Y8W18 Because of Winn-Dixie

Great movie.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317132/

You seemed to get all the characters in and the plot.

I missed Sweetie Pie Thomas :roll:

Thanks for the listen and post, Ken.

James

Gotta be honest and admit I wouldn't have had a clue what this was about if it hadn't been for Ken's link to the film...but having said that, the lyrics tell the story well (or at least, cover the quick synopsis I read well!) Music seems to fit nicely with the story, too.....you picked the right genre to get the message across.

Good song, well written and played - you're developing your own style quite nicely.

:D :D :D

Vic

Vic,
Gotta be honest and admit I wouldn't have had a clue what this was about if it hadn't been for Ken's link to the film
Thanks for the feedback. Sorry for the assumption the book/movie was known. It's a good kid's book....quick read if you ever come across in a library somewhere. Thanks, Ken, for the link. :wink:
- you're developing your own style quite nicely.
Thanks, Vic. This is very encouraging as it's one of those things someone else has to notice. We ourselves are way to close to our own writing get a proper perspective on the growth process.

Kudos to picking a challenging topic, Nell. I was really at a loss for what to come up with for most of the week. :roll: :lol:

James

I guess it might also help to explain that Winn-Dixie is the name of a SuperMarket chain.
We have two stores within a few miles of us here in Miami.

I guess it might also help to explain that Winn-Dixie is the name of a SuperMarket chain.
We have two stores within a few miles of us here in Miami.
Right. And it was a Winn-Dixie store the girl found the stray dog in, so her split second naming wasn't really too believeable to the manager, but she got him and got out quick enough to keep Winn-Dixie out of the pound. :wink:

More googled info:

Because of Winn-Dixie is a best selling children's novel by Kate DiCamillo published in 2000 and winner of a Newbery Honor distinction the following year. It also won the 2000 Josette Frank Award. It has been adapted as a 2005 family film, directed by Wayne Wang, produced by Walden Media and Twentieth Century Fox.

Plot
India Opal Buloni is a lonely 10-year-old girl who has just moved to a trailer park in the small town of Naomi, Florida, with her itinerant preacher father. While in the Winn-Dixie supermarket, she encounters a scruffy dog wreaking havoc. She claims the dog is hers to save it from going to the pound, and names it Winn-Dixie (because it is the first name she thinks of). The first act of inspiration of Winn-Dixie on Opal is for her to challenge her father to name ten things about her mother, who abandoned them years before. Winn-Dixie also becomes friends with everyone he encounters, and this encourages India to make new friends and gradually learn they all have burdened pasts. Miss Franny Block is the town librarian with a large family reputation to uphold; Gloria Dump is a blind black woman and recovering alcoholic feared of being a witch by neighbourhood children; Otis is a shy ex-con pet store clerk with a musical streak. Opal gains wisdom and different outlooks on life through relationships with adults and peers, and grows emotionally in the process. She and Gloria host a party for all her friends to meet, but a thunderstorm breaks it up and scares Winn-Dixie away. While searching for him, Opal and her father rekindle their strained relationship.

http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Because_of_Winn-Dixie

Just an alternate chorus I thought of:

Summer days of root beer and cinnamon bread
Then comes night with no one to tuck me in bed
Don't hold too tight or you'll hurt when they leave
But I'm learning to love again all because of Winn-Dixie

Just an alternate chorus I thought of:

Thanks for the suggestion. It could be for another song. I picked these specific details to capture the spirit of the story. Here is an excerpt of one description of the "Littmus Lozenge" candy which is what the chorus is based on.

That night, I gave the preacher his Littmus Lozenge right before he kissed me good night.
"What's this?" he said.
"It's some candy that Miss Franny's great-grand-father invented. It's called Littmus Lozenge"
The preacher unwrapped it and put it in his mouth, and after a minute, he started rubbing his nose and nodding his head.
"Do you like it?" I asked him.
"It has a peculiar flavor...."
"Root beer?" I said.
"Something else."
"Strawberry?"
"That, too. But there's still something else. It's odd."
I could see the preacher getting further and further away. He was hunching up his shoulders and lowering his chin getting ready to pull his head inside his shell.
"It almost tastes a little melancholy," he said.
"Meloancholy? What's that?"
"Sad," said the preacher. He rubbed his nose some more. "It makes me think of your mother."
.....
"I didn't go to sleep right away. I lay there and thought of how life was like a Littmus Lozenge, how the sweet and the sad were all mixed up together and how hard it was to separate them out. It was confusing."

In addition, the "You can't hold tight to no one we're all tossed in the breeze" is a reference to Gone With the Wind which was the book the girl was reading to Gloria Dump which gave her the idea to have the party...and it is reference to the loss or "out of control" feeling each of the character experiences in their own set of circumstances.

Feedback?

James

I'm impressed that you go into such detail with the lyrics.

I didn't remember that much detail of the movie.
It was summer in the South (she wasn't going to school) . . .
Her mother had left them . . .

Good job

I'm impressed that you go into such detail with the lyrics.

Indeed. As am I*. Just goes to show that, while first impressions ARE important, a more careful listen/read is essential for a deeper understanding and is infinitely more rewarding in the end.

:D :D :D

Vic

*.....and did anyone get that particular reference?

I didn't remember that much detail of the movie.
Isn't it usually like that though....the details are in the books :wink:
*.....and did anyone get that particular reference?
Sorry not me. My knowledge is only as deep as a one entry google search when it comes to most facts and if it comes up empty, so do I. :roll: :lol:

Come on, Ken. You're the one who's knowledge for detail got you all the Jeremy Points/Dollars/Stickers/Potato Heads before! :wink:

Hi James,
looks like another good one here. Plenty of vivid imagery in that song. Some of the line lengths seemed a little uneven or unrhythmic in your recording, but it's probably the kind of thing that will work itself out after a few more performances.

I really loved the lines:
Life tastes of root beer and strawberries
With a bitter after bite of melancholy

That's the kind of sweet summer chorus that could stick in my mind not just for a day or a week, but for life!

Hi Martin,

Thanks for the listen and feedback. :D

I agree with practice it could be tighter. I pretty much did a once through with vocal and guitar on the same track and then punch-in recorded parts I messed up on....which were quite a few....all very rough. Someday I should go back and do it over to do it justice.

I'm glad the chorus is to your liking :wink:

James

aw... beautiful. love everything about it, especially the chorus (both lyrically and musically, a treat!).
thanks for sharing and thanks for putting another book on my to-read-list!

cheers,
straycat.

p.s. so glad i had a look at your post! almost didn't because the title didn't really draw me in. :wink: