Counting Sheep
Your favorite (ahem, only) Preachy Variety Act is back with an offering that is (totally not) ready to go live!
It’s a brand new song I’ve been working on yesterday and today. Pretty much all my daily allotment of creative energy has been invested into it, and I have some chores to do, as well as spending time with my parents (Ironhorse is recuperating from hip replacement surgery – he’s fine, that old man heals just a little slower than Wolverine…).
I could phone in a post, or I could provide you with the product of hours and hours deeply wholehearted creative effort + time spent trying to memorize a complex tune. (And not counting the ages spent writing this creation’s predecessors, without which it could not exist).
Recorded on my phone (I left my headphone cable in Mate’s suitcase and it’s taking an unscheduled European. So all the rest of my fancy-ish gear is useless 😆).
I would describe the song as “Dark, but Encouraging from an Alternative Perspective.” (I haven’t written a five-minute song in a LOOOOOONG time…)
Without further ado – Counting Sheep (please forgive blatantly obvious defects). (And a more polished and uplifting song can be found here should you feel the need for a palate cleansing afterwards).
Counting Sheep
Open up your eyes and tell me
Where you think you are
Are the lullabies they’re singing
Enough to fill your ears with ringing
So you can’t tell they’ve got you swinging
From the wrecking bar?
[CHORUS]
If shadow should fall over the land
Do you know where you’d stand?
Should darkness envelope us all
Is there somewhere you’d crawl?
Open up the mind that dares
To contemplate the flame
Before it burns us down to embers
And there’s no one who remembers
The way we squandered our last September
Casting blame
(CHORUS)
Those who awaken to behold the fire
Can still partake in our kind’s
Most innocent minds’
Eternal and pure desire
(CHORUS)
How were we lulled into sleep?!
Oh my god I swear I hear someone
Counting Sheep!
At the edge of the day
Where the lighthouse once lay
In the darkness
A crumbling heap
The Daily Stone
Thank you so much for sharing your song!
I can feel indeed how much effort was put into it.
I wish I could play a guitar and sing, incredible!
You are so creative and talented!
☺️ I am so glad you can appreciate it 🙂 Writing songs (and playing them for people who can appreciate them) is incredibly fulfilling for me.
I think the hardest part of learning guitar is the process of developing callouses on the fingerprints. I started on a 3/4-sized nylon string acoustic. As a guitar it was almost a piece of trash! 😆 BUT – nylon strings are easier on the fingers, and the smaller size made it very portable and easier to practice the fingering. I think the key is to practice a little EVERYDAY, and NOT push it too hard at the beginning when the callouses are just developing. Like 5 minutes is probably enough if you are doing it every day. (I was in a hurry when I started though so I just suffered through it! 😆)
As for singing, I think almost anyone can develop that ability (although tone deafness would present difficulties). For me it grew out of my guitar playing and especially songwriting.
The trouble with being a Songwriter / Guitarist (performing musician) / Singer is that it’s especially difficult to appeal to a consumer audience in that format. For that, one should be a Singer / Performing Musician / Songwriter.
But that reflects an entirely different order of priorities.
I can only think of a few Songwriter / Guitarist / Singers who achieved mainstream success – Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen come to mind. But they are maybe the greatest lyricists ever. As well as role models and inspirations! But very tough shoes to fill!
The rawness of this track is absolutely beautiful, Dirtsmith, and your choice of harmonies accentuate the lyrics to perfection. This was a really, really cool track and also a damn good recording for it being just done on a phone, too! (I have so-called “high-end” cables to my soundcard that end up making so much audio data sound really crackly!)
Thanks Wilf! I’m so glad you could appreciate it! ☺️
I like this one enough that I will probably record a full demo with instruments when I have a chance ☺️
Definitely record a full demo of this one Dirtsmith! It’s a “go-er” as we’d say over here! Your chorus harmonies are perfect!
Thanks Wilf!
One thing I am NOT good at is memorizing my own songs! I’dike to debut the song tomorrow night at the local Open Mic. Vestigial sensibilities regarding public musicianship discourage me from reading lyrics or chords during a performance. This song is more complicated than some others, so I am having to rehearse it frequently and often.
That said I recorded another draft today and swapped out the old one. The new one is tighter musically and vocally, with the arrangements pretty much finalized. But not quite as energetics, unpolished, raw. You might not like this draft as much, but if you go to the SoundCloud page it pulls from you can still find the old version.
🙂