"Mama Ain't Talkin'" (Eric Paslay/Ben Cooper)

Here's a song I wrote with the extremely talented Eric Paslay (he's singing).

 

MAMA AIN’T TALKIN’                                                                               9-28-10

(COOPER/PASLAY)

MOON THROUGH THE TREES, QUIET AS A MOUSE

TWO WILD DREAMERS RUNNING SOUTH

CAREFUL AS CAN BE NOT TO LEAVE A TRACE

BACK ROAD NOBODY SEES THE GET AWAY

DON’T YOU KNOW OIL AND WATER DON’T MIX

THE BOY’S AS TOUGH AS NAILS BUT NOT HER DADDY’S PICK

HE SAID, NO YOU WON’T, SHE SAID YES, I WILL

SHE JUST FLEW THE COUP IN A COUPE DEVILLE

DADDY’S GONNA TURN THIS LITTLE TOWN UPSIDE DOWN

EVERY INCH AND MILE UNTIL HIS DAUGHTER’S FOUND

HE’S ASKING EVERYBODY, NOBODY HEARD A SOUND

SOMEBODY KNOWS THE TRUTH BUT MAMA AIN’T TALKIN’

FROWN ON HIS FACE, BADGE IN HIS HAND

GLEAM IN HIS EYE ‘CAUSE HE THINKS HE’S THE MAN

TELLS HIS WIFE WHAT TO DO, TELLS HIS DAUGHTER WHAT TO BE

THEY’RE FINALLY MAKING A STAND AND HE CAN’T EVEN SEE

OH, MAMA WAKES UP EVERY MORNING

WITH A BIG SMILE ON HER FACE

SHE KNOWS HER DAUGHTER’S HAPPY

JUST NINETY-TWO MILES AWAY

------

Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Song - "People Like You" (Ben Cooper/Georgia Middleman)

Here's a song I wrote with Georgia Middleman. We grabbed an entire five day week to write together last fall, and here's one of the songs we came up with. I included this chart on a recent post, so I figured I'd let you hear the song! Please leave any feedback if you'd like.

PEOPLE LIKE YOU                                                                             11-2-10

(COOPER/MIDDLEMAN)

MAYBE IT’S THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE I CAN DO ANYTHING

MAYBE IT’S THE WAY YOU TELL ME HOW I’M THE APPLE OF YOUR EYE

MAYBE IT’S THE WAY YOU NEVER LEAVE ME HANGING WHEN I’M ON THE EDGE

YOU ALWAYS HAVE MY BACK
WHAT I’M TRYING TO SAY IS THAT

PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE GOOD FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME

OUT OF ALL OF THE FISHES IN THE DEEP BLUE SEA

I FOUND SOMEBODY WHO MAKES ME AS HAPPY AS CAN BE

YEAH, PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE GOOD FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME

MAYBE IT’S THE WAY YOU LET ME HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON A DOZEN TIMES

MAYBE IT’S THE WAY YOU TELL A JOKE AND YOU DON’T EVEN CRACK A SMILE

MAYBE IT’S THE WAY YOU UNDERSTAND I DON’T LIKE MY EGGS RUNNY

NONE OF MY IDIOSYNCRASIES FRIGHTEN YOU

AND THAT SAYS TO ME

WHAT DID I DO

BEFORE THERE WAS YOU

I CAN’T EVEN GO BACK THAT FAR

IF LOVE IS THE SONG

THEN YOU ARE THE DRUM
IN PERFECT SYNC WITH EVERY SINGLE BEAT OF MY HEART

From the Writing Room to the Studio

I had someone ask me recently, "How does a song get from the writing room to the radio?" Well, the most important step in that process is the song's transition into the studio. In my experience, only about one in every 8-10 songs written makes it from the lower-quality GarageBand version to the full-band studio version.

Here's an example of a song that made the jump from the writing room to the studio:


          "Breakthrough" (Ben Cooper/Jenn Schott) ©2010

          Exhibit A - Writing room version, immediately after finishing the song (Jenn singing):

          Exhibit B - The full-band demo recording (artist Mallory Hope singing):

In the course of three hours (the length of each "session"), a band of musicians will usually record five songs. Broken down, that's a song every 40-45 minutes, at a quality that sounds like something you could hear on the radio. The way this proficiency is accomplished is by having the songs mapped out ahead of time by the session's lead musician (here is an example of a chart written using the Nashville Number System).

When the time comes to begin recording the next song on a session, the players all congregate in the mixing room to hear the songwriters' rough recording (Exhibit A). They follow along on the charted road map, jotting notes along the way. After hearing the song only one time, the players take their places in the soundproofed tracking room and run through the tune. Then after a little banter about who should take the solo and when and where each player should come in, they play through the song for the final pass (Exhibit B). Generally the final demo version of a song is literally only the second time these players have ever attempted the song! After the band's tracking session, a demo singer or artist will come in and overdub the final vocal, and the engineer will mix the songs, sometimes even the same day.

These session players and singers are some of the most talented individuals I have ever been around. I wish I could bring everyone into the studio on days that we are recording, because it is such an amazing process to see. I believe that the most "Nashville" thing that a tourist could ever experience is not walking down Broadway through honky-tonk bars, but rather sitting in a studio while a song comes to life before their ears. And this is an experience that I hope you are all able to have someday soon.

Keep writing,

Ben