Y6week34 insert your title here - MP3

Wow.... I really like this one 8)

I can relate to so much of it, it's scary!

I used to go to the same coffee bar every morning.... had a favorite seat, as well as a favorite waitress!

Many years ago, I came up with a very similar line to the 'last penny in the broken jukebox' image of yours;
You pulled it off much better than I did though :)

When I read the 'While Teddy takes it to the chin' line.... I was struck with a David Bowie feel from the Ziggy days.
It was totally a line that would've fit into that album.
So, I missed the Teddy Boy connection.... Though it didn't really seem to matter.
There was no vacuum because of it.

Going to work in a boring, dark, dreary, dismal factory job is something that I know all to well;
And my mind too, would go to many places, like - the sea.

I also wrote something very similar to that back in my factory days.
And I'm pretty sure that 'chains' and 'pacing like a caged wild animal' were images that I used.

I thought 'Unchained' was wonderful.... Personally, I wouldn't change it.

If I'm getting this right.... It's a sorta mods vs. rockers lifestyle clash....????
Which would translate here to the socialites vs the greasers/preppies vs stoners,
A struggle I'm very familliar with.
Not sure if that's the theme though?

I'm also a night owl type and still stay up way too late for my own good sometimes.
Back when I was in my 20's - I was never home before dawn.
And usually wandered the town alone, or sat in the restaurant alone with a good book and a couple packs of Lucky Strikes
and an endless stream of bad coffee!

My favorite part of the song is: 'So every morning I see the windowpane sunrise a little differently'.

I had read Chefie's Nothing Ever Changes song, and thought - hmmmm.... In a Macro sense, things do seem to stay the same.... That no matter what changes as a whole; Human Nature is always the same.

In a Micro sense though.... Things are ever changing.
All you need is to have a small child to realize that.

So I really liked the idea of seeing a new sunrise everyday simply because of a relatively small shift in perspective.

You really grabbed the whole Macro/Micro difference well here....
In a larger sense; this persons life is just a repetition of habitual events, yet in a smaller sense, they are able to see each day as 'new' thankx to that small shift in the daily reality.

Okay.... I'll stop rambling now!

LOVED IT!
As Always :D

Ken

Hmmm - didn't really get a 50's feel from this, more 60's.....but the really weird thing is, you know whose writing this brings to mind? Ray Davies.....

"I wake up every morning
In the same milk bar on King's Road
You can see me yawning
Behind a windowpane on King's Road
I have my favourite table
To crash after work
And it seems every morning
It's moved to a new spot"

When I hear "Kings Road" (not sure about the apostrophe...) my mind is instantly transported back to the "Swinging Sixties" and the Kinks were such an integral point of that whole scene I immediately associate them with it.

"So every morning I see
The windowpane sunrise
A little differently"

Not a suggestion for the song, but just try replacing "windowpane sunrise" with "Waterloo Sunset".....

Where you really make the connection is that for me, like Ray D, you have the knack of observing the minutiae of everyday life and weaving the small but important details together.

"And every day that you keep cruising the cliffs
I keep on walking along the sea"

Made me think more of "Quadrophenia" - again, placing the song in the 60's, mods and rockers.....

Overall, I love it - there's a 60's feel, but it's still genuine Straycat -

"There are no heart blocks
For us night-time birds, we
Circle the parquet or watch dark streets to Johnny Ray "

There's only one person who could have written those lines!

BTW, it wouldn't be the first time Johnny Ray's been mentioned in a song - "Come On Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners did too, and that was the UK's biggest selling single of 1983! Oh, and leave the "Johnny Ray" line alone - it's more subtle and understated the way you have it, although it's more 50's than the overall 60's feel I get from the song.
LOVED IT!
As Always

Me too......

:D :D :D

Vic

Once Again I find myself in agreement Vic.

This definitely of Ray Davies especially
(let's see how did Vic put it?)
Where you really make the connection is that for me, like Ray D, you have the knack of observing the minutiae of everyday life and weaving the small but important details together.

Very Good

John

Oh I just got an Idea or a title :idea:

How about:

Milk Bar Blues

Ken, thank you for rambling. :wink:
As for the time setting and the Mods/Rockers thing- I listened to 50s stuff because of Vic's suggestion, but I guess it's more 60s, as you observed :wink: Taking a course on British Youth Culture this semester, I heard about the Mods and Rockers and Teddy Boys etc., the clashes in seaside towns.. seen a few movies also- so, Vic, I did see (and like) "Quadrophenia" and the "cruising to the cliffs" line was inspired by that film's ending.. really, the Teddy boy reference (I guess it should be more of a Rocker reference because of the leather jacket.) was taken from the boy in that film who was, I think, a Mod(?) and more and more desperately held fast to that attitude when his "leader" (Sting played that one) was long integrating in "normal" life. --> the persona in my lyrics is not belonging to any group and saying that you don't need to be visually subversive or wear different clothes to be free (from social conventions...) in your mind. And while the Teddy/Rocker/Mod/whatev is struggling with his attitude vs. "normal" life, the persona is past that struggle (but still not returned to the way of his parents. mental resistance :wink: ). Or something like that.

Thanks for the Ray Davies reference, Vic. Maybe the music should go in that direction? Anyone know a good and easy tab of a typical Ray Davis or Kinks or Everly Brothers song? Trying to get into their style if I can :wink: Just put on "Come on Eileen" and found that I know it :wink:
And, okay, Johnny Ray stays :D
Milk Bar Blues John, that has a very nice ring to it :wink: But actually it's quite a happy song (for me at least)... not sure "blues" fits?

Thank you everyone for your comments, they were kind and helpful!
Could anyone put me on the right track as far as the Teddy + leather jacket bit goes? I'm confused on this one :oops:
Cheers,
straycat.

little update: it's very very rough, not what I imagined, but a demo recording is on the way... :wink: need to go to bed now, don't know if I manage to get it done tomorrow, but will let you know when(if) a demo is finding its way to soundclick :wink: