"We don´t need another war"

This one is unfortunately inspired by the senseless violence that happens at the moment in the Ukraine. I didn´t really want to write a song about it, but i made a songwriting challenge with myself. I tried to write a song in 1 hour, and this is what came to my mind first.

Deutsch:
Dieser Song ist traurigerweise inspiriert von der sinnlosen Gewalt, die gerade in der Ukraine passiert. Ich wollte eigentlich nicht unbedingt ein Lied darüber schreiben, aber ich machte eine Songwritingübung: Ich versuchte einen Song in 1 Stunde zu schreiben und das war das erste, was mir in den Sinn gekommen ist.

Lyrics:
Baby baby every now and then you need a gun to save a friend
baby baby every then and now despots will start a war

i don´t know will there ever be freedom on earth
in the news we see another desperate mother cry

we don´t need another war we´ve had it all before
we don´t want another night in fear for our lifes

Baby baby every now and then you need a knife to save a life
so many walk into a certain death
just for the will of one 

i don´t know will there ever be peace on this earth
in the news we see another helpless father die 

we don´t need another war we´ve had enough before
we don´t want another night afraid of guns and fights

we don´t need another war we´ve had enough before
we don´t want another night in fear for our lifes
we don´t want another night afraid of tanks and fights,
how many innocent will have to die for your lies 

so many die for (your) lies
so many die for (your) lies

 ©written by Markus Vogl 2022 

"The war"

The war is one of these songs that i was able to finish in a very short time. I was going through my loop library in Studio 1 and found this nice acoustic loop. So i decided to go with this and tried to build a song around this loop(s) (it were to loops, one for the verses and one for the chorusses).
It was the first time that i worked with loops out of Studio 1, and i really enjoyed it. Normally i record the guitar by myself or i try to implement Native Instruments Session Guitarist parts. It was fun for me to have a fixpoint that i couldn´t change and i really like the sounds of this guitar loop. The only thing i did was to lower the key of the loop by 1 semitone to make it fit my voice a little bit better.
The first vocal line that came into my mind was "Yes, this war has just begun". When this line came into my mind i knew this will now be the song about our social media addiction;) A long time ago i decided that one day i wanna make a song about this.

Deutsch:
"The war" war einer dieser Songs, die ich in sehr kurzer Zeit fertig bringen konnte. Ich habe mal die Loop Bibliothek aus Studio 1 ein bisschen durchgehört und bin über diesen Acoustic Gitarren Loop gestolpert. Dann habe ich beschlossen, diese Loops (es waren dann 2, einer für die Verse und einer für die Refrains) zu verwenden und einen Sond "drumherum" zu basteln. Es war das erste Mal, dass ich ein Lied so gemacht habe. Normalerweise nehme ich die Gitarre enweder selber auf oder ich versuche mit Native Instruments Session Guitarrist Instrumenten Midi-Gitarrenparts zu basteln. Die Einfachheit durch das Verwenden eine fixfertigen Gitarrenloops war aber richtig "angenehm";)
Das einzige was ich mit dem Loop machen musste, war ihn einen Halbton tiefer zu stimmen, was heutzutage in einer DAW keine große Hexerei ist. Das musste sein um den Song besser singen zu können. Die erste Textzeile die mir eingefallen ist war "Yes, this war has just begun.." Danach wusste ich, dass wird der Song den ich schon länger mal über unser Social Media Verhalten machen wollte:)

Lyrics:
Yes this war has just begun and everybody fights it all alone
what your face once used to be is  now a picture blinkin´on a screen
connected world but lonesome and desperate souls
what goes wrong when nothing is right distracted thoughts of gettin´ clicks and likes

Whatever we do will be there when we are go will be there when we are gone
if we don´t care who will be there when we go who will be there when we are gone?

I lost a friend the other day we´ve been so close now he is so far away
what his face once used to be is now a thought only a memory

Whatever we do will be there when we are go will be there when we are gone
if we don´t care who will be there when we go who will be there when we are gone?

Do you have a friend who will be there?

Whatever we do will be there when we are go will be there when we are gone

if we don´t care about each other who will be there when we go who will be there when we are gone?

 ©written by Markus Vogl 2022 

"Get away"

Get away was something like my "lockdown project" during the first Corona lockdown in 2020. It was the first song where i tried to make a professional sounding song. Some time ago i had a loop station on which i stored some song ideas. I completely had forgotten about this one idea and as i heard it again i decided to work on it. This was also the only song so far where i used a reference song to try to make it as professional as possible. The reference song was "When we were young" by "The Killers". So this is what came out then...

Deutsch:
Get away war so etwas wie mein "Lockdown Projekt" im ersten Lockdown im Jahr 2020. Es war das erste Lied, das ich so professionell wie möglich machen wollte. Vor einiger Zeit hatte ich mal eine Loopstation auf der ich einige Songideen gespeichert hatte. Beim durchforsten der Ideen stieß ich auf die Songidee zu Get away. Ich hatte diese Idee schon komplett vergessen, doch als ich sie wiederfand habe ich beschlossen einen Song daraus zu machen. Es war auch der einzige Song bis jetzt, bei dem ich ein Referenzlied beim Produzieren nutzte. Das Lied war "When we were young" von "The Killers", und das kam dann dabei heraus....

Lyrics:

Yeah i would like to introduce myself
i´ve got a full bag of problems and i never really show my face
my heart goes fast and my fingers shake 
when i´m hittin´down the strings with the crowd in front and me on stage

but i´m a singer i´ve got something to say
but when i see you look at me i wanna turn around and get away
i´ve got a holey shirt and i´ve got bills to pay
but instead of facin´ all my fears i wanna turn around and get away

on the surface i look calm and controlled
but there´s another side in me that wants to smash things like a wreckin´ ball
i strayed around and there is so much grace
but when you look into my eyes you´ll see i never seem to find my place

but i´m a singer i´ve got so much to say
but when i see you look at me i wanna turn around and get away
i´ve got a holey shirt and i´ve got bills to pay
but instead of facin´ all my fears i wanna turn around and get away 

if you want to get away take my hand and we will go where the wind blows
if you want to tip your toes take my hand and we will see where the stream flows

i want to get away i want to get away 
i wanna turn around, turn around and get away
i want to get away i want to get away
i wanna turn around, turn around and get away 
 
but i´m a singer i´ve got something to say
but when i see you look at me i wanna turn around and get away
i´ve got a holey shirt and i´ve got bills to pay
but instead of facin´ all my fears i wanna turn around and get away

 ©written by Markus Vogl 2020 

"She wants to be herself"

This was the first song where i used Toontrack EZ Keys. Absolutely awesome programm! First i just wanted to use the verses and the chorusses and i thought the song is done. But then i put the thing away for a couple of days and when i listened again, i knew that there is something missing. So i brainstormed a little bit and then i came up with the break and the "outro" part. It was also the first time that i tried to double only some words in the verses. It´s just a little thing but has a huge impact on the power of the verses. This was the last song where i recorded the bass guitar on my own before i sold it and went with EZ Bass.

Deutsch:
Dieses Lied war das Erste in dem ich Toontrack EZ Keys ausprobiert habe. Ein wirklich gutes Programm!! Zuerst wollte ich nur die Verse und die Refrainteile des Songs verwenden. Dann ließ ich das Ganze ein paar Tage ruhen und als ich wieder in die Songskizze reinhörte wusste ich, dass da noch etwas fehlt. Dann hatte ich die Idee für das Break und den Outro Part. Es war auch das erste Mal, dass ich versucht habe einzelne Wörter in den Versen zu doppeln. Das ist eigentlich nur eine Kleinigkeit hat aber eine immense Wirkung! Es war das letzte Lied in bei dem ich den Bass selber aufgenommen habe, danach habe ich ihn verkauft und verwende seither EZ Bass.

Lyrics:

My latest time was hard enough 
yes she left my life to find another love
she said three years are more than enough
i am on my knees and she is high above

she said that there is so much to see
and with me on her side oh no she cannot be
come share this freakin´ moment with me 
she is high above and i am on my knees

oooh - she wants to be herself
oooh - she wants to be herself

she said she doesn´t want to live that way
and she won´t come back no matter what i say
she can´t forget the fights that we had
she hurt with what she did i´ve hurt with what i said

oooh - she wants to be herself
oooh - she wants to be herself 
oooh - she wants to be herself
oooh - she wants to be herself 

come on baby oh yeah come on
come on baby oh yeah come on
come on baby oh yeah come on
come back now oh baby come back now

(written by Markus Vogl 2021)

"Head in the clouds"

This was fun to produce for me. I only used Midi instruments for this one and i really like the sound, especially of the Native Instruments Electric Sunburst guitar. There is also an acoustic version on youtube and spotify. But there is the "raw" acoustic version of this song that i did not record until yet. But maybe in the near future, we will see...

Deutsch:
Dieses Lied zu produzieren machte Spaß. Ich habe hier nur Midi Instrumente verwendet und finde den Sound selber sehr schön. Vor allem die Native Instruments Electric Sunburst Gitarre klingt wahnsinnig schön.  Es gibt von diesem Lied auch eine akustische Version auf Youtube und Spotify. Aber es gibt auch  so etwas wie eine "akustische Urversion", die mir eben beim Klimpern vor dem Fernseher eingefallen ist. Diese Version habe ich bis jetzt noch nicht aufgenommen. Vielleicht in naher Zukunft...mal sehen...

Lyrics:

i am alone and my heart beats slow
i miss my home so far away
i´m drivin´ my car and the wind dries my eyes 
i´m painting pictures into the sky

i am alone and i  don´t like it, the sunlight burns in my eyes
i am missin´ my home far away, i need it more than ever
i am hearin´ your voice from far away, the sunlight shines forever
even if we turn to grey

i´m walking a road with a shadow beside
and a thorn inside my eyes
i am letting you in and you are throwin´ me out
i´ve got my head up in the clouds

i am walking with you and ilove it, the sunlight shines forever
even if home is far away, i need you more than ever
i´m breathin´ you in and breathin´ you out 
at home is where i´m with you, i´ve got my head up in the clouds
 
i am holdin´ your hand and i love it, my heart beats more than ever
even if home is far away, we´re at home where we are together
i´m breathin´ you in and breathin´ you out 
my head lies in the clouds and i´m afraid of comin´ down

(written by Markus Vogl 2021)

"You never know"

I produced 3 different versions of this song. The first one was an unplugged version recorded with a cajon and western guitar. The second one is the full band version and the 3rd one is the "solo artist" version with acoustic guitar, vocals and some harmony vocals.
The song itself and the theme of it has a special meaning to me. We should learn to live and enjoy the moment. If we don´t do this we lose too much time of our life and you never know what tomorrow brings...

Deutsch:
Von dieser Nummer habe ich 3 Versionen produziert. Die erste war eine unplugged Version mit Cajon und Westerngitarre. Die zweite die volle Bandversion und die dritte eine Soloartistversion mit einer Westerngitarre, Lead- und Harmonievocals. Das Thema des  Songs hat für mich eine sehr besondere Bedeutung. Wir sollten lernen den Moment zu leben und zu genießen. Wenn wir das nicht tun verlieren wir einfach zu viel Zeit unseres Lebens und außerdem weiß man nie was der nächste Tag bringen wird....

Lyrics:

good to see you my old friend oh yeah
i hope your life has been good to you and fair
we could cruise down my old street all night long
just to see if everything is still like when we left
Annie´s dad still washes his old car
the black old car that only stands in his garage
we could cruise down my old street all night long
and talk about the things that we did when we were young

we could cruise down my old street all night and do whatever feels right 
you never know, never know, if tomorrow is too late
we could cruise down my old street all night long, singin´ all our old songs
you never know, you never know

Annie´s mum looks older in her face
she looks ill but i don´t know if that´s the case
her skin is pale and her hair has turned to grey
in my ears i still hear the words that she used to say
 

we could cruise down my old street all night and do whatever feels right 
you never know, never know, if tomorrow is too late
we could cruise down my old street all night long, singin´ all our old songs
you never know, you never know 

(written by Markus Vogl 2020)

"The best had just begun"

At the moment this is on Spotify my most succesfull song. When i produced it i had the feeling that i took the wrong road and so i decided to put it away for some time. After about half a year i listened again to it and i was surprised that i already sounded cool. But i had two problems, first i used some drum loops which came as stereo wav-files. So i had no real control anymore about the volume of the different drums and couldn´t mix them well, so i had to recreate the drums in EZ Drummer which took a long time. The second problem was that i first recorded the bass on my own. After the 6 months i could hear that my recording was just too full of little mistakes and imperfections (playing and recording a real bass is way more difficult than it seems at first sight, when you are a guitar player and have not got enough power in your fingers:-)). So i had to recreate the Bass in EZ Bass too....

Deutsch:
Dieses Lied ist bis jetzt mein erfolgreichstes auf Spotify. Als ich es produziert bzw. ausgearbeitet habe, hatte ich das Gefühl irgendwo falsch abgebogen zu sein. Also habe ich beschlossen, das Lied für einige Zeit "wegzulegen". Nach ca. einem halben Jahr habe ich dann wieder hineingehört und war überrascht, dass es eigentlich sehr gut geklungen hat. Ich hatte nur 2 Probleme...Einerseits hatte ich für die Drums ein paar Loops verwendet, die als Stereo Wav-Dateien vorhanden waren. Dadurch hatte ich nicht mehr die Möglichkeit die einzelnen Trommeln von der Lautstärke her besser anzupassen und auch keine Möglichkeit mehr die Drums separat zu Mischen. Daher musste ich die Drums nochmals in EZ Drummer nachbasteln, was einige Zeit in Anspruch genommen hat. Zweitens hatte ich den Bass selber recorded und nach den 6 Monaten ist mir aufgefallen, dass die Aufnahme einfach zu fehlerhaft war (einen Bass sauber aufzunehmen ist viel schwieriger als es im ersten Moment den Anschein macht, vor allem wenn man eigentlich Gitarrenspieler ist, der zu wenig Kraft in den Fingern hat:-)) Also musste ich den Bass auch nochmals mit EZ Bass nachbasteln...

Lyrics:

i hate to see you cry my friend
to see you cry for castles made of sand
i don´t wanna see you crawl my friend
afraid to lose again, again and again

the best had just begun - the best had just begun

i don´t wanna to see you die my friend
come say a word you need a helpin´ hand
take my hand no no don´t shoot the gun
 

the best had just begun - the best had just begun 

no you´re not the only one, oh no you´re not the only one
no you´re not the only one my friend
all in all it´s still alright my friend, see what you´ve got my friend
see what you´ve done

the best had just begun - the best had just begun 
no no don´t shoot the gun, no no don´t shoot the gun
the best had just begun - the best had just begun 
no no no no don´t shoot the gun, no no no no don´t shoot the gun 

(written by Markus Vogl 2018-2020)