Year 10 Week 11 "Where the Sirens all Know My Name" w MP3

Hi MrEWorm,

I really like this one! I think it's a keeper. I like the play on siren's. Great idea :mrgreen:

The only one I didn't get was the drunk....where's the siren there?

The only other siren I would think of would be for air raid....Pearl Harbor or England, but no need to add more really....just brainstorming.

Thanks for sharing :D

James

It;s a tornado siren, basically the same thing as an air raid siren . They are pretty common in "tornado Alley" - small towns across the midwest USA from Texas to Canada.

A siren is also defined as a dangerously seductive temptor - the temptation of an alcoholic to drink again.

Thanks for the listen and the comment.

I'm getting more comfortable using Audaciy. I jacked into my PA system so that I could use the ukulele pickup and the shure mic.

It;s a tornado siren, basically the same thing as an air raid siren .
I figured it was similar.

Another idea for siren could be the ambulance rushing the drunk or drug user to the hospital from an over dose.....just brain storming again :roll:

I wrote the chorus several months ago, the verses jelled recently.
I was ruminating about how we appear one way to others but inside, we see ourselves differently. I was thinking about being fearful and vulnerable, how the things which we are prey to will find us in our thoughts.

I want to leave this place - It's not about a physical place at all. It's about wanting to not show vulnerability and fear.
The sirens all know my name - No matter where I go, I take me along. The sirens will find me wherever I am. They know who I am, my weaknesses and fears.

The siren as temptress was the most obscure reference but the most essential to the the raison d'être of the lyric

The siren as temptress was the most obscure reference but the most essential to the the raison d'être of the lyric
Ok, I think I see how you want it to be the main point as far as a siren that can not be out run b/c we carry it with us wherever we go....but the other 3 sirens all refer to external factors and as a listener I am ok with that and like the slight twists in meanings ....Siren on the sea.....tornado....the law....
The sirens will find me wherever I am. They know who I am, my weaknesses and fears.
I can see a connection, but it's a bit of a stretch....I've heard it more commonly referred to as "demons"....facing one's demon's.....so it stretched a bit too far for me to understand the connection..
I want to leave this place - It's not about a physical place at all. It's about wanting to not show vulnerability and fear.
I guess it depends on what you want the song to mean to you personally compared to how much you want the listener to get the same message. If you want the listener to get that message, I didn't get it b/c 3 of the 4 verses do not support that idea.....if you want the listener to make up their own message then the drunk doesn't have to be spelled out.

so my suggestion would be:
1 to try to find a more universal angle or common hook to hang the "internal angle" on
2....or maybe find one more external angle?
3......or make up another metaphor like when the sun goes down the sirens of the night come out to feed on our fears/desires......ie calling vampires "sirens of the night"....or "the siren of the night" could be a prostitute or a personification of the alcohol at a bar...........
4......or maybe call the "bar maid" "a siren in high heels" calling out the sweet song of "happy hour"

In all, you have to be happy with it, I was just trying to share what I wasn't understanding. At first, I thought it might have been on me like I should have known it had something to do with AA or something like that, but I'm not sure others will get the connection....maybe they will

I had a similar experience in writing "Lottery" where what I wanted to say and what I said didn't match, so I ended up not trying to force a message and let the song tell it's own story, but I know as songwriters and communicators there are times the message is more important for us to connect with the listener than other times....it's really up to you and what purposes the song is serving.

.......in all I still like it though :wink:

James

BTW is the title a play on words from the tv show "Cheers" theme song?....... :note1: "sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name...... :note1:

Hi MrEWorm,
(Tried posting earlier but didn't go thru) I like the song's first two verses and chorus, but the third verse seems (to me) to start another story instead of bringing to a conclusion the story started in the first two verses. Also the rhythm and rhyming pattern suggests to me that the third verse is more like a bridge. I like it on the ukelele, the brightness of the sound is a nice contrast to the story. Just my two cents, take what you like leave the rest. :)
Andy

Thanks to both Andy and James for listening and comments.

I have been been using my ukulele's a lot more over the last three months. I recently acquired an 8 string tenor, an all brass resonator, and a tenor 4 string with an active pickup. Thats the one in the recording.

I used the same uke at a talent show in Newark, NJ last wekend to accompany myseld while singing Leonard Cohen's Halleluia. I had planned on having a piano player but had to sub in the uke at the last minute. I think that the higher register sounds of the uke go well with my baritone, tenor wannbe, voice.

Maybe I'll revisit the verses after awhile. I get too defensive of my writing . It took several months to get this far .

Hi MrEWorm,
Maybe I'll revisit the verses after awhile. I get too defensive of my writing . It took several months to get this far .
No worries. We are all in a growth process. Sometimes things surprise us in good ways and other times not, many times we would rather be somewhere else on the journey than where we are....but in all there are really no short-cuts; just the going through and going on.

I just hope to encourage you to keep on keeping on :wink:

James