Week 33 The Drinking Classes. MP3 added

Terrific lyrics Kathy. Nice to see Father Mackenzie making a return appearance. All the ideas and attitudes were very well arranged and fleshed out. You're definitely back in the writing groove and powering on again. :D

Cheers,

Chris

PS

I've seen the original anti-drink quote attributed to Karl Marx, in a Marx/Marx pairing:

"Drink is the curse of the working class." -- Karl Marx

and the twist on it attributed to Groucho:

"Work is the curse of the drinking class." -- Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx.

But Oscar would have got there first with the pun. Another twist on the same theme came from Henny Youngman:

"I read about the evils of drinking so I gave up reading". - Henny Youngman :)

Peter, i believe this was a riff on the original quote, but I can't take credit for it, it was on the random quote generator. I've gone back, but it's not popping up again!
As for the choruses, my intent was the opposite of your take; the first chorus is the defense of the poor by the priest, the second is the disdain of the poor by Moneybags. I do like your chorus though, and might slip it in as a third. Thanks!

Chris, it seems we were posting at the same time. Thanks for identifying Groucho as the source. Love the Marx brothers, Harpo,Chico, Gummo, and Karl! :D

Thanks for identifying Groucho as the source. Love the Marx brothers, Harpo,Chico, Gummo, and Karl! :D

It's impossible to verify the true original source via the internet because so much copying of inaccuracies goes on. But my guess is that Oscar Wilde said it first (although he may well have pinched it from somebody else too...) and that Groucho probably used it later. It sounds like a natural for a line from a Marx Brothers film. I've often used it myself for that matter, even though I'm not much of a drinker... As Peter said, it was Oscar Wilde who got the nod at the site that Nick linked to.

Even the Karl Marx attribution for the original is probably dubious. It's a general sentiment that would have been used in many forms by various Temperance movements, and probably quickly switched around by local jokers at the time.

Cheers,

Chris

Hi Kathy,

Great story telling :mrgreen: It rhymed and bounced a long nicely as well....almost with a Dr. Suess feel (and that's a good thing)

Now the mp3 please :wink:

James

I've edited the song and uploaded an MP3 here ;

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10757322

You may have to crank up the volume; I'm having some issues with my recorder.

As expected, a very nice rendition. :D

Interesting to see that the software nanny let you write "asses" and didn't insist on having them sitting on their 'donkeys', as before.

My inner schoolboy is now tempted to type a whole string of naughty words and see what it does with them... but no. I may be in my second childhood, but not quite that far back...yet... :wink:

Back to the song... It's always enjoyable to hear the combination of your voice and that guitar. What make and vintage is it? (Just the guitar, I'm not fishing for revelations about the vintage of the voice... )

Cheers,

Chris

Hi Kathy,

Sounding good....I like the chord progression and your singing style works well here :D ....I like the change of chord progression in the instrumental section as well.

Suggestion:

It's a bit hard on the listen only (without seeing the lyrics) the transition at the beginning between narrator and what is spoken by the characters b/c both follow the same melody......Consider either revising the lyrics like this:

Mr. Moneybags went out for a ride
And saw Joe six-pack asleep outside HE SAID
Look at that lowlife, he's good for naught

OR

Consider revising the melody of the narrator lines to either spoken or with very little melody and or using lower notes.....something to separate the narration and dialog

Also, I don't know if this would fit what you have in mind, but consider some variation between Mr. Moneybags and Father M's speeches whether in melody lines or chord progressions.........something to create a bit more of a conversation effect. As it is, the melody works, but I'm just wondering if a bit of variation would help get the lyrics across more.

Thanks for sharing.

James

James, I totally get what you're saying;this should be a duet. I was trying to think of a way to separate the 2, even resorting to trying to sing an octave lower for the Moneybags verses. When I was singing this I thought it was a very theatrical piece. Hmmm, maybe I can get Nick to sing it with me!

Chris, it's no secret my vintage is circa 1957; the guitar was a wedding gift from my husband exactly 10 years ago this month. It's a Taylor 12 string. The actual model escapes me and I'm not anywhere near it at the moment to check. It was bought an acoustic and I had a pickup installed. I have issues with it because it eats through batteries and you have to loosten the strings and go through the sound hole to change the battery. My hubbie keeps offering to trade it in on a newer model, but that would be like swapping one of my children at this point.( which is quite a tempting idea, if you had any knowledge of my son) :shock: ) The problem with the 12 is that when I play anything else now it sounds thin to me. When I'm playiong alone, I want that big sound.

Thanks for the info on the guitar Kathy. Congratulations on the 10th anniversary too. :D Vicki and I are heading for our 30th next year. Geez, where did that time go... :shock:

I thought that it sounded electrified, but not quite in the way that, say, a Rickenbacker 12 would. So that explains it. I've never seen a solid or semi-solid bodied electric 12 string in the shops, but I've always rather fancied the idea of one. I do have a Yamaha acoustic 12 tucked away under the bed, so I might checkout the availability of getting a sound-hole pickup for it.

Those in-body batteries are pain. My Seagull is like that - it sits totally inside the body and can only be replaced through the sound-hole. You have to slacken a number of strings right off to get your hand in. I suppose they don't like cutting more holes in the body for one of those battery sockets, but gee, how much difference would it make?... Forget to turn the pickup off before you put it back in the case and - bingo another battery gone (which, upon checking now, I apparently did when I last put it away...grrr!!

Cheers,

Chris

Sounds good to me. I had a couple of issues with a couple of lines...."Whining about problems unions brought about" sounded a bit forced, but for the most part it sounded good.

Way back in the 70's.....I had a couple of t-shirts with "Work is the curse of the drinking classes" printed on 'em. I was actually working in a brewery at the time, in QC, testing beer for a living - ah, the good days! Used to wear them for work as a kind of statement.....

But enough of my reminisces - song sounds great, Kathy, instantly catchy - makes me want to pick up a guitar and play along, so definitely a good one!

:D :D :D

Vic