Walking Back the Years
This one is just a rough edit. There's a few kludgy spots in the recording so apologies to sensitive ears! But it does leave room for changes.
Walking Back the Years
© 2025 Owen Hovenden
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QKEGf9M388kcEGT5jXA603PvIW8jfa3P/view?usp=sharing
[Verse 1]
Down this winding country road
Past the fields I used to roam
Every mile brings me closer now
To the place that I called home
[Pre-Chorus 1]
Like photographs come to life
Every face I see brings a smile
[Chorus]
Every step feels like a memory
Walking back the years
Back to my family
Oh the wheel, has come full circle now
Walking back the years
Back where I'm meant to be
[Verse 2]
Through the rusty iron gate
I once left the other way
Through the backyard where we played
Past the swing my daddy made
[Pre-Chorus 2]
Echoes of a simpler time
And a peace I left behind
[Chorus]
[Verse 3]
Time may change the streets I knew
Paint fresh colors, build something new
In my heart, it's still the same
Every footpath knows my name
[Pre-Chorus 3]
Hearts carved in the pear tree
This place remembers me
[Chorus]
[Verse 4]
Down this winding country road
Past the fields I used to roam
Every mile brings me closer now
To the place where I belong
Comments
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This is good, very good indeed.
Well played and performed.
You did a great job on your own but the song deserves more.
Good enough to put a full orchestra behind this.
A lovely piece of work, one of your best.
Sid
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It paints a good picture. Life always seem to come full circle at times.0
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Thank you Sid and Bill
Yes, it probably deserves better than I can give it, even in a final form!
It's an idealized, nostalgic picture of childhood and family. Not too schmaltzy?
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Not really. At least there is something pleasant to come back to. When I went back to the park I used to play in, it’s now a dump. 😂0
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I'd really love to hear this but it won't let me in. Something about Google. I have a Google account but I guess it's a separate thing.
😔John B
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We do a lot of that walking back to our childhood memories
Nice job Owen , Cool progression man
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John, if you're very keen, I might be able to email it to you as an attachment (PM me your email address if you wish to).
Otherwise, I will likely do a final version after any changes and post it to Soundcloud or Soundclick or something like that. You might have better luck there. But you'll have to wait for that!
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@ElvisNash Thanks for noticing that! I was quite pleased with the chord progression, especially D → Amin9 → G →Gmin7
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This is great Owen, I think we all look back to those days when times were simpler, back before the utility bills had our names on them. I like what you've got going on with this one, lots of good visuals
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"back before the utility bills had our names on them.", brilliant!
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I like it. Like Elvis, I noticed the cool chord progression. It's not too schmaltzy. I think it has the right quantity of schmaltz.
Do you have a paid account at SoundCloud? If so, you can put a song up there with a private link shared here and make as many changes and new versions as you like. I had to jump through a couple of hoops to listen to it :)
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Thanks Gavin! No I'm only on the free plan at Soundcloud. They used to have that option for the free plan too but moved it behind the paywall as you indicated. That's where I would normally post (or Soundclick) but I decided to put this up in an earlier phase. Looks like it could be a bit of a problem using Google Drive!
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@RainyDayMan very sweet song. Took me back to home. Thank you for the memories. Interesting drum beats! I like that you chose to use different pre-choruses, adding something new each time. I especially love, pre-chorus #3! Nice job singing it, too!
Wasn't hard on my ears whatsoever,
Renee 💌
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Good song. Like that you used different pre choruses.
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Thank you both for the listen and the comments!
Yes, variation in the pre-chorus, repetition in the chorus. If I was using varying choruses, I might have used a fixed pre-chorus. But I liked the chorus too much to want to change it!!
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I wasn't 100% on the sequencing of verses 2 and 3, whether it was better to arrive home as the last thing, (excepting the revisit of V1) or have time's changes and the kind of camera pull back last.
No one's mentioned it as a problem so it could well be just a 50/50 thing. Anyone have a view?
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Nice one RDM. I really liked the melody here, there's some interesting chords thrown in, and it''s got a sort of nostalgic quality about it, which definitely fits the theme.. Also, I like it the way it is now as far as v2 and v3's positioning. The way I see it, v2 is when you first get back, and v3 is when you've been there a bit longer and see how much things have changed, but you know deep down that it's still home.
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Thanks Tommy! Appreciate the feedback on the sequencing.
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Your vocals really make the lyrics shine on this, Owen! love the chord changes. "Through the rusty iron gate
I once left the other way" good stuff!
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This really does a good job (both in the lyric and the music) of driving home the idea that "You can never go home again" because "home" is a place AND a time, not just a place. It spoke to me emotionally and intellectually. inspired prosody between the music and the lyric/vocal I thought.
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Thank you kindly!
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