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Josie's Song
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Gentle love song on acoustic guitar (Top 5 hit)
bob dylan singersongwriter paul simon neilyoung john lennon eagles simon and garfunkel loudon wainwright solo singersongwriter tom petty melodic
Artist picture
Scottish singer songwriter doing his thang
Michael J. Anthony has been developing as a songwriter since the early 1990s. His quest has taken him from Glasgow, Scotland to the Golden State of California. Michael has had five Soundclick #1 hits. He tests his unique brand of folkie introspection and wry humour on local open mic crowds and measures his success on how many people get up and order coffee during his sets; the answer is not many. On the art of songwriting, Michael is upbeat and expansive. "It's the most liberating form of expression I know. Everyone has important songs in their lives. Ever since I was a kid I wanted stake my claim in this wonderful cultural lexicon." Michael got his first musical instrument, a toy keyboard, when he was four. When he was fifteen, Paul Simon songs like "Slip Slidin' Away" and "American Tune" were washing through his head, "And it seemed like the perfect way to reach people, the way these songs reached me." "All my songs have an emotional anchor point, even the absurd ones. People connect with them. Songwriting is my first love. I enjoy the craft, ruminating over word choice and toying with audience expectation. I think songwriting can learn a lot from moviemaking both in terms of its systematic approach and also time expended: you get ten writers working on a screenplay which makes a polished product. If a solitary songwriter wants to compete with that quality, he usually has to do the work of more than one person. Some call me a perfectionist but to me a piece of work is finished when I can't improve it any more. If you look at the songs the world loves the most whether 'Hey Jude' or 'My Heart Will Go On', a fan might play them a thousand times in his life, and there are millions of fans. I think to produce something as significant as 'Hotel California' is worth fifty drafts. It's worth a year of work. Simply put, thank God that Paul Simon wrote 'The Boxer'. The world is a better place because of that song. That's why I write songs.
Song Info
Charts
Peak #7
Peak in subgenre #5
Author
Michael J. Anthony
Rights
Michael J. Anthony
Uploaded
December 29, 2004
Track Files
MP3
MP3 8.6 MB 128 kbps 9:20
Story behind the song
The idea behind this song was that we hide our identities behind various roles that we play. It explores two people (actually my wife and I) who finally let down their masks and fall in love, and the confusion involved in recognising happiness in a world of many falsehoods. The guitar arrangement was based on the style of Don McLean songs like Vincent and Empty Chairs with their occasional bouts of a tempo, punctuated expression and strategically placed runs. Several significant suggestions for the orchestration were contributed by classical composer and Soundclick member John Hawksley.
Lyrics
Do you remember the night we met You were my Scarlett and I was Rhett We played a strange game under silent star Funny never could we work out who we are Romeo and Julie were made up in some book Bill Sykes won his Nancy although he was a crook Maybe one day we’ll stop wondering who to be Perhaps that’s when we’ll learn to just be you and me Life is just a movie scene and Hollywood is real Perhaps that’s why we never understood how we should feel Every twister passing through is on its way to Oz And you still bring that smile to me because, because Because I love you Disneyland’s our friend now in a world gone wrong Josephine we’ll somehow find words to our song So I’ll be in your dream if you’ll be in mine It’s real enough to me so Josie, hold me one more time
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