"Spread Your Wings & Fly" SOUNDCLOUD

Spread Your Wings & Fly
(c)2010 Steve Altonian

Mama’ pulls a letter from a locket box, yellow, faded, & worn
Slips it to Tessie suitcase by the door
Grandma’ gave this to me long ago when I was ‘bout your age
Words of love & wisdom I saved just for today

Spread your wings & fly
Now’s your time to shine
Precious doves don’t belong on the ground
Don’t be afraid of heights
Spread your wings & fly

Choose a man who will treat you right find you one who will wait
Remember what the Bible says & don’t ever lose your faith
When you raise up a family teach your children what’s right
The greatest gift you can give them is giving of your time

Spread your wings & fly
Now’s your time to shine
Precious doves don’t belong on the ground
Don’t be afraid of heights
Spread your wings & fly

A little girl & her Mama’ laughing in the rain
Tessie guards an heirloom she’ll share with her one day

Spread your wings & fly
Now’s your time to shine
Precious doves don’t belong on the ground
Don’t be afraid of heights

Spread your wings & fly
Soar where eagles cry
Keep dreams & a song in your heart
Let them be your guide
Don’t be afraid of heights
Now’s your time to shine
Spread your wings & fly
Spread your wings & fly
Spread your wings & fly

Hi Steve:

A really nice write about an age-old event most mothers and daughters will share... when the time is right. Your vocal and the backing were "spot-on" to my ears. Well done. Send more soon... and best of luck with "Spread Your Wings and Fly!"

----Dave

Nice country song, good lyrics and hook. A little sentimental but that's ok!

Steve,

Very pro. Radio ready and radio friendly. This is not my kind of tune, but I see and respect the talent. My tastes have never been the masses test. This has huge appeal in a very large market. It is ready, as is, imo. Very good write and recording. Bravo!

A good old country song with a message.
The only thing that had me wondering was "Slips it to Tessie suitcase by the door".

Nice one.

Vic

Steve,

A nice, radio-friendly country song. Really sweet vocal, nice build into that chorus musically, and pretty harmonies. One question on the production: In the first chorus, is that an electric guitar solo playing? I ask because when you get into the second chorus, it sounds like the fiddle, which is a nice addition in that second verse. Anyway, it struck me as different and I’m not sure it’s my ears or something else (most likely me). But I like the solo backing in the second verse a tad more. Really nit thing, though, most likely of no consequence.

Really impressive outing here, Steve. Good luck with it!

All my best,

Deej

Thanks...Figuring our the best way to tell this story was the initial challenge. At first it was Father to daughter and then somewhere the idea came in to use 4 generations of ladies.




Yes, It is a song that is sentimental and idealistic. I think I can get away with it a little more than normal because of the of the topic. Anytime your children venture out on their own there are gonna be emotions and sentiment involved for all...

Thanks for commenting.

Hey Vic,

Thanks for the listen & the good comments.

"Slips" definition #2 in the Dictionary: "go or move quietly or quickly, without attracting notice"...

Mama' passes the letter quickly & quietly to Tessie, "slipping" the letter into her hand, without fanfare...

Instinctively I guess I wanted a more descriptive word than simply "gives", or "hands", or "passes" it to Tessie...

Hi Steve.
I understand "slips it to Tessie".
It was the "suitcase by the door" coming straight after that.
I thought there may have been a connecting word missing like "slips it to tessie with her suitcase by the door" but then it could have been an American phrase i hadn't come across before. I get it now though, thanks.

Vic

Hi Vic,

TAMPA STAN had EVERYTHING to do with those lines. He critiqued a tune of mine years ago, & it was a spot on crit...What happened is I remembered what TAMPA STAN had told me about trimming the fat at beginnings of a line. Most of the times those words like "With, "the", but" will not be clearly heard anyway by the listener. TAMPA STAN was right, trim the fat when you can. I wrote EXACTLY as you said, but TAMPA STANS words kept reverberating in my head...Trim the unnecessary fat at the beginning of lines. As long as the meaning is there, don't get tongue tied, & be ergonomic with your words when you can. Even if I said Her suitcase by the door, that line may get "eaten" when I sang it..One of the best tips I ever received from anyone on any FORUM was that critique..

BTW Vic, this may explain a little to you "why" I keyed on one word on your song...I wrote this song for my daughters when I was away because of a "previous". They found the original handwritten LYRIC yesterday sent to them from prison, & the lines originally read:

The original LYRIC:

She hands the note to AMY
With a suitcase by the door

The final LYRIC

Slips it to TESSIE
Suitcase by the door

Thanks TAMPA STAN...

Ahaa!
Stan was a character. Just before he passed he asked if I could put a lyric to music about his dad.
I was a little worried as it was so personal but I managed to finish a draft and sent it to him. Never heard a thing from him and very soon after I heard he'd gone.
Never found out what he thought about it.

Vic

Thanks GOCARTMOZ... I wrote this in 2010...This song was NEVER intended for the masses. It was written for my daughters. I guess as I was writing it I did have an eye on writing to the HOOK & giving clarity to the song for the listener to follow...I was locked up in prison & away for quite some time from my daughters because of poor choices. I missed their graduations, birthday parties, first boyfriends., etc And somehow I wanted to give them advice on how to go into the world, even though I wasn't there physically

My daughters found the original LYRIC & sent it to me a few days ago. I remembered TAMPA STANS words behind the prison walls as I was writing it, when I had no access to INTERNET. So as I wrote it, I did try to follow good writing principles instinctively, looking back.

But....This song was never intended for the masses, It was written for my daughters...

Always good Steve. Knew it would be.

Martin

Hey Deej

It's the electric all the way. The fiddle comes in & out, but more prominent in the BRIDGE & to the end of the tune. There is so much going on there for sure. We have the guys & gals overplay their parts when recording & then we will pick & choose what goes where. And then we gotta fit the pedal steel in there too. I almost ALWAYS want fiddle on my tunes, so it pushes some of the guitar & pedal steel parts out sometimes. Finding room for everything in it's sonic space is an interesting dynamic to be sure...

Thanks for the good words DeeJ

Hi Steve,
Yes, all very well done, and very country. It does what good country is supposed to do, it tells the story. Good luck with it.

A great contemporary country song Steve.
The synopsis, although not exactly a new idea, is given a shot in the arm by some really good lines.
The vocal is excellent, production too.
Good luck with it, it deserves to be heard
John

Marty,

You are a true wordsmith...

Wow Steve you are so good you make it sound effortless.
This is so heartwarming. Great arc to the story.
Production and musicianship are stunning.
Tom

Thanks John...It's good to have Country Music as an outlet for songs that have meaning...

I'm writing a Pop tune now & I am probably overthinking the lines because I'm so used to every word having to have meaning & propel the story forward...