Rolling Down 20 - New Original Song (using my Dove )

[BoSoxBiker]

Just me and my Dove for this one. I did an aggressive tracking job so as to feature the Dove more prominently that I might normally would. That, and I'm trying to hide. That said, All Apologies for awful vocals.

So, we've chatted about meaningful lyrics and writing from the heart quite a few times this past year. Well, this is it. There's a lot going on, and it's not the Bridge section (which is pretty much face-value). The song, on the surface, is about my 4-1/2 years in an Upstate NY town and some friends that, together, helped me in more ways than can be counted.

Caution on verse #3 for there is an f-bomb. All apologies. That verse is the one reveal I offer up front is that this was the night I met a very important family in my life and partially repeats the story told of the night.

Lyrics Posted Below:

[INTRO]
[G][C]
    [Am]
    [C] [D]
[D]

[VERSE 1]
[G]Rolling down 20, I found a town my [C]old one,_ should have been.
    [Am]Clear blue skies and happy eyes
    [C]Bright-white snow, ___ on the fro-[D]en ground

[VERSE 2]
[G]Rolling down 20, I met a best-friend I [C]know I shoulda been.
    [Am]We run them roads together,
    never [C]hurtin', ___ never botherin' [D]anyone

[VERSE 3]
[G]Rolling down 20, I met a man my [C]Father should've been.
    Had a [Am]sack of Whopper Juniors,
    and a[C]shut the (gosh) up, for the [D]youngest one.

[VERSE 4]
[G]Rolling down 20, I seen what the [C]whole world should've been
    [Am]folks happy  together
    [C]Only time we'd fight was [D]just for fun.
[D]Used to be so

[BRIDGE]
Un-[Am]cool_____, hate cuz he don't [D]talk like you.
Un-[Am]cool_____, hate cuz he don't [D]rock like you.
Un-[Am]cool_____, hate cuz he don't [D]vote like you.
Un-[Am]cool_____, just cuz he don't [D]kneel like you.
Un-[Am]cool_____, [C]___ to be this rude to [D]anyone!
***maybe - Un-[Am]cool_____, [C]___ what this would should have [D]never been!

[INSTRUMENTAL]
[G][C]
    [Am]
    [C] [D]
[D]

[VERSE 5]
[G]Rolling down 20, There's a farm a [C]heaven it should've been.
    [Am]It seemed like it's been forever, looking
    down[C]I thought that Silo warnt [D]high e'nuff.

[VERSE 6]
[G]Rolling down 20, ain't sure that I'll [C]ever see the town again
    [Am]Brian's gone and Bob's passed on,
    [C]and I'm miss my friends [D]again.

 

 

Edited June 1, 2021 by BoSoxBiker
Adding vocals warning

[duluthdan]

Some inner John Prine in this one.  Keep writin’. 

[Lars68]

Hey, I like this kind of songwriting a lot. Very personal and emotional, which I like. The melody and the lyrics are super together. The guitar sounds very nice too, but perhaps a little too loud in comparison to your voice. You said that was on purpose to let you hide behind. No need, as far as I can hear.

Lars

 

[Jinder]

Very much enjoyed this, thanks BSB!

[ratherbwalkn]

Thanks!

 

[DanvillRob]

22 hours ago, BoSoxBiker said:

Just me and my Dove for this one. I did an aggressive tracking job so as to feature the Dove more prominently that I might normally would. That, and I'm trying to hide. That said, All Apologies for awful vocals.

So, we've chatted about meaningful lyrics and writing from the heart quite a few times this past year. Well, this is it. There's a lot going on, and it's not the Bridge section (which is pretty much face-value). The song, on the surface, is about my 4-1/2 years in an Upstate NY town and some friends that, together, helped me in more ways than can be counted.

Caution on verse #3 for there is an f-bomb. All apologies. That verse is the one reveal I offer up front is that this was the night I met a very important family in my life and partially repeats the story told of the night.

Lyrics Posted Below:

[INTRO]
[G][C]
    [Am]
    [C] [D]
[D]

[VERSE 1]
[G]Rolling down 20, I found a town my [C]old one,_ should have been.
    [Am]Clear blue skies and happy eyes
    [C]Bright-white snow, ___ on the fro-[D]en ground

[VERSE 2]
[G]Rolling down 20, I met a best-friend I [C]know I shoulda been.
    [Am]We run them roads together,
    never [C]hurtin', ___ never botherin' [D]anyone

[VERSE 3]
[G]Rolling down 20, I met a man my [C]Father should've been.
    Had a [Am]sack of Whopper Juniors,
    and a[C]shut the (gosh) up, for the [D]youngest one.

[VERSE 4]
[G]Rolling down 20, I seen what the [C]whole world should've been
    [Am]folks happy  together
    [C]Only time we'd fight was [D]just for fun.
[D]Used to be so

[BRIDGE]
Un-[Am]cool_____, hate cuz he don't [D]talk like you.
Un-[Am]cool_____, hate cuz he don't [D]rock like you.
Un-[Am]cool_____, hate cuz he don't [D]vote like you.
Un-[Am]cool_____, just cuz he don't [D]kneel like you.
Un-[Am]cool_____, [C]___ to be this rude to [D]anyone!
***maybe - Un-[Am]cool_____, [C]___ what this would should have [D]never been!

[INSTRUMENTAL]
[G][C]
    [Am]
    [C] [D]
[D]

[VERSE 5]
[G]Rolling down 20, There's a farm a [C]heaven it should've been.
    [Am]It seemed like it's been forever, looking
    down[C]I thought that Silo warnt [D]high e'nuff.

[VERSE 6]
[G]Rolling down 20, ain't sure that I'll [C]ever see the town again
    [Am]Brian's gone and Bob's passed on,
    [C]and I'm miss my friends [D]again.

 

 

Just excellent!

[BoSoxBiker]

Thanks for listening and commenting, guys!

[Paul14]

Love the song, & love the Dove.

[kwalker201]

very nice

[BoSoxBiker]

Thanks again, guys!

[dhanners623]

Late to the party, but great job! A nice vibe and a good story. Playing and voice serve the song. My only unsolicited advice is maybe slow the song down just a tad. Let the lyrics sink in. (Nobody has ever paid me for songwriting advice, though.)

Re: Vulgarity in songs. It is an iffy thing. Plenty of great songwriters have gone their entire careers without doing it. Sticking the F word in there will limit what rooms you can play the song in; for example, if you played it at a family-friendly coffeehouse, you might not get invited back. Play it at the local tavern and people might cheer. Rule 1 is, “Know The Room.”

That said, I’m a big believer in capturing the way a song’s protagonist actually talks. 

[fortyearspickn]

Good Job.  I'll just agree w/ Dhanner on everything he wrote! 

[BoSoxBiker]

Thanks again, guys.

I agree with everything David said, too.  Anyone that's ever played golf with me knows full well my ability to rattle off a litany of f-bombs and other unpleasantries. To use one one online or in  a song, though, just is not a comfy thing for me. I did not do a version without it. It's a story I cannot change.

The pace of the song is my biggest problem with this. There were some short-lived instances that I felt great doing a slower pace. It felt and perhaps even sounded like actual singing. I just could not recapture it all for any length of time.  Some of the bits I internalized from it made it into this performance. I hope to be able to grow from it.