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Melody: Swedish Frog
Lyrics: Swedish Frog
Vocals: Rab2591
All instruments and arrangements: Rab2591

Link to song: https://soundcloud.com/swedish-frog/laurel-leaves

Laurel Leaves

The road I've traveled for oh so many days
At first seemed boundless, but now I see an end
So much water ran under my bridge
But I ran away from everything

In smoke and mirrors my memories come on back
The ones you care for change the way you act
Listen to your children's broken song
And listen to the world that I'm leaving
Horns will sound before too long
Can you tell me for sure my life will only prosper once I'm gone
Can you honestly say my life will only prosper once I'm gone

She's telling me: "Just ride tonight, the moon will shine"
She's telling me: "You too will shine and kindle heart and mind"

Growing up was not so hard to do
An older hymn was sung throughout my youth
Somewhere out there lies a wakeful truth
It's speaking of a child, a fire and you

Will her wisdom destroy my laurel leaves
My lack of honor and other things I need
Tailors sometimes triumph every time
So darling wear these words that I weave you
She's naked now and almost strong
And her beauty will swim across her inner oceans like before
Hiding from the first moments of the second ending of the war

She's telling me: "Just ride tonight, the moon will shine"
She's telling me: "You too will shine and kindle heart and mind"

Beautiful tune, guys--I love what you've been able to come up with together! Keep it up!

Dudes, that was a God-send. That timing could've not been more perfect. I thank you for that. Great work.

I just gave this another spin, and it is seriously mindbogglingly great. I hope everyone on here takes a minute to listen. What's the process you guys use to put your ideas together?

Thanks guys! Really glad you like it!

For this song, Swedish Frog sent me some lyrics and a recording of the vocals (he comes up with the melody of the vocals) - I then figured out the chords, harmonies, and decided what instrumentals would work the best....SF helped come up with ideas for instrumentals as well. I sent him a rough copy and we figured out what needed to be added - so I came up with vocal harmonies for the verses, added backing vocals, and made a nice vocal outro. And this is the result!

As for coming up with lyrics/melody, Swedish Frog will have to elaborate.

Again, really glad you guys like it!

Thanks Egon Spengler and Mahalo for your kind and heartwarming words.

When it comes to our songwriting process I send Rab a recording (just my voice, no instruments) of a song. The reason I just send him my vocals is I do not play any instruments, besides the clarinet. I am unfortunately illiterate when it comes to chords and things and I would not be able to figure anything out. :) Rab is both a great musician and a great person so it is an honor working with him. I am very thankful for his effort and dedication.

I always write the melody of a song before coming up with the words. Best way of conjuring up a melody is by walking or riding a bike, guess the brain is more active then. I use my cellphone to record melodies as I make them up. My goal is to come up with beautiful and melancholy melodies that reflect the feelings I have inside.

A lot of time is spent on the lyrics, because I want them to be perfect (whatever that is :)). Every line has to sound good (to me) before I stop working on the song. Laurel Leaves was meant to be the closing song of an album Rab and I worked on last year that never materialized. Another song from that project is An Older Hymn which we posted here some time ago.

These verses are taken from An Older Hymn:

Our sons and daughters had
Bodies that were clad
In newly knitted cloaks
Of shining golden smoke

Then the wilderness moved in
I recall it still
The murmur of the crowd
Turned into an older hymn

Laurel Leaves and An Older Hymn are connected. The girl in Laurel Leaves died in An Older Hymn, the wilderness that moved in killed her and in Laurel Leaves the boy wants to reunite with the girl. He knows he has to leave this world in order to be with her and he remembers her words "Ride tonight", taking the ultimate step will make him "shine" too.

Hope you get the picture and that you don't find it all too weird. More songs telling different parts of this very story have been written, so listening to the whole story would make it more comprehensible. :)

Once again, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this song. It means a lot.

It's definitely one of the best songs I've ever heard on sound cloud. Songs like this are the reason I go to that website.
Hope you guys get some more stuff out there!

This sounds amazing!

When's your album coming out guys?!

Great work :)

As others have noted, this is a great song guys.  I'd intended to comment when it was first posted so I am glad someone brought it back to the top.  There is something about the beginning that reminds me of Then I Kissed Her, which is a great reference for a Phil Spector/Girl Group lover.

Edit: or maybe it's When I Grow Up to Be a Man

Regardless, great song, I hope I can write one like this.  Thanks for sharing.

So good, easily one of the best things I've heard on Soundcloud. You two should collaborate on more!

Thanks guys! I've been re-listening to this lately, and am really proud of it. Glad you all like it!

Some time ago I ordered a so called crowd review on Reverbnation.com. 100 listeners rated the song and more people liked it than disliked it:

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Some of the comments:

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If you have written a song do not hesitate to have it reviewed, people's opinions are interesting to say the least. :)