Devil Eyes
https://audius.co/sidshovel/devil-eyes (right click then open link in new tab,) to open song. lyrics SS music/vocals Ai
Last week I posted a CW song much to the amusement of one of the other members who thought I was stepping out of my comfort zone. It got me thinking so I checked my back catalogue and found I had indeed written a fair number of CW songs. What is strange is that I have very little interest in Classic CW such as Jim Reeves or Hank Williams!
So I thought I would post a selection of old and new songs which I think are CW but maybe they're not, I value your comments on whether they are, what sub-genre they fall into, which artist has this style, and what you think of this example. I'm calling this a showcase in the hope that it catches on and fires the imagination of others to "showcase" their selection of 3-5 songs based on themes/titles/genres,covers, etc and open up a discussion relating to the choice.
Here's the first of five, an old one with a distinctive flavour, Devil Eyes.
[Intro]
[verse 1]
You left the same way you come,
a cold wet night, at the bus stop.
Kit bag full of broken promises,
someone's borrowed leather top.
[verse 2]
Snuck off in the dead of night,
catch the first coach outta town.
No word of thanks or see ya'.
not a man to hang around.
[chorus]
Devil eyes, devil eyes, gonna hurt ya with them eyes.
look you up and down, leave you naked where you stand.
Feed you all the sweet talk, take all you have and more.
Give him every thing he wants, he's got you in his hand.
[verse 3]
My friends all warned me off,
they saw some evil in yer eyes.
With me, they saw clean thru me,
took me totally by surprise.
[chorus]
Devil eyes, devil eyes, gonna hurt ya with them eyes.
look you up and down, leave you naked where you stand.
Feed you all the sweet talk, take all you have and more.
Give him every thing he wants, he's got you in his hand.
[bridge]
The good times only lasted, 'til
my body an' money all ran out.
Your devil eyes began to roam,
started playin' away from home.
[chorus]
Devil eyes, devil eyes, gonna hurt ya with them eyes.
look you up and down, leave you naked where you stand.
Feed you all the sweet talk, take all you have and more.
Give him every thing he wants, he's got you in his hand.
[outro]
Devil eyes, devil eyes, gonna hurt ya with them eyes.
Devil eyes, devil eyes, gonna hurt ya with them eyes.
gonna hurt ya with them eyes.
hurt ya with them eyes.
[Fade to End]
Comments
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I'm no expert on CW, but this looks the part. I had a listen the AI. It sounds nice though, as usual, I'd like to hear a real band do it. I had a try for you with Au Revoir to Adios some time back - I see you've since revisited it with AI. We could do with having a couple of proper CW musicians here to have a crack at this one. I think the chorus stands out in the right way.
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Thank you Chris,
As I say in the intro, this little exercise is to look at the various forms or sub genres of CW and highlight the differences between those. I grew up listening to my uncles playing Jim Reeves and Hank Williams and I hated it, and I still do. But there are a lot of artists and songs that I do like who people assure me are CW although they sound nothing like the ones I hate! I have even written songs that are CW, more to have a poke at it rather than embrace it. The diversity of CW intrigues me and I'd love to hear peoples opinions on the genre and what is it about the songs that put them in this category.
I am lucky to have a rendition of "au revoir to adios" done by yourself and another by Ai to compare styles and ask you some questions if you don't mind. That is scheduled for Wednesday if your available that would be great.
As a taster for tomorrow, the song is a new one called "Darkwood Green, (death of a town)" and looks at the effect a tragedy has on a small midwest town, completely different from "Devil Eyes" yet still CW, (I think!)
Thanks for your comments, appreciated.
Sid
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Dang son, you may have found your true calling, next stop Nashville. But jeez that part about "The good times only lasted, 'til
my body an' money all ran out". What da heck he do to that po girl's body??
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I hear this as a Country/Rock crossover, especially the chorus. Straight country is going to work as well.
You might consider one more 'devil' in that first line of the chorus and make it:
Devil eyes, devil eyes, gonna hurt ya with them devil eyes.
Good stuff, Sid!
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Really catchy and wonderful title!!!
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I dislike the AI sound even though I know you're doing it for the vocals. Can you write and record your own original songs?
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All my songs are original since I write them all myself. As I previously said, I dont play any musical instruments or can sing to save my life. That's why I use Ai probably the same reason as thousands of others do. Sad but a fact.
Sid
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Oh. The first couple of songs I thought were you! Learning the basics on a guitar is relatively easy and fast. All you need to really know are the "Barre Chords", major and minor and yea probably good to learn the open chords and some easy, but effective, solo patterns. An hour a day for 6 months you should be good to go. Even a used 50 or100 euro guitar is more than good. Just be sure to put on new medium gauge strings. Makes a huge difference. And don't give up until you can play because eventually you will. Heck, just learn the two note "power chord root and 5th's and you can do magick!
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I thank you for your advice and suggestions Rob but my impediment to playing is physical rather than desire. Due to a workplace accident years ago, I no longer have full use of my left hand.
But I thank you for your thoughts anyway.
Sid
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I'm so sorry to hear that. Did you know that Tony Iommi, the guitar player for Black Sabbath, also had a workplace accident that affected his left hand? It was that accident that he credits his unique hard sound to. It's true. Look it up.
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That's an interesting anecdote Rob, funny really because at the moment, as part of RDM's drive to add more magic onto TSF, one proposal is a "well I never" section and yours is the third anecdote told to me in the last two days. If you reading RDM!
In the spirit, years ago just after the release of Maggie May, I went to see Rod Stewart in a small venue in Liverpool. The group ended up finishing the gig early because a lot of the audience walked out. The band were blind drunk and totally hopeless! The bit you never hear about.
Sid
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Wow! What a show to see, regardless of the performance! It is common knowledge that they were heavy drinkers. In fact when I was in high school this religious group came to town to talk to us about the evils of rock music. One example was Rod Stewart described as "this lush". Another was the song "Rock Me Gently" which they said had satanic elements in it. There's a lot of stories you won't find on the internet.
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Very true Rob,
Lets hope RDM decides to run with a "well I never" section, I think there will be some eye-openers shared in that one.
Sid
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I was listening to your other song, and "Devil Eyes" was on the queue next. WOW. That is, IMO a great song. I was interested to hear you say you don't like Hank Williams. An interesting little experiment is to take those old country songs (usually written in 3/4 time and at an EXTREMELY slow pace) and play the instrumental at about 1.5 times the tempo, and it's amazing how much it (sometimes) improves and modernizes. I don't like "old timey country" either, but I do like several Hank Williams and Jim Reeves songs. If I sing them, I sing them with a more "rock" style of vocal, and it's usually very well received. I always liked Jim Reeves as a kid (I'm 71 years old) and never really considered him all that country. I also loved to listen to Johnny Horton.
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Thank you,
If you liked "devil", you should check out. "When you get what's comin' to you". I thought that was better and for some weird reason didn't generate one comment.
BTW, I'm 72 and grew up listening to my uncles playin Hank an' Jim constantly, unfairly put me off them forever.
Sid
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Howdy, Stranger!