Tunevolution: Those Crazy Eyes
February 18, 2010 5:59 pmLast week in Songwriting Workshop:Harmony, our assignment was to put together a progression with certain characteristics. For that I created a groove that goes from a Im IVm Aeolian “power progression” to a Im IV7 Dorian equivalent. This inspired some additional changes that ultimately turned into a nice rumba thing:
Week 5 Assignment – MP3 – 160kBps – 1.7MB – 1:28 min.
This week was our midterm assignment and I chose to stick with that basic rumba groove and see what I could do with it. I didn’t like the G7sus4 G7 “resolution” because, well, it was just a little too “one-four-fivey” to go to CMaj after the very cool change to FmMaj7 and the other stuff that precedes it. I started fooling with it and hit upon a nice E7#5 which – immediately – struck a raw Steely Dan nerve that didn’t seem to want to settle back down. So I went with it.
The result – at least to me – is nothing short of astounding. That is, it doesn’t feel like I should have been capable of writing this – in three days, no less – but I did. I credit Shane Adams here, as his weekly class lectures on WebEx have been a true goldmine of information – and inspiration – for a harmony beginner like myself.
Anyway, I keep thinking this tune has to be a direct ripoff of some Steely Dan tune I can’t find, but so far it looks genuinely original. At this point there’s just a couple verses and a ‘chorus’ which, right now, sounds more like a bridge to me, but hey it’s a work in progress. This is transposed down a step from the earlier composition, mostly so I can ‘sort of’ sing it (getting some vocal chops back after not singing for so long is proving to be problematic). It’s also sped up a bit from a sleepy 94bpm to a more upbeat 110, which feels just about right. The drums here are Session Drummer 3 with tweaks to the stock rhythms by me. Everything else (but the vocal, of course) is the Kontakt 3.5 sampling synth, and I’m very happy to report that it works just fine with my x64 version of SONAR on Win 7. Nice NOT to have to spend money upgrading that just to get it to work.
When I redo this with a complete vocal and finish this I’ll post an update. It might be a while before I can hire the right horn section and female backup vocalists, but I’m already checking Craigslist…
Those Crazy Eyes (beta) – MP3 – 192kBps – 7MB – 5:07 min.
Those Crazy Eyes
© 2010 Ron Romano
[intro] BbMaj7 Am7 Gm7 D7#5 Gm7 G#m7 Gm7 G#m7 [verse] Gm7 Cm7 Those foggy nights above the bay... so quiet Gm7 C7 Until we found each others' hand. EbmMaj7 Eb°7 Dm7 Gm7 Gm7 Fm7 Three Rings and Garrapata: our private stomping grounds. EbMaj7 D7sus4 D7#5 We played the finest mind games with the time we found. Our steamy nights above the bay... on fire. Long laughter. Short, white, sexy lies. When all that high adventure was threatened by good-byes. I couldn't look away from Those Crazy Eyes. [chorus I] Gm7 Temp-ta-tion lies in Those Crazy Eyes. F6 Gm7 Walk a- way. Gm7 Dm7 EbMaj7 Cm7 F7sus4 Not for nuthin' does the Mother F7 F6 Gm7 Warn the Son: Cm7 D7sus4 Don't talk to Strangers after school. D7 Gm9 BbMaj7 Gm6/E (or C7) Don't take that pill just to be cool. Cm7 Cm6 Look both ways when you step out Cm6add9 D7 But don't look twice - D7sus4 D7#5 Gm at Those Cra- zy Eyes. [chorus II] Temp-ta-tion lies In Those Crazy Eyes. Walk away. Not for nuthin' does the Mother Warn the son: Don't let this fall out of your wallet. Don't be too quick to compro- mise. Don't argue with Sicilians. And don't look twice - at Those Crazy Eyes. [bridge I] EbMaj7 F7 Dm7 Gm7 Gm7 Fm7 Some love, it's de-liri-um. EbMaj7 F7 Dm7 Gm7 Gm7 Fm7 Magic. Mystique. Slippery oblivi- on. EbMaj7 F7 Cool champagne, diamond ring F7 Dm7 Bb°Maj7 Might be just your thing. Cm7 C7 EbMaj7 But for some the prize is What's be- hind D7sus4 D7#5 Gm7 Those Cra- zy Eyes. [bridge II] Some love, it's delirium. Tragic. Intrigue. Aaron and Miriam. Way too late you find Fate But it's not the one That you see there when you close Those Crazy Eyes.
p.s. yeah, you know who you R__ ...
February 18th, 2010 at 7:14 pm
I think it’s hot! The reason you “think” it’s a rip off of a Steely Dan is because we (meaning you and me and anyone who loves that band) would love to find the chord progressions that float around in Walter Becker and Donald Fagen’s head so we could have a shot at writing like that. Sounds like the inspiration that you got from doing your “homework” brought that about. You can always tell when someone is “trained” beyond just their natural ability and that was evident with them. Freddie Mercury is another great example.
I don’t think it’s a Steely Dan song rip off but if there was someone to send the song to I’d send it to them in a heart beat as something they could cover, with some tweaking here and there. (I know it’s a rough draft) Sadly I don’t think they are recording any more. But who knows! We could always revive the “brand” since the “band” never really existed anyway! It’s nice to have access to the best musicians in the world let alone get them to record on every album you do! Keep it up. I may just decide to take those classes as well.