Happy Easter, Passover, or whatever it may be that you are celebrating, if anything, at this time of the year.

Been away for a while - will catch up with everyone's songs asap.

I also want to apologise profusely to everyone I did not get the chance to thank for their kind comments on my last couple of songs. Things got busy all of a sudden, here, and I just did not get the chance to - and I don't want to bump those songs up again, it's been a while. So: please accept all my thanks, one and all, for putting up with me and my sometimes wayward musical creations.

Anyway, here's another one ... see what you think? Just one note of explanation: when I was young, I watched those Karate Kid movies, where the old karate master had retired, and was occupying his days with painting his fence. The expression stayed in my mind, as an example of a quiet, retired, somewhat detached life, "far from the madding crowd", so to speak ... and it's found its way into this song, now. Hope you enjoy it

Painting A Fence


THE LYRICS:

There's thousands of songs around just like these,
Unwritten words on paper, floating in the breeze,
And now, to avoid feeling ever so tense,
You will forever find me painting a fence.

There's thousands of words I could have said to you,
So many songs I could have written, it's true,
But now that my life no longer makes sense,
You will forever find me painting a fence.

I could beg you so hard not to leave me here,
I could pray the Lord to make you my heart hear;
But, if you came back thus, it would be mere pretense ...
So you will find me, now, as ever, painting a fence.

For, now that you are gone, and now there is no point
To dwell on what has been (at least, from my viewpoint),
There is just no more reason for me to get so tense,
To write any more songs, it just does not make sense ...

*****

There is just no more reason for me to get so tense,
To write any more songs, it just does not make sense ...

So please, if you come back, you'll find me painting a fence.


THE BAND:

****** Song Summary *************
Title: Painting A Fence - 1 April 2024
File:Painting A Fence - 1 April 2024.SGU
Key=C , Tempo 82, Length (m:s)=3:01
No intro. 58 bar chorus, from bar 1 to bar 58. Repeat x1 chorus
No Melody
No Soloist track.
Song is saved with Volume, Pan, Reverb, Chorus, Bank0,
Style is _ENTENTE.STY (Entente Nashville Rock)

RealTracks in style: 4020:Bass, Electric, ModernCountry16ths Ev16 075
RealTracks in style: 2825:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm CountryPopMike12-key Ev 085
RealTracks in style: 1002:Guitar, 12-String Acoustic, Rhythm ClassicRockA-B Ev16 065
RealDrums in style:NashBrushBalDbKEv16^2-a: Snare, HiHat , b: QuarterRide, Snare

*******************

Mixed and recorded in Mixcraft Pro Studio 10, with some EQ and reverb applied.

Well, James, I celebrate every day I wake up. Not sure why, but when i read the title I was thought of a local boy, Russ Bufalino, and also Hitler. SO glad your wonderful song got that out of my head. Very cool how you connect the movie to the song. Still, it makes a LOT of sense for you to keep writing these good songs. I can't imagine how beautiful that fence would look if these songs sounds this good. Well done. Wax on, brother, and wane no more.

Hi, James.

I and almost hear you singing here!

Pleasant but sad song.

For me, the phase "painting a fence" reminds me of Tom Sawyer, but that's a generation or two away from you.

Nicely done!

Well done James.

We much like the excellent ending with the protagonist finding peace.

Good endings are good!
In song and life.

Enjoyed it!

J&B

James, this is a little different from your recent posts and very distinctive style, and I like it a lot. Cool progression and touching lyrics, tenderly almost sung (as David observed). A really nice one!

James, you painted a real good picture with this song.
The man of spoken word creates another winner.
I hope you do keep writing more songs: It makes sense to do so as many of us enjoy them.
Super song.

PS - When you are done painting the fence I have a couple of paint jobs for you

Marty: thanks! You're too kind, as always. Glad I got the bad imagery out of your head, haha. And yes, "wax on" is the exact quote from exactly the correct movie - thanks so much for listening, and for such thoughtful comments ... again, as always!

David Cuny: a little secret: I sing whenever the harmony is simple enough for me to predict what chord is coming When I write complicated harmonies, which I sometimes do, I need to either write down the melody - in notation form, or else just talk, otherwise my voice will make a mess, over the complicated harmonies, since I don't know what chord's coming next. In other words, I'm a lazy so and so, who's too lazy to write the chord symbols over his lyrics. There is a way to do this in BIAB, I think, but I haven't discovered it yet, so ... hope this elucidates matters, somewhat, haha ... thanks for listening, anyway, and for your kind comments!

Janice and Bud: yes, good endings are always to be hoped for Thanks so much for your listening, and for commenting so kindly!

DC Ron: you're kind. Thanks!

Mario D: thank you so much. I am actually considering whether to write more songs, right now, or not ... and the reason for that is that I think my older songs are better, and I'm "hitting a wall", inspiration-wise, these days. Don't know what's happened, maybe I've said everything I have to say, for now, who knows. Anyway Ready to help with any painting jobs, though I ought to let you know that, in "real life", I'm a disaster at all things DIY ... musician's fingers and all that (or, at least, that's my excuse ) ... so, if you don't mind me making a complete mess of whatever you want me to paint, I'm ready to help! Thanks again for such amazingly kind comments!

Excellent tune James. Very creative lyric and excellent vocal delivery. Well done..

Thanks so much, Scott, appreciated!

James,

As always, so well done... Love the lyrics and your performance. Great mix as well.

Excellent!

Bob

I remember 'Karate Kid' and I like the "fence" concept, you have used it in a touching way that resonates with me. But I hope that the next phase is not going to be watching the paint dry

The instrumentation is very pleasant and the chord progression is very interesting, rapid unexpected changes surprise - impossible to guess what chord comes next

Janne

Bob: thanks. Very kind of you!

Janne: watching the paint dry is somehow meditative in itself, so why not? We'll see! but thank you so much for your comments, I'm glad you liked the song!

Hi James.

I really like this presentation.

It might interest you to know that before I read your introductory comments and started listening to the song, I read the lyrics in full. This is how I usually prepare myself for listening to User Showcase songs. When I finished reading your lyric, the thought in my mind was, "This reminds me of Mr. Miyagi in 'The Karate Kid' movie." Then when I read what you'd written to introduce the listeners to your song, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Mr. Miyagi was indeed to inspiration for your work

The way that I heard these lyrics is that you've used the metaphor of 'painting a fence' as way of saying: "Through good and bad times, this is how I keep myself balanced and in equilibrium with the world." This really resonated with me. For the last 12 months, Life has been filled with health-related ups and downs for me. It's been a bit of a roller-coaster ride. I suspect that this is why I was able to empathise with your lyrics so strongly.

Thanks for sharing another fine effort. I sincerely appreciated the journey you took me on.

All the best,
--Noel

Noel, thank you so much for your very thoughtful comments, and sorry it took me so long to respond. First of all, I hope that your health is better, and that the roller-coaster ride you've been on, for the past 12 months, has given way to some plain sailing, at last!

"Painting a fence" ... yes, equilibrium, but also closure. I guess the message also says, to the lady in the song: "I'm done playing your games, whatever happens from now on, I shall be painting a fence". So yes: it is indeed about equilibrium, but, I think, especially about the equilibrium one gains after a tempestuous relationship. Sometimes, one just has to go to "paint one's fence", after such a time, otherwise one will forever be caught in the maelstrom of game-playing, regrets, etc., no?

I'm glad you've enjoyed this song - you are kind and generous in your comments. I'm not sure what will be next, for me, writing-wise ... I guess I'm as curious as anyone to see "what next" Thanks again for such kind words, for this one!

Nicely done James.
I have to admit to being trepidatious because of the lack of plural agreement in the 1st line, (There're thousands of songs around just like these).
Cool that you've based the song on a strong analogy.
Well done.