"Built The Way You Are"

Here's a new one for you.  Comments always welcome.  Thanks Ed, Karen, and Alex!


Rimshot


http://soundcloud.com/jimmy-saad/built-the-way-you-are


Special Guests: Ed Kocol, bass - thanks much Ed for your help and playing. 
Background vocals: My wife Karen and son Alex (first for them) 
All other instruments and lead vocal: Jim


Built the Way You Are 
Words & Music by James Saad 2012


Verse 1 
Well I spent a lot of years 
building homes throughout my life 
and I always took my pride in 
doin’ the job just right 
Makin’ sure the pieces 
all fit together well 
‘cause there ain’t no bigger disappointment 
when a job just goes to hell 
I’m used to lookin’ at numbers 
any angle near or far 
but I’ve never seen a woman 
built the way you are


Verse 2 
I’ve worked on 
blue prints a’ plenty 
at every scale that’s known to man 
Front view, side view, and top view down 
just to try to understand 
What the designer had intended 
how to make it all work out 
to someone’s specifications 
I give a call when I’m in doubt 
I’m used to lookin’ at those numbers 
any angle near or far 
but I’ve never seen a woman 
built the way you are


Chorus 1 
Built the way you are 
Well you’re turnin’ every head in this old bar 
Built the way you are 
Your’re a top down knock out gorgeous 
shinin’ star 
built the way you are


Bridge 
I can measure angles and curves 
Square feet and radius too 
Slope and drop and expansion joints 
just to name a few 
Pony walls and soffits 
Headers and footers too 
but nothing I’ve seen comes even close 
to how the good Lord made you


Chorus 2 
Built the way you are 
Well you’re turnin’ every head in this ol’ bar 
Built the way you are 
Top down knock out gorgeous 
shining star 
built the way you are


Chorus 3/Solo 2 
Built the way you are 
turnin’ every head in this ol’ bar 
Built the way you are 
Top down knock out gorgeous 
shining star 


built the way you are 
built the way you are

Great song! 

I like how the production stays out of the way of the song...great stuff!

I think this concept and most of the lyric is awesome. Hit material.
I don't think it comes across though for this day and age though.
if that doesn't matter it's great.

Nice. Fun song. Good mix. I am somewhat on the fence with the kick. Might be a bit prevalent... or not. Can't decide .

Trimph1, thank you!  I am trying to stay somewhat minimal these days.  This song had guitar, lead, Wurly, strings, bass, and drums.  No tracking.  Trying to use space as much as possible. 

Rimshot

Hi Janet, thanks for your listen.  I am glad you like my voice.  These blues type songs have been fun for me to do and share.  Let me know what your construction friends think if you do send it to them.  My father in law got a big kick out of this yesterday!

Rimshot

I promised myself that I would never listen to another song about soffits again, but here I am grooving on this.  This song is definitely built to code which is rare around these parts.  I smiled all the way through this, so that says it all.  Nice job.

Hey Jimmy
GREAT piece, especially in the writing of the lyrics.  Love the space/EQ of the drums and that Tele twang guitar. FANTASTIC JOB from you and the gang!


Kev

Hi Kev, thank you so much for your kind words.  Those lyrics just came right out!  I was lucky!  Thanks for the cudos on the drums.  I really worked on the EQ to get them more present.  The guitar was my old Strat that I really try to hard to make sound like a Tele.  I bought and returned a Squire Standard Tele about 6 weeks ago because it couldn't be tuned!  So I bought some speakers instead and appreciated my 70's Start even more!  

Rimshot

Thanks again for letting me play on one of your songs Rimshot. You're a great guy to work with.

Rimshot


Hi Radio, thank you for your good review!  I used BFDEco on the drums and played the parts with fingers on the keys.  I was going to play my pads but the part was so minimal I just did it my "normal" way.  As noted in my comments to Kev above, I spent some time on the drum EQ.  Glad you liked it.  Did the very top high end sound right to you?  I think I nailed it but could use some feedback.  Thanks again.

Rimshot

Yea you nailed it , sounded great in my little monitor speaker . Before I listened to the song in my headphones so yea it sounded great in both headphones and in my monitor speakers .
 
Cool Song !
Radio

Rimshot


Foxwolfen, thank for the listen.  I used BFDEco on the drums and saturated the kick a little.  It works good on my system.  How did the high end (8 - 10K) sound to you?  Was it good, under or over in brightness?  My speakers say it's bright and my cans say it could use a little up there.  

Rimshot

The highs sounded ok to me Jimmy. What I was thinking was I can hear the "pup pup" sound of the beater head on the skin of the kick and its a bit distracting. But at the same time, its kinda cool. I might bring it back a tad to smooth it out.

HI foxwolfen, thanks for the second listen.  The kick click is something I did not notice although I do try to make the kick audible  at very low volumes so it at times needs some mid to do that.  I will remember to really check this.  In this song's case, it was boosted by the use of Softtube.

Good ears!  

Rimshot

LOL Malcolmb!  My father in law Rex was the estimator/builder but I understand your comments!  Thanks for your kind words my friend.  

Rimshot

Great stuff Rimshot.
(IMO) This sort of thing can sound contrived and too 'cutesy' but the way you have approached it with the really laid back almost minimalist arrangement gives it an edge. Plus your vocals are believable.
Great to hear Bapu on there too.