Hold The Devil Down

by @sapient

Hold The Devil Down
sapient
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Liner Notes

"Bzzzt.. crackle... We now interrupt the scheduled broadcast for today to bring you something quite different..."

Bit of a backstory to this one. For about a year now I've been taking singing lessons, and absolutely LOVING it. The usual Sapient "big voice", as I've taken to calling it, comes so easily to me, and I wanted to really challenge myself to see what else there is in there.

As a run-up to FAWM I've been working with my vocal coach on how melodies work, what the underlying chords can do, and practicing melodic improvisation. My homework for this week was to write a simple song in E major about a sunny day that's overshadowed by dark clouds.

To say I failed at this assignment might not be completely true. This song IS in E major after all, but I'm not sure I really totally nailed the brief... oops...

However, I come away from the experience with a new-found respect for all of you who actually use proper chords and think hard about chord progressions and how to turn them into songs. I find the chugga-chugga SO MUCH EASIER 😀

#not_metal #lovesong #maybe

Lyrics

Blue sky flecked with grey
At the edges of my heart
Shadows dancing on the water
Mark the moments we’re apart

Sunlight pools in corners
Dust sparkles in the air
Staring down these lonely hours
But my ghosts don’t seem to care

Feed me stories
Feed me lies
Give me everything that dies
I turn the day round
I hold the devil down
For you

At night I miss it most
Love pushing at the door
Footsteps just behind me
There’s nothing I want more

Feed me stories
Feed me lies
Give me everything that dies
I turn the day round
I hold the devil down
For you

Bitter ashes of better days
The foolish take their turn
Star-crossed lovers stand
As sorrow starts to burn

Feed me stories
Feed me lies
Give me everything that dies
I turn the day round
I hold the devil down
For you

You fed me stories
You fed me lies
I still want everything that dies
I’ll break this new ground
I’ll hold this devil down
With you

Comments

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I guess I'll be having this stuck in my head for the foreseeable future. Very catchy, beautiful melodies and there's definitely some overshadowing going on.
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Folk Pop! Brilliant. You sound a little like your neighbour. I can understand how some of his particular kind of brilliance could have rubbed off. Nicely done.
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I thought I must’ve accidentally clicked on someone else’s home page. There’s no chugga happening here!
Seriously, great arrangement. I really like the organ in the middle 8 section and that delayed clean lead.
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That chorus! There are parts of this song--instrumentally, melodically--that have a sunny, 1960s soft rock vibe, but that veil of gloom gives it real weight. Love the "hold the devil down" refrain, which is both catchy and suffused with feeling.
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This is truly lovely. Your voice is sounding great and those harmonies are lush. Nicely done!
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What a pretty sound. Good work; but will the Gods of Metal accept your votive offering or will they be displeased? Doesn't matter - this i lovely.
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Loving those harmonies! You caught me out with the title, I was expecting something heavier, but this is really sweet. More of this sort of thing please.
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Good sounding guitar and vocals. Well written and well executed
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Well you did a darn good job to my ears! Really nicely done! Funny how we always recognise the skills in others but sometimes forget our own! The whole song has a really nice comfortable feel. Some lovely 60s slightly alt feels in here like the zombies or traffic.
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Way to get out of your comfort zone! And yeah, chord progressions. They're a neat songwriting tool.
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This rips. What I love about your wordsmithing is the sense of betrayal. Great hooks, progressions and harmony. P.S. I'd never heard of Ulver before, thanks for the rec!
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Oh, you big tease. Every verse feels like it's about to erupt into a chugga-chugga hellstorm. Had to listen twice just to calm my paranoia.

Right, second time round. Appreciating the ebb and flow as being on theme for song. The stark, stormy 'metal' lyrics are quite at home in this genre. Some of us just have to try to hold the devil down quietly.

Even thinking back as recently as 'Roads go on', I can see the work you're putting in to your vocals and chord progressions are paying off.
[avatar]
I clicked on the song because it has "Devil" in the title just to find your famous #not_metal tag and be surprised about how your clean singing improved. You have a very warm mix and production. Great stuff. The bridge is so cool.
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The New Age Sensitive Sapient is pretty cool. I can relate to holding the devil down-there's that little self-dstructive part of ourselves that we always need to keep an eye on for sure.
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Blimey, you sound like Dan Treacy from Television Personalities! Nice one Peter! The chorus certainly is an earworm. I gave it more than one listen and I like it a lot.
And a big round of applause for your vocal teacher.
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love your vocals and the song proves that simple structures can be effective if the melodies are good enough.
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Wow, I knew this was in there! I guess I helped to nudge you out a bit last year?

This is great and, dare I say, sweet? You've been really working on the vocals, and I hear some really great things (If you want a hint or two, let me know). You've got some good control at the top end. And for a man who usually throws lyrics in as an afterthought, these are good!
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I knew you would love singing when you did that lovely proggy The Wanderer with me last year!

It's nice to hear you singing again. This is really nicely done. I like that the lyric still fits the usual Sapient motif anyway.
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Damn! You, sir, have range. This sounds great, and is such a delightful and unexpected departure from your usual - good on you for getting out of your comfort zone, it worked really well!
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Nice job on challenging yourself to try something new, I think it really worked out here! I like the voice that you chose for this, conveys a sense of bittersweet yearning. The guitar is very satisfying, smoothing all the edges out. Oooh I like the switchup towards the end of the song too with that chilling piano reminiscent of Pink Floyd's The Wall. Great work!
[FAWM]