This song is a collaboration. I found PorcelainDoll's words up on the lyrics forum and really liked them. This was right after viewing Stuffx's very cool America Fuck Off! so I was in the mood for some political stuff and PD's lyrics seemed so right. Anyway, this is definitely NOT the way other people heard this song going so maybe I'll get skewered..... that's the lovely thing about bandamp - i can't get lynched over the web! Hey PorcelainDoll, I hope you don't mind.

wow....

   It really brings some serious emotion to this....  Reminds me of a band that would sometimes play at Victorias Midnight Cafe.. A little coffe house in Victorian Village....

     Really cool laid back feel with serious angst lyrical statements....

                  I think it is a great job....  
 
                          Smooth...
                                 Jim "slowhand" K

What do you mean "this is definitely NOT the way other people heard this song going so maybe I'll get skewered"?

it's very bob dylanish, since it's more or less All Along the Watchtower when it comes to the main verse parts.

Nice soundscaping.

And - I already said that bob dylan protest song type would suit this song well

however, shouldn't you have ASK PorcelainDoll first before uploading? (not my business btw)

oh well... really great effort....

I think you might have been an exception PX, but posters were saying they thought this song should have screaming vox and a loud track. i believe on the lyrics forum I mentioned you specifically as not being in with that idea. as to asking her, yeah I pm'd her and she said she wanted to hear it. I posted it here so she could, since there was no way to put it on the PM. i also told her i'd remove it if she so desired.I hope that'sgood enough to prevent bad feelings. i was really kind of joking about being lynched! Next time i'll use one of these

A nice bit of work over Porcelains lyrics....

I personally didn't envisage this song going this way, but it works pretty damn well. 
More like a Sting political song than a Bob Dylan political song to me..... but it works well, so well done.
I do like the mix you get in your recordings, this one being no exception, and the blend of instrument sounds and vocals is fabulous!

Keep up the good work.......... and don't ever feel you have to ask if you want to use some of my lyrics; the answer's yes!

Oh my god! I'm speechless!
Its GREAT! 
Its a billion times better than anything I could have come up with!
Oh god man, I just don't know what to say. I love the style, I mean, if someone had turned it into another raging, angry punk song, that would have been cool I guess, but this is just AWESOME and its made my day.
Infact no, I'll be telling this story forever and showing people this...
Just...WOW! 

I am REALLY relieved to hear you like the treatment of your lyrics. After talking about it for a while, the other singer in my band (also a writer) said he heard it as a faster, angrier song. I pointed out that the line "I am not a citizen grown mad under restraint." was not a line built for screaming.and he agreed, grudgingly. Still, I crashed last night thinking "She's going to make me pull it. How embarrassing!" 
I had to go back to just reading your lyrics to re-establish what I heard in the first place. I really think they are artfully done. I also went back and read the lyrics forum and PuppetXeno was right. I think this is reminiscent of All along the Watchtower. Jiminuk also makes a Sting connection and I am flattered to hell about that.
Anyway, this is your song. Your lyrics made a vivid and insightful point and I'm glad you approve of the style in which I couched them.
Sorry bout the guitar wanking on the end. if you ever feel motivated by world events to write another verse, I'll put it on the end of the song. If you want the rhythym track so you can do your own vox, lemme know.

Amazing! Awesome style! Great guitar work and performance. Thank you for uploading this tune.

I can definitely see how the lyrics and music might seem incongruous. I might be wrong but I read the lyrics more as a sympathetic lament rather than a straight-ahead knocking of the US. I think the speaker feels sorry for us poor shmucks here in the states and I have to admit , I felt kind of grateful for the understanding. We aren't all assholes and the lyric seems to acknowledge that. I guess that's why i gave it such a slow and deliberate feel. I'm curious as to how you think you might have gone with this song. I just heard this style right off. Do you think something harder or something more sparse? Just curious. Anyhoo, thanks for the input.

Lol, yeh, its just Bush thats an asshole.

Oh, and Paris Hilton...but lets not go into that.

I like the music! This has a great sound to it, and even though I disagree with the lyrics, they're well constructed. Are those actual drums or a machine?

Pete

Actually the drums are neither. I played the percussion track using a Godin XTSA guitar synth controller triggering a Roland gr-20. I played real-time by finger picking the individual sounds I assigned to the strings. Did the same with the (upright) bass track and on the rhythm guitar part as well, where I blended the raw guitar sound with a percussive Fender Rhodes patch.  The guitar lead is the XTSA on the neck pickup through a Vox Tonelabse. I've been using the guitar synth on my gig for the last few months and  I really love it. Tracking was a bitch to get used to but I'm getting there. The Godin is one of the best playing axes i've ever had, as good as my PRS, and that's saying alot.

Hey, my name's Jordan and I'm new to bandamp.

Anyways, I am a guitarist and I love this song, but I was just wondering what scale you were using?

Hey Jordan
welcome to the amp! When i was first learning guitar, I went through the modes, scales and standard chord progressions and actually memorized a bunch of them. since then, I've been working in bands all over the freakin place and using all that knowledge while slowly forgetting where the hell I got it from. I'm telling you this because I don't really solo with scales in mind. I just try to hit a memorable melody and give the solo a narrative arc so it has a dynamic range and becomes its own little song.
I'm not sure which scales you're referring to but there are pieces of a few scattered throughout the song along with small arpeggios and licks I just made up.  i think i hit some penatonic licks, some whole tone stuff and I thought in a dorian mode for part of it but I honestly can't remember. I'm writing this on my PDA so I can't even check.
I know you didn't ask for advice but since I'm such a weenie (and I don't know if you're a beginner or a seasoned pro), I'm gonna give you some: Learn all the songs, scales, chords, progressions and arpeggios you can stand and then when you get on stage, ferget 'em all! Play what's in your head and you'll get over like a fat rat. Plus it's more fun that way.
Looking forward to your first song post
Later
David

p.s. I met Danny Gatton (Look his ass up!) once at a gig and asked him for advice. He basically told me "Shredding is craft, melody is  art." I think that would piss a lot of people off but I see his point.

Oh yah, I'm totally a seasoned pro....I wish, lol. No, I only started playing about a year and a half ago, and I saw this site as sort of a means to further hone my skills through basically grovelling and hoping for any shred of advice so, thank you I appreciate it alot. :]


Oh yah, and I'll definitely give that guy a look up.

Have you ever heard of a man named nels cline? If not, I think you would like some of his stuff. He's sort of a jazzy, experimental, kinda bluesy, and (if this makes any sense) guitar soundscapes guitarist. If you can buy an album titled intrumentals or the giant pin

here's a link to his page on myspace if your interested. http://myspace.com/nelscline