Have You Got It Yet?

by @headfirstonly Mod

Liner Notes

I needed to take a day or two off this weekend, but I'm back at it today. Go #big or go home, right? Time to wheel out Spitfire Audio's BBC Symphony #Orchestra string section. And the Strat. And the Korg M3's many sampled #prog organ sounds. And some shakers.

The first stanza was inspired by a passage from W. H Auden's sequence “Bucolics”, part II, “Woods“ which reads:

"This great society is going smash; They cannot fool us with how fast they go, How much they cost each other and the gods. A culture is no better than its woods."

Lyrics

This great society is going to smash at last; Now billionaires have fired every person that they could While presidential felonies lurk, buried in the past. A tariff is a cost paid by the purchasers of goods.

The sort of person who is keen on burning books wants to hide the crimes they'd rather you forget The situation here is even worse than it looks, not getting better. Tell me: have you got it yet?

Comments

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The way you go from an almost classical sound to a rock and roll sound feels like making the connection between history and the present, as well as increasing the urgency of the message.

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I just downloaded the BBC Symphony and started playing with it last night. This is a great example of the kind of texture and current it offers. Great track!

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@kembole

Took a while to get really started. But worth the wait. Happy to see some musical approaches that wouldn't come to my mind. Like the main bass line. And the organ melody too. We need some all arounder flautist to our community, this really screams for some. But great without it too!

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Great lyrical parts. True, wise words indeed. The music glues this together in massive groove. I love the warm sounds here, really a treat!

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@cts

Killer groove. Oh man, really killer groove. I'm hearing a good deal of arrangement practices you've schooled me on in the past. I like the organ following the bass line; an opportunity I tend to miss on my songs a lot. Big ol' finish, too! Much appreciated on this one, sir.

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this song is the center of a venn diagram of ... of what? of literature, and political satire, and hammond organ. and the madness of it is that it effing WORKS and you are the most at it!

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Massive wall of sound. I love the narration effect although the actual words make me sad and slightly depressed. I love hearing you play guitar. The solo was great at 2:20 or so but what came towards the end was even better. Your production chops are enviable. Such an enjoyable listen...

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Yessir! This is a whole world unto itself. Love the opening piano section and how it gives way to the rock. And, goodness me I love the political songs that this FAWM has brought out of so many. The delivery of the second stanza gives me Central Scrutinizer vibes. Great work

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The transition to the full on prog wig was so good. That sort of vocoder style bass is awesome. The first part was like something off an Adam Curtis doc so it was quite a change. Really enjoyed. I’m impressed by how you inhabit two very different personas in the same song. Very cool.

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Oh my gosh, at first I thought this was like a sample from a famous beach that I didn't recognize. I love how you put this together. It's so lush and so ominous... I was not expecting that symphonic soundscape to morph into rock! I've got it, but I think people who really need to get it are not anywhere near close yet. This is an awesome composition. I really enjoyed my listen.

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Loved the lushness of the sound and the unexpected turns the song takes. Powerful in a very refined way. Will definitely explore your stuff further (I find myself a bit overwhelmed by the entire FAWM experience—there are, uh, lots of sounds for one neurodivergent mind to process).

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@hanley

Ah, love me some BBC symphony orchestra, used to full effect here. It's rather dark, but totally fitting of the theme. Wow, really picked it up a notch once those electric guitars come in. I'm getting reminiscence of the 'War of The Worlds' soundtrack with how epic and grand the arrangement is.

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Your speaking voice reminds me or Robert Fripp's in spite of your accents being very different. There's a similar cadence there in the first verse.

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some lovely progressions in the opening... really groovin with that hammond line... there is something unsettling in the staccato backing which obvs suits perfectly the theme. ooh that hammond line though. love how the groove of that flows into the guitar solo outro... nice ending :)

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@lcad

Ooh. I'm always awed when people write prog, this was a treat and delightful surprise. I get echos of Genesis and shades of King Crimson. Super cool melody and progression with loads of colour, tension and storytelling.

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@leencha

Lovely piano, with a strange twist with one note and later a different chord. The strings or magnificent! Chord progression later on is good also. Then the drums come in, sounds like prog. Then there is a part I would change a bit, make a bit less long maybe? And then it breaks loose. I think personaly that the clav sound that has the same rythm than something higher, could sound better with longer notes for example or a slightly different melody. But that is maybe personal opinion. Organ and electric guitar are ace too! Your producing skills are ace!

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@audrey

Wow! This is amazing! Reminds me of both Genesis and Yes. What a fabulous full sound with so many interesting changes happening while maintaining a lovely cohesion to it all. Great spoken word lyric speaking the truth too. Love it!

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Wow this is cool and dang you're a heavy-hitter! Was not expecting that transition to the guitar and it hit really hard in a great way. One thing is the organ or whatever is playing the droning chords in the background around 2:00 I think is preventing the nature/clarity of the chord progression from coming through, but that's a minor thing. Great track!

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The main theme to the horror movie called real life? 😀 The switch-up makes it quite a different beast!

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@wynia

This was so epic I had to listen twice. Love it, cool AF. I was really drawn in by the spoken lyrics and the shift to more uptempo worked so well. Love love love the instrumental guitar solo over organ and bass. That quote from WH Auden is going to turn over in my head for a while. Great listen 💚

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@sirius

Big but light, light but grave, grave but PROG!!! What a compelling sonic journey with the orchestra intro and then that mad groove. Excellence, excellence, excellence... The guitar moment is totally glorious and exhilarating. Awesome!

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Ohh yes, I enjoy the drama this one is soaked in. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but that groove and the instrumentation around it was such an enjoyable curveball. Tonnes of fun this, and excellent lead guitar line

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Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! You know I love the "message" and this orchestration is AWESOME! ❤️

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The drum groove takes this one off, well done progression throughout!

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This is compact power! It’s like the spring could uncoil at any moment! Oo oo it’s going funky. Oh and no they haven’t got it yet!

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@jgale

Really enjoyed the ride on this one. I can feel the truth shaking out of the maracas now. :shake-shake-shake-shake: Nothing stays buried forever, not even that sweet, sweet electric guitar that I enjoyed in the last song of yours I commented on. Stunning finish. Tada! MAGICIAN!

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Fabulous! Very dark and energetic. I especially like the guitar and organ parts in the 2nd half. The guitar tone is powerful and authoritative. Excellent vocals, too!

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@beacon

Truth followed by a journey through the chaotic parts of my mind. Great way to present this message.

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Starts off so smooth and then holy cow it gets FUNKY. That grizzly spoken word fits so nicely over the groove. A worrying amount of people haven't got it yet, but clearly you have, and thank heavens for that.

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@fuzzy

Ah, I thought this was gonna be about Syd Barrett's infamous "song". But this is so much better; I agree entirely. Nice bass cruising in low like a stealth bomber. Oh yeah, love the guitar. Great listen here for sure.

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@sapient

Oh, so smooth... and then whoosh! Off we go! Into Jordan Rudess territory! I'm getting distinct echoes of some of the more melodic and listenable bits of Liquid Tension Experiment 🤩

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Drama drama drama, love it. BBC symphony is rally the bomb isn't it? There is a lot of Floyd in you young man.

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@mbmusic

Oooh this is really nice! Lots of surprises I wasn't expecting from the intro. It really built up nicely. Great composition. I really like it!

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@b3nut

Fabulous bit of prog!! Bringing the truth too. Love the guitar and keyboard work here.

[FAWM]