mic career that I started this past July. I call it my "Crazy Heart" type tune. OK, that guy was from the southwest desert, this guy's from the mountain. My guy drinks scotch -- he drank McClure's' whiskey -- other than that -- the same!

I really like it, but it is tough for slower songs to go over well live unless you sing really, really well. This one is at 80bpm and I was thinking of re-doing it at 75bpm to allow better phrasing -- but I left it at is. When I do it with the just the guitar/vocal, I think I add extra beats here in there to make it smoother. That BIAB drummer insist on keeping that 4/4 thing going!

Kevin
********************************************

Hey Yea
(c) Emmrich 2010

(verse)
Black clouds rumbling over the
mountains from the west
cold stinging rain hounds me
like an unwelcome guest

(verse)
drive in for scotch, park
wishing I could see your face
the smells of spilt beer and popcorn
gonna have to take your place

(chorus) (I said ...)
hey, yea, why didn't you hold me 'til the end
Now I need the touch of my one true friend
It once was easy to please me
or soothe me with booze
now I'm trying to stall this here life's free-fall

(verse)
saw dust, dance floor, yellow dress
laughing 'till dawn
breakfast frying, cat crying
we loved 'till we couldn't love no more

(verse)
Long distance, you in my mind
thunder, then lights go on and off
I guess I'm just a poster boy
for the lost cause of love

(chorus again)

(bridge)
Soon the storm rumbled by
Life’s a jumble of messed up tries
but somewhere out there
brokenness can still be repaired

(chorus again)

(Tag)
Ya know, your number's still on my wall
I think I'll give you a call.

Kevin: Vocal, acoustic guitar
BIAB: drums, acoustic bass, piano, acoustic guitar, fiddle, harmonica

Very nice, love the lrics, vocals and music..now this is my type of song.....listening again....

now that means something when I listen more than once...great Kevin....man, love this music....

glyn

No need to adjust the speed...this one is perfect! And a great tune Kevin. I am pretty sure you'll get lots of support and applause for this piece!

Hope you suceed in your open mic quest...I've never done it!

Stan

Came back for another listen, I really like this one alot

glyn

Well Kev, what's NOT to love about this! I don't know what I love the most...your stellar voice, the musication, or the outstanding lyric! I absolutely adore your music...please let's do a duet!

Kevin, The sad, regretful lyrics and the music does have that "Crazy Heart" feel to it. You're right in that story's groove. Probably could have worked in the movie if you'd had a connection to Jeff Bridges.

My only suggestion is to change the title. I hate "Hey, yeah."

You could easily use a two-syllable woman's name as the hook to begin the chorus instead of "Hey, yeah." Like "Maureen" or "Sandy" or "Polly" (just kidding Polly). There's hundreds of 'em. Pick one. Make it the title and the hook.

I'll come back for everyone else -- but I just had to say that I thought Dan's idea was a pretty dang good one. Maybe,

Carolyn-Anne, why didn't you hold me 'till the end.
(is there some internal off-rhyming going on with Carolyn-hold and Anne-end).

We will see how it works out.

Kevin

Kevin, very nice - this has a great feel to it.

Bob

Kevin, I'd try it with just Carolyn and see how it sounds.

Enjoyed the song kevin

glynda: Thanks so much the listen and the kind words -- it is super appreciated.

Stan: It could be a little slower, but it's OK. I can't believe you have never done an open mic -- you'd be a natural for it.

glynda II: Hey, a 2nd visit -- thanks. I said a little prayer for you today!

polly: I really do see a duet or a co-write (or both) in the future. Thanks for stopping by and giving it a spin.

dan: I really like that good idea, I will see how it works out.

robert: Thanks for the visit and listen, it is appreciated.

dan II: I actually have four syllables (I said, Hey Yea) to replace so I might need more than "Carolyn" to do it

scott: Thanks a lot Scott -- I see you have 400+ posts, but I guess I missed most of them. Thanks for giving it a listen.

Kevin

Very good story and hook IMO.

The production is solid enough and everything fits together nicely.

Good Job Kevin.

Douglas

Hi Kevin,

Hey Yeah! Good one. I don't mind the hey yea but I'd change the title to Free Fall or Life's Free Fall just because the other is sort of generic. Just a couple things I noticed:

"drive in for scotch, park"

I think you could drop the park without losing anything and it's confusing.

"brokenness can still be repaired"

Maybe it's your phrasing/timing but this line sounded awkward. You could drop the "still" if you needed fewer syllables.

Overall, this is a keeper. Tempo is good and the music was really well done and suited the lyrics. It shows a ray of hope as well, which everyone loves.

Ricki

Great one Kevin. I love the chorus, it starts out catchy. How did people respond to this one at open mic night? I like it a lot.

Tracy

Hi Kevin,
I enjoyed the heartfelt vox and feel. Nice use of imagery. I think Ricki made some good points that could make it even better.

Josie

Yeah, Kev, I think you should name it after MEEEEE...."Polly Ann" hahahahaha! No, seriously, I like "Hey Yea"

Hi Kevin

This is Real Nice --- I don't know why you think that you don't have a good singing voice -- I think that you are Just Plain Wrong about that -- keep going to open mic -- you see. ; ) jm

Hey Kevin,

This one sounds really nice. Cool melody and chord pattern and the fiddle gives it an Americana flavor. A memorable chorus melody that people could be singing along with.

The tempo is just right IMHO. Better too fast than too slow and dragging.

I agree with Ricki that the lyrics would be enhanced by a bit of editing. Carve out a few unneeded words and the singing will be easier and smoother.

Good one!

Just amazing Kevin
A great write and Outstanding vocals.

It's just wonderful to hear how well you play, so many instruments.
Just unbelievable work, my friend.

I just love it. Cool outro...

Douglas: Thanks for stopping by and giving it a listen

Ricki: I posted this over in the lyric board awhile ago and I had too many syllables then, I cut some -- but I'll cut some more. Maybe that "park" can go. On "brokeness", I had a version where that sounded fine, but I messed up the first part of the line, so I re-sang it -- now the 2nd part doesn't sound right to me either. I'll redo that.

Tracy: I only played it two or three times -- and I was just starting out, so I wasn't paying attention to the audience yet (ha, ha). I think it is OK, but slow tunes are tough!

JosieB: welcome to the JPF and thanks so much for giving it a listen.

Polly II: I could always try Polly Ann -- I don't know what I am going to do yet.

Joice: Guess what -- my singing has improved since I started committing the songs to memory and practicing them (imagine that!). Most of the time, I write and used the lyric sheet to sing them and I never really worked out how it is supposed to go. I think my rule will be to record songs only after I have them memorized in a guitar/vocal format.

Colin: Thanks for the comments and the kind remarks. That is one of the advantages of "Hey, Yea" it is immensely easy to sing!

Nelson: Ha, ha -- I wish that was all me. All of the backing instruments, except for me on guitar, are band-in-a-box. Those guys are always good and they don't drink my beer! Thanks for stopping by and giving it a spin.

Kevin

Kevin,
Nice job on this one! Recording sounds pretty good to me. Like the tempo just fine and great job on the vocals!
Ricky

I am in knoxville tennessee right now -- so close to Nashville, but yet so far!

Ricky: Thanks for the visit and the comments!

Kevin

I really like this, Kevin - the chorus in particular sticks with me - which I reckon is the thing you want to stick.

I dig the imagery in the verses. However, I think this might be a case of being able to catch them because they were written down in front of me. So I agree with Ricki and Colin - maybe rephrase some of the lines or drop some words so that the listener can keep up.

Is a keeper though

Scott

Oooohhh!!!

I hope the box came with wholes in it so they can breathe when you're not jamming, with them.

This is going to sound disrespectful, but either you got a vocal chord transplant, or you got closer to the mike. Nice lyrics, as well, enjoyed this.
Ott

Scott: I am going back into the recording studio (ha, ha) to fix these up right after tax day, so I will cut a few words here and there to make it flow better. I think ", park" can go.

Nelson: I think they are union, so some holes are required.

Ott: Doesn't sound disrespectful to me. I am learning to sing these songs better, because I am practicing them. I think I am actually learning as I get older.

Kevin

Kevin,

I really love the melody on this and the sing, what a great job you did, but the phrasing can be better (not to beat a dead horse...not to mean you...LOL!!!)) but if you can correct the phrasing, it won't distract from your wonderful vocal.

Tammy

Tammy: That horse is never gonna get up again! Thanks for stopping by and giving it a spin. This phrasing stuff is hard.

I thought long and hard about

"drive in for scotch, park , wishing I could see your face"

The "park" is needed for visualization (to me). I just need to sing it better.

Kevin