capmaster Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Weird coincidences... The day before yesterday my goduncle passed away, and yesterday the last battle of my divorcement took place. The second song for my ex-wife I wrote in June 1986. I recorded bass guitar, two guitars and vocals of this song on 19 December 1987 while I was alone at home. All my family had went to the 20th birthday celebration of a lady cousin of mine who died of cancer in 2011, daughter of my goduncle. So I remembered the song I mentioned, full of heartache. Its title is "Was für ein harter Bursche ich bin" meaning "What a Tough Guy I am". Perhaps it would have been better I had been a tough guy indeed and had not married my ex-wife twelve years later... I would say it's a hard blues rock song, recorded using a small Fostex X-15 4-track cassette recorder. The drums were played by the drummer of a former band of mine in June, 1987, only a few weeks before split up. On 19 December 1987 I added the bass track, played on an Ibanez BL 700 NT Blazer Bass and fed to the recorder through a Boss Rocker Volume PV-1, then bounced drums and bass together. Subsequently I played the guitar on the right, my Gibson S-G Standard, and the guitar on the left, my Ibanez RG 430 RR Roadstar II. Both guitars were fed through the Boss PV-1, too, also blowing up the Ibanez several dB, bi-amped through a Marshall 4210 1x12" combo and an Acoustic G60T 1x12" combo. They were angled 90° to each other and recorded with a condenser mic in the focal point of the speaker axes, thus at a 45° angle to each speaker. Finally I added my vocals. In 2006 I transferred the tracks to my Korg D32XD for denoising and mixdown. The only digital track edits I did were time corrections of the last chord of both the guitars. Below I added a translation of the lyrics, no rhymes, but I think I caught the meaning very close. Here it is - I hope you have some listening fun: Was für ein harter Bursche ich bin Lyrics translation: What a Tough Guy I am Part 1 on 05 June 1986 Huhuh - ououou – I was entering the pub soaked with rain You don't look at me, I feel offended When I try to talk to you, you turn away You make me feel like the scum of the earth Your lady cousin mumbles something like you had to go back home I also don't stay anymore, something like this doesn't work for me I spur my car until the last tilt lever is banging And the engine speed limiter puts paid to my game Two hundred meters further I'm driving decently In the fourth gear and at moderate speed Only lots of wet road in front of me I engage the car heater, I feel dreadfully cold Hoohoaha – they for sure look after me and think I'm nuts And now they all know What a tough guy I am Uhuh – yeah, what a tough guy I am Uhuohaah - oooh (guitar solo) Every time I say to myself: I couldn't care less, you will never puzzle me again But the longer I'm pondering, the more madness is catching my brain I talk myself into believing: That won't knock you down But soon I will break down again, I'd like to know why Then I must drive around miles and miles by car If there were no women, I would save lots of fuel Somewhere a traffic sign saying (untranslatable malapropism as a word game, meaning) "never intercourse" I think to myself: Same here, I'm not bothered anymore Now I don't care if you all think that I'm nuts Just have to say you have no clue What a tough guy I am Hohöäh – oooh, what a tough guy I am Hrrr... Part 2 on 12 June 1986 Oh, next time before I go out I thoroughly refresh myself I'm clean shaved, perfumed, coiffured, assuming full risk But then I see there's another guy sitting beside you Why did I ever have a try with you I had been in a good mood, now my stomach's turning over, ööääh You have nothing to tell me, you just say - don't take it the wrong way, I reply Perhaps you don't realize how deeply hurt I am For sure I take a lot, but now I'm done Please don't blame me now for being nuts For now you know exaaa... (guitar solo) Please don't blame me now for being nuts For now you know exactly What a tough guy I am Ohoh, what a tough guy I am What a tough – what a tough guy I am Hohoho, hoohoohoo, yeah yeah, what a tough guy I am Oho - uaaa-ouhh! Written 5 & 12 June 1986 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Cap, vocals/language aside, that was very reminiscent of the Aussie pub rock I was sneaking in to hear back then, so let me say to you a hearty "Good on ya mate" in that spirit. Good rockin' stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvercrow Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Hi Cap! One of the things I like best about music is the lyrics- how they and the instruments blend to evoke a feeling and transmit a message. I spent two years in Germany from 1978-79 and I ashamed to say I don't know the language better than I do. But language aside- I love the song. Having gone through a bitter divorce and recalling all the roller-coaster emotions, second guessing and yes, posturing, I can relate. Another lyrical nuance I always love is the interplay of words. A few of your lines stand out to me, this one best; I'm clean shaved, perfumed, coiffured, assuming full risk Speaks volumes, to me. Thanks for sharing! Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 ... Another lyrical nuance I always love is the interplay of words. ... Brian One of my attitudes is underlining lyrics with vocal melodies and an appropriate instrumental accompaniment. I always "heard" the lead vocals in my head when playing guitar and bass and tried to support them in particular with the guitar on the left side. Clearly it translates best when understanding the original lyrics. However, following the lines in English may give a clue what it's about. Hoping so I added them although working on them was not that easy, from both lingual and personal point of view. I'm relieved that the divorcement war is over, and I always loved the song. Strange perhaps, but I always loved all of my songs. I feel there's nothing to deny, nothing to feel ashamed of. They are parts of my life... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sellen Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Superb man,uber cool Don't remember the song, but i'm getting a bit from the album Flick of the switch feelings here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 I can't play it. "Track cannot be streamed". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 I can't play it. "Track cannot be streamed". Sorry for that. I just tried twice before linking to the e-mail to a friend, and it worked. I hope it will work later for you, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 Superb man,uber cool Don't remember the song, but i'm getting a bit from the album Flick of the switch feelings here Me thinks it's about the track "Badlands". Although no plagiarism, I considered transposing to colourize my song more different after I found out that they have three chord voicings in common. I left the song as it was though - it seemed to work best and allowed for using certain harmonics with standard tuning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sellen Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Me thinks it's about the track "Badlands". Although no plagiarism, I considered transposing to colourize my song more different after I found out that they have three chord voicings in common. I left the song as it was though - it seemed to work best and allowed for using certain harmonics with standard tuning. yea that's the song. well they don't own the chords, do they Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 My computer has a tendancy to crash playing audio or video, so when I feel like taking a risk, I will listen. But for now, having read the lyrics, they really convey the feeling, more so than trying to explain. Well done, my friend. Makes me request the Marriage song, and the divorce song. You are in a place for some of that, so get to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skilsaw Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Divorcement! Now there's a good word. My divorcement was in 2000. It still pisses me off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. C.O. Jones Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Einfach spitze! Very nice Cap. I really dig it, and it is nice to hear some good ol Deutschrock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Das ist ausgezeichnet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Well Cap I have to say you have kept that pretty good quality for a Fostex 4-track (or anything from that era)....much better than my recordings of that period. You say a lot...I like the vocal asides... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 Thank you all very, very much. Vielen herzlichen Dank an Euch alle. When about quality, guitars and vocals took only one tape generation and are preserved reasonably. Drums and bass had two tape runs due to bouncing. In particular the cymbals reveal that - their hiss has some "plastic" sound to it, and even a fully parametric eight-band EQ was of no help while remixing in 2006. I think the very problem is phase shift since the X-15's recording equalizers used "real" coils, very uncommon in transistorized analog tape recorders. They typically operated capacitors in the negative feedback path of the recording amplifiers. Furthermore, for Europe Fostex built the X-15 adjusted to IEC II type use, other than for other markets. Perhaps the basic design suited IEC I cassettes better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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