FAWM: "disco's heartbeat"

disco's heartbeat

2 weeks ago by @burrMod · @dreamscuba · @mandolinda

disco's heartbeat

burr +2

00:00

Liner Notes

i'm blowing out the cobwebs by catching up on collabs my overloaded 2024 self wasn't able to follow through on in the last 50/90 challenge.

🚨 weird alert 🚨

this is a leftover #Metamorphosis challenge. i don't see a forum thread on it for this year's FAWM, but there's some more info on the help site:
https://help.fawm.org/community/games-challenges/#metamorphosis

basically — @mandolinda and @dreamscuba independently started with the same secret "famous" song (unknown to me). linda emailed me new lyrics for for the song, and simon emailed me new chords for it. (their original messages to me are pasted in the "lyrics" below...)

then it was MY job to put the two together into something new. and the question is... can you detect what the ORIGINAL song was?

well, i can't. I HAVE NO IDEA what it was.

and i'll be honest, i struggled sticking with the prescribed lyrics/structure, so i did take some licenses. since i started this on "world play your #Ukulele day" i got out the baritone uke, and since linda's handle is a #Mandolin portmanteau, i added that too. started with #EZDrummer + #EZBass + #EZKeys to try and get some sort of disco vibe going (NOT my wheelhouse). then a few vocal overdubs. all first takes just to get something done. and then: #StudioFade

so what genre is this? #Goth #Folk #Disco?

you be the judge.

linda or simon — one of you please tell us what the source song was! 😅

EDIT: it was apparently "Rolling In The Deep" by Adele 🤔

Lyrics

from @mandolinda:

[Verse 1]
we had a fire burning into the night
A neon fever glowing and everything felt right
From the dance floors to the flashing lights
We were the shining stars, glistening so bright
Disco's heartbeat, can you feel it rise?
In every melody, beneath the starry skies
We had a fire burning into the night
Fueled by the rhythm, forever in our eyes.

[Prechorus]
Every heart beat, every sound around
Echoed endlessly through the surround sound
Every heart beat from the underground, lifted our eyes
To the mirror ball on the ceiling

[Chorus]
Disco's heartbeat (Disco's heart beat, can you feel it rise)
In ev-er-y me-lo-dy (In every particle, in our lives)
From 'Stayin' Alive' to 'I Will Survive' (You're gonna' wish you will survive)
The rhythm of our lives, forever in our eyes.(In every particle, in our lives)

[Verse 2]
Donna sang of love, of passion's flame
Bee Gees taught us how to stay alive in the game
Gloria's voice, unyielding and free
We danced to the groove, so wild and carefree.

[PreChorus]
The heart beat changed, turned around
A major transformation to the sound
From every heart beat from the underground,
Transformations abound, just look around

[Chorus]
Disco's heartbeat (Disco's heartbeat, can you feel it rise)
In ev-er-y me-lo-dy (In every particle, under starry skies)
From 'Le Freak' to 'Good Times' high (You're gonna' wish you will survive)
The rhythm of our lives, forever in our eyes.(In every particle, in our lives)
Disco's heartbeat
In ev-er-y me-lo-dy
You had me, (had me, had me) in your heartbeat
Playin' with (playin' with) my identity

[Bridge]
In the night, we'll remember (oh woah, oh)
The way the music felt tender(woah)
Through the years, it's never gone away (oh woah, oh)
Disco's heartbeat lingers on

[Breakdown]
(You're gonna wish you could still feel it rise)
In ev-e-ry me-lo-dy (disco's alive in you)
Beneath the starry skies (mirror ball on the ceiling
"YMCA' to 'Boogie Wonderland' (oh what a feeling)
ties us to the beat (whoa, whoa)
To the rhythm of our lives forever in our eyes.
You could've had it all again
Under the starry skies
Give the memories a second chance
Disco's heartbeat, disco's heartbeat
Under the starry skies
Alive and true, alive and true, alive and true
It lives in you.

----------------------------
from @dreamscuba:

Here are the chords etc:
bpm: 94

Song structure - according to the original lyrics:

Intro
Verse 1
Pre-Chorus
Chorus
Verse 2
Pre-Chorus
Chorus
Bridge
Chorus
Outro

Chords:

intro, Verse, Chorus, Outro: Em - C - G - D [repeated]

Bridge: Bm - G - A - F#m [repeated]

Example rhythm in the mp3 attached - first part is a section from the intro/verse/pre-chorus/chorus/outro chords; second part is from the bridge.

I hope this helps.

Comments

@wynia 1w

Very cool, could hear brass filling in places where it’s kinda ska beat like (of course, I always hear brass 😆). I really like the octave doubled vocals, sounds vaguely Prince-y.

@namjunerobot 1w

When I listen I imagine a kinda Wonka chicka Wonka wah pedal, if you know what I mean lol There is a lot here, really great! Great bass part too.

@spazsquatch 2w

Umm, this legitimizes disco in a way I wasn't sure it could be. Stripped of it's aesthetics, this still mostly feels like a disco song. The heartbeat is there. #discore.

@musicbykatie 2w

Cute. I like the instrumentation and vocal processing. And the changes in the beat from kind of reggae to "normal" pop to disco-y.

@williamjames 2w

Very cool piece. I would define this as disco, although I know next to nothing about the genre :) The bassline is very cool and the chorus just sticks to the ears. I enjoyed the lyrics both sort of telling the story of the disco days and referencing all the songs even a disco noob like me would recognize.

@raspberry33 2w

I've always found writer's block can be cured by listening to two very different tunes and trying to merge them. There are so many influences here, but I'm hearing Bowie and Reggae and overdriven blues microphone. So, yeah, Adele for inspiration, but that's not who I'm hearing in the demo! Sounds like a fun challenge, though. In for a repeat this year?

@dreamscuba 2w

This is brilliant. I had completely forgotten about this challenge. Nor could I remember the original song until I read it here. Great work @burr

@coolparadisoMod 2w

what a compelling beat and very uplifting! love the vocal effects. so enjoyable

@gwynjones 2w

Just what I needed to uplift my spirits after listening to a lot of very good but downbeat songs...great joint collab!

@chasingandromeda 2w

I couldn't guess the original song. The chord changes are very common so there was no way to get it just from that. I like the dubby, reggae feel to it but I am confused on how that meshes with disco. No matter, great effort all around and a very interesting approach to the challenge.

@nadine 2w

I wasn't here during 50/90, so I'm hearing metamorphosis for the first time. But it seems like it's a fun challenge. I would have NEVER guessed "Rolling In The Deep". Maybe the chord progression...?

The resulting song is good. This off beat makes you wanna dance while the vocals are silky smooth. It's very cool! The style of this song reminds me a lot of earlier records from the French Band Phoenix. Still no idea if they're doing indie pop or disco?!

@sbs 2w

The disco threw me off so I never suspected “Rolling in the Deep.” Now I hear it. “Super cool!” says this disco queen - lol!

@mandolinda 2w

@nancyrost , I was chaperoning high school dances during the disco years, big hair, lots of hairspray and go go boots. The students were wild for it at the school where I taught.

@nancyrostMod 2w

I kind of was going to guess "Zombie" by The Cranberries, but that's the chords more than the words. Great teamwork completely obfuscating the original while hewing pretty closely to the rules, in retrospect. And the result is a lot of fun, with lots of sonic candy. Pretty hilarious to hear you singing these disco lyrics so seriously, eloquent though they are.

@jinx 2w

Oh this is a BOP. The vocal effect change on the pre-chorus is just fantastic, and "Disco's Heartbeat" is such a wonderful phrase/title.

@katestantonsings 2w

Feel-good groove with marvelous production. The lyrics are clever with some sweet earworms! Loved the keys in particular. So creative 👏👏👏

@mandolinda 2w

HA HA. What a surprise, and actually, sounds exceptional. The original song was Adele's Rolling In The Deep. ANd man, I had a time creating the lyric to match Adele’s song. I am so happy to hear that you were able to mash it all up in a blender, and create this.