I lost my first wife (the lady on the avatar pic with me) to cancer a little more than 3 years ago.  A few days ago I was playing around with a chord progression and the first idea that jumped out at me was a song about losing your love to death.  The day before she passed I was so much in shock and disbelief that I didn't say these things to her on her death bed.  I reasoned at the time that since she was heavily sedated (in "comfort mode" as she told me earlier not to allow the hospital to use extraordinary measures to keep her alive and just let nature take its course) that she could not hear me anyway.  People have told me since that she probably could have heard me and understood me.  For so long I regretted not having talked more to her at that moment.  The lyrics in this song are what I wish I would've said to her on that day.  A loving farewell to the love of my life for more than 30 years,  a wish I could see her one more day to tell her these things, and a hope that she does now know.
 
https://johnbowen.bandcamp.com/track/through-the-storm
 
Enjoy!  John B.

Really touching lyrics John and a really sweet tune (reminded me of Gilbert O'Sullivan - I'm a fan) .
With something this personal, I'm not sure I could have got through the vocal without breaking down so bravo for that.
There's also a deeper message about telling people how we feel while we can and I think that's true of all relationships.
Live life now, right?
 

So sorry for your loss. You made a beautiful tribute here, one I'm sure she hears and loves.

Love that piano voice!! Tender lyrics!

Thanks all! 
I was hoping to get into a discussion over at the Toontrack forum regarding this song, but so far nobody's shown any interest.  I wrote this tune in a different way than usual.  Some here might be familiar wit Toontrack's products (EZ Keys and EZ Drummer) but for the benefit of those who aren't, in addition to the samples, they feature browser presets which feature MIDI patterns recorded by session players.  You are free to use them royalty free, and they say that indeed, many pro writers use these tools.  The way they illustrate using EZ Keys is use them per song structure. The typical structures they offer feature Intro, Verse, Pre Chorus, Chorus and Bridge.  This is how you build your song by chaining each of these elements.  Ive seen a YouTube vid where they had two writers literally pull the two bar patterns straight into the song builder and write over that, adding just vocal/lyric and bass.  Bim-Bam-Boon, done!  New song.  I've always looked at this as not being original and more like a collab, which is OK (other than the fact that you don't know the name of your collaborator to give them credit).  The way I write with this mostly (as these patterns are 100% editable) is I'll come up with a chord progression, then I'll go through the presets and chop them up creating an amalgam of diverse patterns in my own chord progression, which, to me, makes it more original and can make for some pretty interesting backgrounds.  But with this song I just this once wanted to see how it would work "their way".  I wasn't even going to finish writing it but the music had such an impact to me to write these lyrics for my late wife, so I went ahead and finished it.   I've heard it said the main part of a song is the melody/lyrics and 100 different writers could each make a different and unique melody and lyric, but what I can't get out of my head is that if 100 people used the same preset structure as I did here, who could claim the copyright?  But then again, the piano articulations and chord progression constitute background and may not be subject to copyright.  Since I couldn't get anybody interested in this discussion over at Toontrack, I'm hoping to hear some of your thoughts here.
Again, thanks to all who listen.
John B.

John,
 
Really fine song and a great tribute for your late wife.   Many great songs are the result of someone's loss and these songs are most meaningful to the listener, particularly when the listener can identify with the message from a current or past experience.    Your story is quite compelling and the song is as well.
 
Regarding your copyright question, it is really the melody and lyrics that are copyrighted.  Licks, articulations, chord progressions, royalty free loops, etc.. are not subject to copyright in most cases.  There are exceptions, like if you sampled another copyrighted performance and used it in your production.    Many songs these days are created from commercial loops, Apple Loops, Band-In-A-Box, etc.. . You are using another musicians performance, since someone made these MIDI loops but you paid for this performance when you bought the product so pretty much the same idea as if you paid a studio musician to play a part for you.   These contributions don't make it any less, your song, your idea, or your invention.    Look at the latitude David Bowie gave his contributing musicians, he was a creative guy but left a lot of decisions to people he considered much more versed on their instrument than himself. 
 
Anyway, great song. 
 
Regards

Oh man. That's so Saudade - a Portuguese word for "Melancholic longing or nostalgia for a person, place or thing that is far away from you."
 
I wanted to hear your music because I saw your song is called 'Through The Storm' ... which is also half the title of my recent addition to the forum here - Abide With Me (through the storm).
 
Your song, you heart-felt words and experience are very touching. Find myself holding back the tears because I know that one day, this will be happening to me, most likely. C.S. Lewis said, (if you've ever watched the movie with Anthony Hopkins called, 'Shadowlands') "all human relationships end in suffering". What a sad truth this is. I pray you are getting through this grief and that working it out in song helps you along. 
 
Constructive Critique:

• Mix is great! I'm liking mostly everything here in its current shape. 
• I think your voice should have a little bit more compression or some other software 'lift' so you're more consistently sitting above the mix by a bit. 
• Emotion is raw, and in that, pitch wavers, just like your voice does when (I'm certain) talking about your loss. Do you have some good pitch correction tools? V-Voice in Sonar could do some great things, but just look at the graph and only edge up to the line (the right notes, in other words) what's necessary and KEEP THE SHAPE ... no straight-lining! (No need to sound like T-pain or Cher!)

You remind me of Canada's 'Gilbert O'Sullivan' a bit, in your style/presentation. ('Alone Again, Naturally').
 
I strongly suggest that you take the time to watch 'Shadowlands' when you have a moment that you can handle it. 
 
May God be with you 'through the storm' , if'n you don't mind me prayin' out loud for you that way.
 
Take care,
Martin D.
 
 
 
 

@markno-Thanks.  That's a good way to look at the copyright issue.  I always thought that it was melody and/or lyric that was copyright-able.  It brings to mind "Werewolves of London" (Warren Zevon) "All Summer Long" (Kid Rock) and even "Sweet Home Alabama" (Lynyrd Skynyrd).  Practically the same background but different songs entirely.
 
@Flagrant Regard-Thanks for your kind words.  It was three years ago and I have moved forward with my life in all ways possible, but the pain I know will never go away.  I don't expect it to, but it is easier, especially with the ability to "get it off my chest" with music.
 
Regarding the technical issues-I don't have V-Voice as this is Sonar X3, but I do have Melodyne 4.  I was going to use it for the few spots where pitch correction is necessary but I didn't bother.  I'm a 62 year old asthmatic and it's more of a struggle singing with every project.  If I use inhalers like Symbicort, it only makes it worse.  I suppose in another year or two I won't be able to sing at all, but thanks for the suggestions.
 
John B.

Nice work, John.   I am sure she would love this...
 
FWIW, that you were able to pull this off with asthma is impressive.