No one uses Mix Recall?

I agree with strip it down to the basics,, no effects and see if it's a real song. 
A good song will stand alone with a singer and a piano or guitar. 
Well, at least pop music will. this is not true of some styles which are 100% effects and electronics. 
Great songs rely on a melody. 
So try as few tracks as you can get away with and make sure those 4 or 5 tracks are as near to perfect as you can perform. 

I have a tendency to tinker until I get it right or get tired of it. However, I rarely record anything live so...
 
I also hate it when it seems I have heard it before and then someone comes along and says that is whatever by so-and-so. Memory, it's a blessing and a curse.

DrLumen
I also hate it when it seems I have heard it before and then someone comes along and says that is whatever by so-and-so. Memory, it's a blessing and a curse.

I hear you, but let's not forget there's a lot of popular music out there that borrows from others. I'm sure most of us strive for a unique and distinctive sound, but sounding like so-and-so isn't necessarily a bad thing.
 
I would even recommend covering a song to someone who is having trouble finding inspiration. You may not end up with anything usable, but you will likely learn or discover something along the way.

A couple of thoughts on this. 
 
First, Anderton hit it on the head. I was going to say at the very least, make a new copy of the file and remove ALL processing and mixing then start fresh from there. But that was the least. My suggestion for an ideal solution is exactly what Anderton already said, start over and record ALL the parts from scratch i.e. do a cover version of the song you already wrote.

Beyond that I will suggest a method I've come to adopt. Like you, I write as I record. While I think Anderton's method of writing and performing for months before even thinking of recording is probably what we all should be doing, I just don't work that way most of the time.
 
As a work-around I've started using the following method. I like to start out with the goal of making an album instead of just one song. So what I do now is I try to completely separate the writing process from the mixing process. And when I say separate I'm talking in terms of both months and songs. Let me explain a little bit.
 
In the old days I would noodle around until I stumbled on a spark or idea I thought was worth pursuing. And I would work on that exclusively until it was completely done. Then I'd move on to the next one.
 
Now? I do the same noodling for ideas and sparks. But when I find one, I try to develop it from a writing/recording parts standpoint only. I purposely keep it raw with minimal use of compression/eq/etc. I'll toy with things like reverb/delay/Leslie etc. But even then I make a point to only throw rough settings at it. Once I'm confident I have all the parts I need more or less written and captured, I stop and move on. I do not mix at all. Instead I put that one down and go back to looking for the next idea. 

Once I get to the point where I have an album's worth of tracks that for lack of a better description, fit together in an album sort of way, I go into mix mode. Which means I go back to the original files and start working on them from a mixing point of view. That's not to say I won't actually re-record parts or write/record new parts at that point. But I make a definitive choice to switch from writing mode to mixing/finishing mode. 

I know it probably sounds silly. But I have to say that approaching things this way has really enabled me to turn a corner in the output quality of what I do.

Walk away from it for awhile and do another tune.
 

Some of the things I've done which reflect some of the above posts from members:
 
1. Start processing over again...balance bass and kick, find strongest part of the song and loop. Bring in other instruments, balance and then do vocs and move on to the rest of the song.
2. Leave for a few months...with further tutes and learning new things, many times I've come back to a song with clearer ideas resulting in a stronger mix.
3. Finish it and move on, despite its flaws. 
4. Get someone else to mix it for you. 
 
Hope that helps. :-)

Another resource I didn't see mentioned that may be useful to those comfortable sharing their songs is the Cakewalk Songs forum. If you're stuck, or looking for some feedback, post your song there and get some input from the Cakewalk community.

JohanSebatianGremlin
I know it probably sounds silly. But I have to say that approaching things this way has really enabled me to turn a corner in the output quality of what I do.

Doesn't sound silly at all...it's a very interesting approach and I can see where it would yield useful results. In one way, because of the long spaces between my getting to work on music, part of what you're doing is by default part of my process. And yes, it does lend itself to an "album" approach where all the different pieces hang together.

Thanks for all the really helpful replies folks, very much appreciated.
 
I have shelved it for now and will come back to it in the future.
 
I'm a bit of a perfectionist unfortunately so I suppose I need to reign myself in a little and accept when something is as good as I'm going to get it rather than keep on tinkering, I guess it's like an artist painting a picture, how do they know when it's finished?
 
Thanks again