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Monkey in the Middle

by @quork 

Feb 20   harmonica mandolin blues

Artist Favorite

Liner Notes

I love the inspiration that is FAWM. And when it hits it's a beautiful thing. It hit for this song, my 57 year manifesto.

3 different mouth harps used in this song. Key of Am(ish), I used F (intro), C (solo) and G (third break).

And the first time I used an actual bass.

Lyrics

In the end
Reaper comes calling worms come crawling
Don’t matter green grey or blue
Long as the light shines through
I ain’t hiding
Mighty god come looking for me
Laying it out for the world to see

Monkey in the middle
Jumping up and down
Reaching for the stars
Falling on the ground

In the beginning
Cast in squalling
Ride the madness
Fast and slow
Make it up as I go

Monkey in the middle
Jumping up and down
Reaching for the stars
Falling on the ground

Do my best do my worst
Round and round
Back on that horse
Stand tall fall back down

Monkey in the middle
Jumping up and down
Reaching for the stars
Falling on the ground

<Solo>

I ain’t lying
-42
Northern lights are dancing
I want to dance with you

<harp then mandolin solo>

Comments

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  • @metalfoot  6 days

    Really deep and rocking song. Love the vocal register here. Awesome job all around.

  • @yarimurray  4 weeks

    Great vibe and performance! All the elements serve the material and your delivery drips with pathos.

  • @fonte  6 weeks

    Oh VIBES man. This is GREAT! Love the harmonica, what a huge sound you got from that. Love it when the drums kick in, was not expecting it but it's a great pattern, and can imagine a drummer doing that.

  • @standup  6 weeks

    Great dark sound, really nice rootsy groove. Catchy chorus, and I love the harp in the intro. Lots of layers, the mando and electric guitar combine nicely.

    I guess that's all us humans, reaching for the stars and falling on the ground.

    The tone of the harp has a great edge to it.

  • @timfatchen  6 weeks

    Kudos on the bass! It takes years to pluck up the courage and then--the discovery it adds so much more life than cheating with a keyboard! The mandolin shines in this like little flashes of light through the dark.

    There's an authentic live feel to this, some say "loose" but I like loose--who'd be deadbeat, especially in a give-death-the-universe-everything-the-finger-and LIVE song?

  • @crutherford  7 weeks

    what a vibe this song is.
    there is a grittiness and a space in the storytelling that i really love
    also, some wonderful playing
    i just looked at previous comments and see the word gritty coming up a lot - i see this as a good thing
    but i'm going to elaborate on my version
    there is a feeling of truth to this song that i really appreciate
    it's one i would like to listen to a few times to dig my brain into it
    wonderful tune.
    so happy you mentioned it in the forums
    bravo

  • @ayehahmur  7 weeks

    This has a really nice loose and rough feel to it. The guitar is gritty, the drums jazz-lazy, the vocal smoky, and it all works so well together to create that Waitsian kinda atmosphere. Love this kind of lyric too, oblique and evocative and full of intriguing images. "Monkey In The Middle" is exactly the kind of track title I gravitate to.
    And the harmonica and mandolin spots are a fantastic addition of brightness to the whole affair. Excellent work.

  • @oldlostjohn  7 weeks

    Rough, dark and gritty, excellent stuff. This is a piece of strong writing and dead on arrangement and performance. The mean voice and distorted harmonica, love the drums too.

  • @kimbeggs  7 weeks

    nice and rolling dark Richard. owww!

  • @mandolinda  7 weeks

    Again, beautiful mandolin notes, and solo.

  • @laotranati 8 weeks

    I really the drum beat, it was unexpected for me at least. I also love the lines "jumping up and down, reaching for the stars, falling on the ground". And... a harmonica and harp and mandolin solo? Cool stuff

  • @alg123  8 weeks

    Also, great production!

  • @alg123  8 weeks

    Love the chunky roll of this. Chorus is great - monkey in the middle, us humans on our ridiculous and profound quests...

  • @owl  8 weeks

    Ooh that harmonica though! Love the attitude here, the low growling vocal notes against the shimmery mandolin are great. Love these lyrics too, kind of almost a nursery rhyme full of meditations about mortality.

  • @crisp1  8 weeks

    Great hook and that's a mean harmonica you play there! Cool way to go out!

  • @unkept 8 weeks

    I can never have enough harmonica! Liked the drums and the backing vocals especially, and the mood and lyrics fit together to make a great mood. Nice work!

  • @jonmeta  8 weeks

    The chorus is really solid and hooky. And a mando solo-- yay! I like the way the overdriven electric guitar works with the mandolin and blues harp(s) to create a sound that's part back porch, part roadhouse.

    The key of Am(ish) must be from the days of horse drawn carriages and no electricity!

  • @jmadison  8 weeks

    Man, I really like how the bass moves you along in the song. The harp and mando really work well on this deep blues tune. Nice.

  • @scubed  8 weeks

    What a cool gritty blues vibe! The harmonicas sound great, and the lovely mando outro is a nice touch. I love the chorus! Really, really enjoyable track.

  • @dzdandcunfsd  Feb 22

    😮 well you've just left me mostly speechless with this one......other than this just grooves the truth! Kudos!

  • @johnstaples  Feb 22

    Ya had me at Monkey in the Middle!! Plus, harmonica and mandolin doing the blues? Yes, please! Nice song. Good write and nicely performed!

  • @sjbatavia  Feb 22

    Man, this is NICE. I really like the raw vocals.
    "Reaching for the stars, Falling in the ground."
    "Northern lights are dancing. I want to dance with you."
    Strong lyrics!

  • @mikeb Feb 22

    Rough and ready blues. Mando outro lead was unexpected for the style, worked well.

  • @theodamus  Feb 21

    I listened to this while I was working this morning and was annoyed when it ended and the album didn’t continue - you clearly took me way beyond FAWM-land! Love how the laid back vibe carries through all the elements, this has a Morphine kinda feel to me.. I really like it.

  • @jyllian Feb 21

    Great vibe! I love the harps too, the scratchiness of your voice, and the chorus.

  • @natalieedelson  Feb 21

    this is great - love the harps and the gritty yet laid back Tom Waits kinda vibe . Chorus is killer.

  • @billwhite51 Feb 21

    now thus is a truly authentic modern blues number,, hard hitting lyric,,insistent funeral beat. those harmonicas are out of this world and the mandolin adds a light touch at the end. at the top of it all are those vocals. most blues musicians are stuck in a lexicon of phrases that have no pertinance to their own lives,,,but the unaffected honesty in your voice and the freshness of your word palette makes me believe in every word you sing and every note you play.

  • @billwhite51 Feb 21

    now thus is a truly authentic modern blues number,, hard hitting lyric,,insistent funeral beat. those harmonicas are out of this world and the mandolin adds a light touch at the end. at the top of it all are those vocals. most blues musicians are stuck in a lexicon of phrases that have no pertinance to their own lives,,,but the unaffected honesty in your voice and the freshness of your word palette makes me believe in every word you sing and every note you play.

  • @wolfkier Feb 21

    There's a blues in that screaming harp, weathered voice and the esoteric/mystical lyric. Loving on the line : "northern lights are dancing, I want to dance with you".

  • @ustaknow Feb 21

    Yes, excellent.

    I'd've been pinching myself on some of the vocal accents with water-pump pliers to push that edge just a little bit more 😀 (maybe a small hammer to a finger even 😉 ) - probably a little Rye, w/Honey chaser... hahhh. (Well, it's what I wash my harps with anyway 😀 )

    So used a Shaker Mic or got the distortion in the mix? Anyway, really nice fuzz on the last one. Great real drums? And, yes, that's what a Bass is for, - dimension, nice dimension there.

    I'll come back and listen again later, - wonderful.

  • @burrsettles  Feb 20

    Nice gritty instrumentation and vocal delivery, has a sort of Tom Waits / Kaisers Orchestra vibe going on. Nice work!

  • @amelea Feb 20

    I'm glad I found this 57 year manifesto. These lyrics definitely question big things. (And thank you for reminding me of that Monkey In The Middle game, I totally forgot). The mouth harps, bass, guitar, and drums all work interestingly together here, great work.

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