Awareness (multi-collab)

aclarke

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Description

Started as a simple guitar track I recorded months ago and forgot about. One day, in MJ chat, Alannah commented on how much she loved to sing... I dusted this off and sent it to her. I was blown away by the power and emotion in the lyrics she wrote and by the way she sang. It was clear to me this song needed more than I could give it. SteveC was recruited for bass, Perceptual Vortex for Drum and Pgreenstone for additional guitar and organ. Peter also did an amazing job producing this. Much thanks to everyone who participated! You brought this song to life in an incredibly short period of time.

Alannah: Vocals
aclarke: Guitar
pgreenstone: guitar and organ/ songart
stevec: bass
Perceptual Vortex: drums

Produced by Peter Greenstone
Music and Lyrics by Adam Clarke and Alannah Richards

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Lyrics

AWARENESS

The hurricane in Louisianna
50,000 fall overseas
the waves that crashed on asia
we think about TVs and DVDs

It’s happening all around us
But we don’t wanna see
Of what’s becoming to our world
It could be coming to you or me

Brothers all around us are crying
Little children have nothing to eat
In the streets battles are waging
In the churches they fall to their knees

Chorus

Oh we could cry or we could pray
Or ask God to set us free
Or we could all join hands together
And take responsibility

Cancer descends upon us
And Aids and other disease
Our world is slowly dying
And we take what we please

But we must be aware
Of other’s plight in this life
We must help a sister
A mother a neighbour or a wife

Somewhere in the world right now
Another life is lost
Its up to us to mourn that life
And recognize the cost

Chorus

Oh we could cry or we could pray
Or ask God to set us free
Or we could all join hands together
And take responsibility

Song Stats

Hits: 4626
Comments: 49
Fans: 12
Plays: 824
Downloads: 203
Votes: 26
Uploaded: Nov 01, 2005 - 07:14:30 AM
Last Updated: Nov 01, 2005 - 06:10:19 AM Last Played: Oct 20, 2009 - 11:43:31 AM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial

Song Actions

Keywords:

ballad (177), folk (423), aware (3), collab (76), disaster (6), hurricane (5), cancer (12), organ (87), guitar (1076), aclarke (13), alannah (15), perceptual vortex (3), stevec (9), pgreenstone (12)

Comments

elfdaughter	elfdaughter said 1486 days ago (November 1st, 2005)
	Fantastic! This is amazing - you're right, she has got amazing vocals...one fantastic collab! Check out my latest song called Carol of the Bells 2009

aclarke	aclarke said 1486 days ago (November 1st, 2005)
	Fantastic! Thank you, elfdaughter- I'm glad you liked this. And yes, Alannah does have an amazing and unique voice and style. --- "An honest man's pillow is his peace of mind" John Mellencamp Check out my latest song called Ballad of The Little Tiki

drakonis

drakonis said 1486 days ago (November 1st, 2005)

Great collab!
Alannah definitely has an earthy lovable voice, and good lyric writing too.
PV drums are perfect, Steve lays down a nice rich bass bed. Adam put
together a nice ballad & played well, Peter did nicely with backing, art and
mixing... this is really nice tightly played and sung, heartfelt. Superb
collaboration to all!
ttfn,
Drakonis

Check out my latest song called Lullaby for the Inner Child

aclarke	aclarke said 1486 days ago (November 1st, 2005)
	Great collab! Thanks, drakonis. It was a great experience all the way around. Glad you enjoyed! --- "An honest man's pillow is his peace of mind" John Mellencamp Check out my latest song called Ballad of The Little Tiki

thetiler	thetiler said 1486 days ago (November 1st, 2005)
	cool sounds like the guitar feel, and the almost Roy Orbison soul. This singing is very striking. Very commendable! Nice musical backdrop! Check out my latest song called I't Been A While

aclarke	aclarke said 1484 days ago (November 3rd, 2005)
	cool sounds Thanks, Bill! --- "An honest man's pillow is his peace of mind" John Mellencamp Check out my latest song called Ballad of The Little Tiki

bronco	bronco said 1486 days ago (November 1st, 2005)
	Quite A Seed that you planted here Adam! Grew into a beautiful flower. Nice job by all involved. Really liked the overall gospel kind of feel with emotional vocals. First time I have heard Alannah sing and she does a nice job with it. The other musicians performed admirably and of course Peter is the king of production! Great stuff you guys! Check out my latest song called Strange Feeling

aclarke

aclarke said 1486 days ago (November 1st, 2005)

Quite A Seed
Hey Bronc- I really like the way you described this... as a seed. Very cool. That's
pretty much how it happened, too. Once I had Alannah's track I recruited the
others and gave them the freedom to do whatever they felt. Personally, I was
blown away by how fast it came together. They are pros in my opinion!

---
"An honest man's pillow is his peace of mind" John Mellencamp

Check out my latest song called Ballad of The Little Tiki

chakeres	chakeres said 1486 days ago (November 1st, 2005)
	Wow Nice song ac and Alannah has a great voice. And on top of that you have an all star line-up in the band. This piece is outstanding. Good job.-JAC Check out my latest song called Steady

aclarke	aclarke said 1485 days ago (November 2nd, 2005)
	Wow Thanks, Chak! No question it was a great line up... didn't hurt me to be surrounded by so much talent, that's for sure. One of these days I'm certain to be begging for your axe skills! --- "An honest man's pillow is his peace of mind" John Mellencamp Check out my latest song called Ballad of The Little Tiki

Jim Bouchard

Jim Bouchard said 1486 days ago (November 1st, 2005)

dreamy and yet worldly-wise
really great! I like the way the organ comes in, sounds really good. And really great drums and guitars, and well vocals and bass. That pretty much covers it, I guess. Well written, it addresses a lot of important issues fairly directly without fully crossing over into preachiness. I like the encouragement towards taking responsibility and taking action.

A couple eensy-weensy nitpicks on the sound: I would have preferred a less reverbed/delayed/effected vocal and also it seems a hair slow. Would have been nice with some gospel-ish piano. But as it is, it's very good and so much the better for all the hard work all you and all your collaborators put into it.

Check out my latest song called Weather or Not w/awigze

aclarke

aclarke said 1484 days ago (November 3rd, 2005)

dreamy and yet worldly-wise
Jim- thanks for your comments and observations. I'm glad you enjoyed the
song- it was unlike any song I've ever been part of it and something we are all
very proud of.

Peter addressed the issues with the reverb in a comment below- we agreed it
was more important to use the tremendous feeling and vibe Alannah captured
on that first track. I believe she sang the vocals several times but nailed it best
the first time... shortly after she had written the words and was still feeling the
emotion of them. As you know, it's near impossible to rehearse that.

---
"An honest man's pillow is his peace of mind" John Mellencamp

Check out my latest song called Ballad of The Little Tiki

perceptualvortex	perceptualvortex said 1486 days ago (November 1st, 2005)
	Right on! This worked out great. I'm glad I was able to contribute to this! Thanks for asking, Adam. Everyone's pieces fit together perfectly. Nice singing Alannah! Check out my latest song called Machine Man (w Beastie Boys)

rtcooper	rtcooper said 1486 days ago (November 1st, 2005)
	SOUL Prayer Damn. Superb, simply Superb. Best, Coop (More Later) Check out my latest song called Intimate Anyway

	said 1486 days ago (November 1st, 2005)
	Mindblowing! Excellent song, Epic in a way... great sound and very meaningful

	said 1485 days ago (November 2nd, 2005)
	Beautiful Song Alannah does have an excellent voice (and I agree with Jim about the reverb - maybe down a tad). I like the feel, it reminds of the Band (expecially once the organ comes in). Well done, everyone.

Peter Greenstone

Peter Greenstone said 1485 days ago (November 2nd, 2005)

Beautiful Song
The reason I used the amount of reverb I used was becaue while Alannah's
singing was great the recording was not. Very thin and roomy. And there was
so much bleed coming from her monitoring headphones that a dryer treatment
sounded really bad and the old version of the song that she was singing to
interfered with the mix.

Her voice really deserves a better mic and some closed studio headphones.

Check out my latest song called From Nothing

Alannah

Alannah said 1485 days ago (November 2nd, 2005)

Beautiful Song
I just wanted to thank everyone for their very kind comments about my vox ... and to apologize for the recording equipment I am currently using .... eeeeek ... it is a PC ..... and I am still fighting with some issues regarding the recording software and a DRIVER issue that my Mobile Pre seems to need when running in windows (it is not allowing me to have a MIC input on the WIN Sound Icon) .... long story ... but I DO have a nice condenser mic ... but I DO need headphones ... I know part of the problem is .. I am double recording the MUSIC when I sing it ... because I need to hear it .... heh heh .... (getting a pop screen soon too - the booom problem) ..... I could go on and on here ... but rest assured ..... soon soon these issues shall be resolved and hopefully I can produce a better original WAV file for my MACJAMS friends to generously Mix for me (can't thank them enough for doing this on my behalf) ... they DO a fabulous JOB considering what they have to work with.

Check out my latest song called I'm Drownin' - Smokey VW (feat Alannah) + Outtaorbit

	said 1485 days ago (November 2nd, 2005)
	wow A powerful, broadcast-ready production. Fine fine vocals...sensitive, rough, evocative, embracing. Oh, those lyrics -- capturing a slice of history and drawing a lesson from the tragedy. Full spectrum of Southern styled instrumentation. Just the right meter...not too fast, not too slow. Just right!

Back Door Maan	Back Door Maan said 1485 days ago (November 2nd, 2005)
	Great bassline And an incredible singer for a great song. Liked the drums and organ too. The spacey guitars, not so much. Check out my latest song called Say What You Mean

nyakki	nyakki said 1484 days ago (November 3rd, 2005)
	Great song I really enjoyed this song. Downloaded Check out my latest song called Maple Leaf Rag v2

CR	CR said 1484 days ago (November 3rd, 2005)
	Nice Track Nice song, just one nit-pick on my part. I felt the song had no stucture. As the listener, i kept waiting for the ' pay-off '. Good track. It certainly has potential. I feel it would have benefitted from the classic song structure. verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus Once again, nice track. CR --- Cecil Reynolds Check out my latest song called Don't Waste your time

aclarke

aclarke said 1484 days ago (November 3rd, 2005)

Nice Track
Cecil- thanks for your comments. They're greatly appreciated and you do make
a valid point. I'll be the very first to admit I didn't really think too much structure
when I wrote this music. The basic guitar track was something I had recorded a
while ago, totally impromptu and not thought out at all.

What I thought was most important in this song and how it developed was the
compassion with which Alannah wrote and sang the lyrics. I feel this factor
transcends the need to follow normal form and structure.

---
"An honest man's pillow is his peace of mind" John Mellencamp

Check out my latest song called Ballad of The Little Tiki

Mokus	Mokus said 1484 days ago (November 3rd, 2005)
	Good job!!! Nice colab you guys! The mix here is fantastic...clean and silky... great message. Check out my latest song called Ceci n'est pas une Fender

Macaudion

Macaudion said 1484 days ago (November 3rd, 2005)

Excited
I love the way this one excited it's way into the process of evolving into
being a solid piece. I'm really llke'n the guitar work on this. But then,
you emoted me to tears with the lyrics... Ah man, I'm typing as I'm
listening... I really like the Orbit'esk sound of the vocals... I like the
organ and the bass on this a lot! Very touching, this tune, the whole of
it...

Thanks for putting this together and then, thanks for sharing it. What
grace all you have displayed on this.

Thanks!

Dion/Cydniko

Check out my latest song called 123 iGetU

aclarke

aclarke said 1483 days ago (November 4th, 2005)

Excited
Dion- Alannah did an amazing job with this. Not only with the wonderful lyrics
but in singing this with so much honest passion and feeling. She feels these
words and sings what she believes. Truly inspiring. And I while I wrote the
original guitar melody what I did best was recruit some great talent. This was a
true collaborative effort. Thanks for listening and for your comments!

---
"An honest man's pillow is his peace of mind" John Mellencamp

Check out my latest song called Ballad of The Little Tiki

Paul_T	Paul_T said 1484 days ago (November 3rd, 2005)
	if only the rest of the world were like MacJams A fitting collaboration, well executed. It's amazing how people come together around here. So much energy and purpose. If only we could bottle MacJams and unleash it on all the uncaring people of the world. Congrats all around! Check out my latest song called Armor Pajamas

aclarke	aclarke said 1462 days ago (November 25th, 2005)
	if only the rest of the world were like MacJams Ain't that the truth! Thanks for the listen, Paul. --- "An honest man's pillow is his peace of mind" John Mellencamp Check out my latest song called Ballad of The Little Tiki

K.I.S.KISMET	K.I.S.KISMET said 1483 days ago (November 4th, 2005)
	Holy smokes impressive collab! An enlightening song with terrific vocals (Alannah). I can't decide if this reminds me of Cowbie Junkies or something else. Nonetheless..beautiful, soulful music where every element melds together so well. Cool art too, P. You should all be pleased. Check out my latest song called Your's

Alannah

Alannah said 1483 days ago (November 4th, 2005)

Holy smokes
K.I.S. Kismet ... you once said (and I cut and pasted here) .... " I just wanted to add, as I giggle, that everything I do is off the cuff...rarely, if ever, do i sit down with any preconceptions of what i am about to do. the reason, i giggle i guess, is because i thought perhaps i could slip the faults past someone else who hadn't, well, heard as many times " and I thought to myself ... NOW THERES A WOMAN who creates music the way I do ..... I tend to just start singing and adlibbing and hope that what turns out is OK ..... AND .. that being said ... I think your songs turn out JUST FINE ... so theres hope for me ........ it might be fun to do a collab sometime .... I think your light notes might complement my dark notes and come out as a nice harmony ...... Alannah !

Check out my latest song called I'm Drownin' - Smokey VW (feat Alannah) + Outtaorbit

jackstone	jackstone said 1483 days ago (November 4th, 2005)
	Nice colabo! I like this guitar sound! Vocal is really gorgeous! Great job You guys. So sweet song. Check out my latest song called July Sky

thoddi	thoddi said 1482 days ago (November 5th, 2005)
	who needs borders Such great collabs that happen here. Intercontinental or just between neighbours, it's the way to go:) Great vox and arrangements. You all did a super job on this:) Check out my latest song called Don't tell me what I can't w/KTB and Ingve

aclarke	aclarke said 1481 days ago (November 6th, 2005)
	who needs borders One of the things I enjoy most about MacJams is the ability to collaborate like this. It's really amazing how easy it has become. This had members from the US and Canada. Maybe the borders can open up even more on the next one (hint). Thanks, Thoddi! --- "An honest man's pillow is his peace of mind" John Mellencamp Check out my latest song called Ballad of The Little Tiki

snowdragon	snowdragon said 1481 days ago (November 6th, 2005)
	Love the voice The Cowboys Junkies reference is probably the closest but with Kim Carnes guts. Great job of songwriting and organizing Stumpy. Check out my latest song called The Wolf 7

FEEL

FEEL said 1481 days ago (November 6th, 2005)

Colab mania!
It's really nice to hear such a great song with so many contributions. It
would really be cool to be involved in a collaboration with this many
members. Every thing seemed to fit well together. It's top
notch...where do I start? Guitars are great, vocals are awesome, are the
drums real? bass is outstanding, keys are right on...

a friend told me "it's always a good idea to keep those songs your not
sure what to do with, you can always come back to them later". This is
testimony of that. Thanks for sharing.

Regards
John

Check out my latest song called Pigs Fly

aclarke

aclarke said 1481 days ago (November 6th, 2005)

Colab mania!
Thank you, John. Sometimes it seems that fate intervenes and results in
something positive and good. When chatting with Alannah I decided to go
looking for something in my GB folder that was more or less complete for her to
sing on. I never thought of this tune as a collab until I heard the lyrics and
decided I was over my head... that's when I called for backup. Beware though-
I'm adding you to that list! Thanks again for the great comments.- Adam

---
"An honest man's pillow is his peace of mind" John Mellencamp

Check out my latest song called Ballad of The Little Tiki

FEEL	FEEL said 1480 days ago (November 7th, 2005)
	Colab mania! I would be honored. --- TEXASFEEL Check out my latest song called Pigs Fly

perceptualvortex	perceptualvortex said 1455 days ago (December 2nd, 2005)
	Colab mania! Hi Texasfeel, I'm glad you like this collab! I made the drum track by assembling Drums on Demand loops. So, they're "real", but they were recorded by a studio musician and arranged by me. It's a simple enough drum part to play, but I have no recording gear. Yet. Thanks for listening! Check out my latest song called Machine Man (w Beastie Boys)

	said 1480 days ago (November 7th, 2005)
	NOT TOO SHABBY Cats had a coll chill vibe! I fell of the couch and hit my big toe on the plant! Nice one! Or two?

	Lilbit21 said 1475 days ago (November 12th, 2005)
	awsom nice lyrics, im pretty sure that song will touch alot of ppls.. best collaborate, nice tune....... nice voice too....good luck

	Lilbit21 said 1475 days ago (November 12th, 2005)
	awsom nice lyrics, im pretty sure that song will touch alot of ppls.. best collaborate, nice tune....... nice voice too....good luck

Mystified

Mystified said 1475 days ago (November 12th, 2005)

Fab collab!!!
What a great song you all have pitched together to create here.
Just excellent!
I know some don't like the reverb on the vocals...but...I kind of like them.
They 'reach' out from the words and echo, reverberate...which seems in
keeping with the entire theme of the song. So, works for me!

Again. Wonderful work, everyone! :)
(Yay!, AC!!)

Check out my latest song called For the Beauty of the Earth

aclarke	aclarke said 1474 days ago (November 13th, 2005)
	Fab collab!!! Thanks, Mysti! I'm glad you were able to stop by and give a listen. :o) --- "An honest man's pillow is his peace of mind" John Mellencamp Check out my latest song called Ballad of The Little Tiki

screaming.org	screaming.org said 1471 days ago (November 16th, 2005)
	humbling This is clearly a cut above in every aspect. I read the lyrics before listening, and I feared that it would be impossible to render them as music without the preachiness being the most obvious element of the song. I was wrong. It's the last thing. Fucking amazing. Check out my latest song called Bleed (alley-oop)

stacey

stacey said 1387 days ago (February 8th, 2006)

AMAZING!
Wow. This is my first day on macjams. and I can NOT log off, for reasons
such as this song. I had NO IDEA there was this kind of talent out there,
all working together to tell stories through music. I am so impressed, and
really enlightened, dare I say, inspired? Anyone see "Hustle and Flow?"
There's a line in it where a character says "every man (I say everyONE) has
a god given right to contribute a verse." I think this conveys that message
even better than that movie. Granted, he was stoned... but I still liked it!

Great job on this song you guys. If I ever log off, I can't wait to come
back...

Check out my latest song called tick tock

timothy devine	timothy devine said 758 days ago (October 30th, 2007)
	Nice work folks Alannnah at her best. Cool story about how your guitar chord progression became this profound work. Great playingand singing. All! I love collabs theres just this thing... like its own energy that wouldn't have exsisted... bla bla bla cool stuff Check out my latest song called Mankind Needs a Change/WoodstockII

saymme	saymme said 651 days ago (February 14th, 2008)
	What a collab.......W O W .. . , , This is almost too good I can imagine Alannah & You on a big stage...outdoor..singin this to the World . . if I hear this alot I'll be cryin LOL !!! I'm so amazed by Alannahs voice. . . one that has had the strongest impact on me here... Bless You All what a GIFT

	said 630 days ago (March 6th, 2008)
	Great! This is fantastic collaboration projects Sir. Amazing mixing, great guitar playing and a real master touch with that drums sound! When the vocal starts, it reminds me some of old Scorpions songs!! Deepest BOWS and Respect sir! It's an amazing song. Greatly downloaded! Take Care - Yeman A. Al-Rawi

	said 618 days ago (March 18th, 2008)
	Amazing vocals. Wow what a great collab the whole thing was mind blowing I absolutely loved every word that was sang Alannah I salute you. A nightingale could not have sang sweeter. Thanks for sharing a great work of art, well done to both of you. Peace Dee,

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Artist Info

Name: Adam Clarke

Sang in high school many years ago- I've been playing guitar on and off for the last twenty years and still don't know what the heck I'm doing. Don't ask me what chords, notes, or keys I'm playing in- I use the force when I play! I wrote my first two... [see more]

Check out some of my other songs:

Genre Info

Folk-rock is a musical genre, combining elements of folk music and rock music. In the original and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and Canada around the mid-1960s. The sound was epitomized by tight vocal

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