Let me ask you: What do YOU think of the sound?  Lend me your ears ().  Am I just being too hard on myself?

 
The sound I am hearing is a very clear one - The Instruments and The Voice. Very pristine with an edge of precision, in relation to the sound quality/recording.
 
Asking people here to 'lend their ears' and restrict their natural urge to review the structure must be 'killing them' - some have broken that barrier already. I'm sure many here are just itching to 'point the way' - but your restriction stands.
 
As to you 'being too hard on yourself', I would say so - Yes. My perception is that you are meticulous in what you are doing and what you want to achieve, and are determined to do it come hell or high water. Now the crux of the matter is that you have an ideal in mind that you want to hear. Your reality (and lets face it, recordings are a huge smack in the face with reality) is not matching that ideal - no matter how much you change, adjust, purchase, modify, realign, and so on, and on, and on. 
 
As usual here in the forum, others have provided many excellent suggestions for where to go next with gear. My suggestion would be to take a step back, mentally. Mentally rest and relax into the creative process rather than spending your time striving to acquire it, or insisting on how it should be. The (mental) act of trying to force a result is separating you from making your own clear judgement of your work.
 
Clearly you enjoy creating music and the recording/mixing process. Don't let 'perfection seeking' eat away at what you love doing and get so much pleasure and contentment from.
 
Pete

It's definitely good recording quality, but the voice is a bit thin and has me wondering if you are singing with your chin up, as many do unconciously when singing high notes. It makes things worse.
Pultec is a nice EQ to get a warmer,fuller voice. see here:
https://mixedbymarcmozart.com/2015/04/02/classic-eqs-and-how-to-use-them-in-your-mix/
That along with reverb so little that you can't tell it's on, should definitely help.
And Melodyne to fix a few notes.

petec and frragnarsson-
Thanks for "lending your ears" and your suggestions.  petec-You are right about the meticulousness that sometimes makes me a bit mental.  But as you say, I have to back off and "take a rest"
 
JB

Also, I should've mentioned from the git go-The bridge section of the song starting with "The never should've cried....thru "leave me only..... "sounds weird intentionally.  The first part has a flanger and the second has a phaser set to "old radio". 

You might want to take a look at Ozone's Nectar 2 Vocal Production Suite - it's excellent. Everything you need for vocals all in one plugin.
 
It's a real pity they stopped doing Nectar Elements as it was much cheaper, and everything you needed to get a reasonable vocal sound with one click. I upgraded to Nectar 2 VPS to get more tweakability, but I still sometimes use elements during the writing process when I just want quick results fast.
 
M.

msmcleod
You might want to take a look at Ozone's Nectar 2 Vocal Production Suite - it's excellent. Everything you need for vocals all in one plugin.
 
It's a real pity they stopped doing Nectar Elements as it was much cheaper, and everything you needed to get a reasonable vocal sound with one click. I upgraded to Nectar 2 VPS to get more tweakability, but I still sometimes use elements during the writing process when I just want quick results fast.
 
M.

 
I'd argue against turd polishing. I think the OP John, is on the right track with thinking about input first. The best recordings are those that capture naturally what is there using suitable gear. This involves a good signal path and a good room. He's almost there, very close.  
 
I like what Pete is also saying, forget the gear, just enjoy your hobby and don't stress yourself trying to sound like something that might not ever happen.
But John might even have all he needs on hand already and at this point if it was me I'd be spending a weekend trying each combination of gear in turn, lay down a dozen different vocal tracks each using the different signal path, pour a drink and sit back and listen. 
 
I can be a real shocker when you swap out your $400 LCD for a Beta 58 and go , wow, that sounds much better! 
( By the way, I traded in the LCD for a TC Voice Live Acoustic ) 

"turd polishing".....LOL

I agree totally with the simple suggestions first. Closer to the mic for more body and I also have to say a lower \different key.
The key of the song has much to do with how it sounds "sonically" as you put it.
But you state reasons why you do not want to change the key. I disagree that all songs have to be in the same key to tell a story throughout the project.
But obviously you don't feel that way. Why you would settle for out of tune notes instead of trying a different key is beyond me.
I also do not think it sounds as bad as you feel it does. 
What jumps out at me the most are the "out of tune" notes mainly at the end of some lines.
 
Feel free to flame me now for crossing a line when I am only trying to help.....

Agree with others here that it's not dirty or gritty, it's actually very clean and I would echo:
 
- compression early in the signal chain, not a lot just a few db, CA2A would probably be my choice
- parallel compression with your comp of choice.  CA2A works well here, and blend subtly
- fix the reverb, maybe try to eq the reverb to match the music and create the space you want.
- add some harmonics, not very much.  Maybe just the console emulator on the entire vocal path?
 
Dave

stratman70
I agree totally with the simple suggestions first. Closer to the mic for more body and I also have to say a lower \different key.
The key of the song has much to do with how it sounds "sonically" as you put it.
But you state reasons why you do not want to change the key. I disagree that all songs have to be in the same key to tell a story throughout the project.
But obviously you don't feel that way. Why you would settle for out of tune notes instead of trying a different key is beyond me.
I also do not think it sounds as bad as you feel it does. 
What jumps out at me the most are the "out of tune" notes mainly at the end of some lines.
 
Feel free to flame me now for crossing a line when I am only trying to help.....

My, what an attitude we have! Most people who have responded to this thread have respected my wishes and gave good advise without mentioning how they feel about the artistic integrity of the song!  Why does it offend some of you that I don't wish a review on this song?  I stopped putting up my songs for review because so many of you seem to think they suck and I got tired of hearing the same "your instruments don't sound real" and "your melody is too complicated, etc. 
 
You want me to apologize?  Fine!  I'm sorry I like "complicated" melodies.
I'm sorry I have to use sample libraries that are very difficult to make sound real.  I TRY!
I'm sorry I like my music to be in certain keys.
 
I really just wanted advise on clarity.  I don't need or want advise on how to write a song.
 
The main reason I don't post songs for review is people with superior attitudes like yours (stratman) seem to dominate this forum!
 
My mistake for thinking I could put a sample up here for some technical advice without the damned flaming.  I don't need any more advise on this.  Thank you.