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The Best of Enemies


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Description
This song popped out while I was busy working on other musical projects. Original idea was to write a story about a lover's revenge with a large catalog of appropriate similes. That morphed into a more philosophical take on romance and relationship, and the similes were reduced and relegated to the chorus. I was going for a "one take" feel, but I had to work it over a bit to eliminate some of the really annoying pimples.

Thanks for Richard Schletty for valuable advice on the text and vocals.
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Lyrics
THE BEST OF ENEMIES (2009)

Once I loved a girl
And I thought she once loved me
But now that we have broken-up
We've become the best of enemies

No longer living as lovers
I said let's stay good friends
But she had a different agenda
And she's extracting her revenge

Peeled like an onion
Gutted like a fish
Carved like a turkey
I guess she got her wish

She never gave me her reasons
I'm clueless about the cause
No doubt that's why I'm bleeding
Where she scratched me with her claws

Shunned by neighbors
Crossed off Christmas card lists
Ignored by Facebook friends
Who ever thought it would come to this?

Once so close together
Now so far apart
Who can predict the future
In matters of the heart?

When you start as lovers
Who knows how it will end?
More likely you're making an enemy
Instead of a lasting friend
Song Stats
Hits: 577
Comments: 22
Fans: 10
Plays: 46
Downloads: 33
Votes: 2
Uploaded: Apr 07, 2009 - 11:36:50 AM
Last Updated: Apr 07, 2009 - 11:36:50 AM Last Played: Nov 26, 2009 - 05:56:47 PM
Song License
Creative Commons License:
Attribution

Creative Commons

Song Actions
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Keywords:
Country-Western (1), Warren Smith (14), enemies (2), friends (43)
Hardware:
Aria Pro II guitar, M-Audio 49e keyboard, Mac G5 computer
Software:
Garageband
Comments
Char said 233 days ago (April 7th, 2009)
Yeah,
..."More likely you're making an enemy Instead of a lasting friend"!
Hah!
Tongue in cheek wisdom. I usually shy away from anything called country western but Richard ushered me in. Thanks.

Check out my latest song called Break Away (Mark Holbrook & Awigze)
Warren Smith said 232 days ago (April 8th, 2009)
classification

Thanks for commenting, Char. Where to slot these songs? That always seems to be a problem for me. I don't usually conceive something in terms of genre. But as this song developed, I kept hearing in my mind a country-western fiddle sharing the lead with the guitar. That never happened, but it gave me a place to position the results.
Check out my latest song called Pushing and Pulling
Richard_Schletty said 233 days ago (April 7th, 2009)
Making it your own without owning the pain

A nice empathetic romp through a broken relationship. A singular voice throwing barbs at a girl who despises and is now herself despised. Pain begets pain. Your accusatory vocals with bouncy instrumental underlayment is what I would call "upbeat blues" or UpBlues. I like it.

This reminds me of the old song "I Got A Wife" by the Mark IV. I still have the original 45 rpm platter. I wish we could press your song on vinyl, Warren. It would be neat to hear the song with scratches and skipping.

Nice addition to your truly original collection of SmithTunes.

Reminds me of the novel "Warren Peace." I don't know why.
.
Warren Smith said 232 days ago (April 8th, 2009)
Vinyl Days
Up until leaving Minnesota, when we downsizing our personal belongings, which included selling off the record collection, I still possessed almost all of the vinyl records I had ever purchased, going back to those 45 rpms bought as a teenager. Now my paradigm has changed and I rent streamed music over the Internet (instead of buying it for outright ownership). Macjams fits nicely into that strategy!

I appreciate your constructive feedback - which made this little song much better than it was.
Check out my latest song called Pushing and Pulling
thetiler said 233 days ago (April 7th, 2009)
sad but
your really have a terrific novelty in the way you come across with this.

You really seem to have a great way with lyrics and push that comic feel to it.

I would be nice to hear more novelty in pop music today. LIke Ray Stevens did. Maybe you could send it to him and he can make a hit again ! :)
Check out my latest song called Little Drummer Boy Variations
Warren Smith said 231 days ago (April 9th, 2009)
Into the tent he went ....
Ray Stevens has penned a variety of good music, but his comic story "Ahab the Arab" was indelibly impressed upon my brain as a radio-listening youth. It advanced popular song into the realm of storytelling, serving up a detailed, if rather distorted, tale worthy of the "1001 Nights" entertainment. Although I haven't heard the song in years, I still remember that Ahab had "emeralds and rubies just a dripping off him him/and a ring on every finger of his hand ..." and he rode across the desert on a camel named Clyde.

This piece is fiction, but I'd like to think it is somewhat life-reflective in a broad comic sense.

Thanks for listening and commenting.
Check out my latest song called Pushing and Pulling
Feter said 233 days ago (April 7th, 2009)
The Best of Enemies
Hey ..this is cool ...loved your vocal ...nice how your structured
this around a lead guitar ..funny lyrics ..way too cool my friend ..
thnx alot for sharin !!!!
Warren Smith said 230 days ago (April 10th, 2009)
Structural challenges

Dealing with the structure was perhaps the most difficult obstacle in making this recording, simply because it was so straightforward in its layout and chord pattern. My vocal range is limited and my performance skills are marginal, yet that is what I had to rely on to try to make it interesting - that became the primary creative challenge. I appreciate you suggesting I might have achieved a modicum of success.
Check out my latest song called Pushing and Pulling
tempie said 233 days ago (April 8th, 2009)
gutted like a fish
like a combination of robbie fulks and they might be giants. witty and musically interesting - love the drunken lead guitar.
Check out my latest song called Get Away with Murder Eyes (5XArms Cover)
Warren Smith said 229 days ago (April 11th, 2009)
naked

I would like to point out at no time during this production did my guitar sample any alcohol : )

Actually, one of the most difficult decisions was to forgo the applications of any effects on the guitar, piano or voice. Part of the joy and challenge in making music in GarageBand is developing and tweaking interesting combinations of sounds. However, sometimes I find myself hiding behind layers of effects. This piece represents one of those efforts to strip away all gloss and make a plain presentation, for better or worse.
Check out my latest song called Pushing and Pulling
PaddyNavinCaryatid said 232 days ago (April 8th, 2009)
Yay..
You name checked Facebook. As someone who's done this myself in song, I'm really impressed. A really quirky and amusing little ditty. The toy-piano kinda break is just to die for!
Check out my latest song called The Last Goodbye (New Version)
Warren Smith said 228 days ago (April 13th, 2009)
Referencing

Referring to Facebook is contemporary, but mentioning a Christmas card list in the same verse is a throw-back to old school, so I might be mixing-up my metaphors : )

Thanks for listening and commenting. I'll have to track down the song where you cite Facebook.
Check out my latest song called Pushing and Pulling
magnatone said 232 days ago (April 8th, 2009)
Best of Enemies
i LOVE the toy piano in here - cool idea! great ditty, terrific post - thanks!
Check out my latest song called Symphonic Smackdown
Warren Smith said 226 days ago (April 14th, 2009)
Default piano
I'm not sure whether it's my playing or the sound of the instrument that's being called toy-like, but compared to your dynamic range on the keyboard I'm guessing it would have to be the performance.

I tried out a number of different piano settings during the development of the song ... and ended up going with the default "grand" piano that opens each new song in GarageBand. There was always a piano around the house when I was growing up. It definitely wasn't a grand piano, but I think the default sound here reminds me of that piano.
Check out my latest song called Pushing and Pulling
VicDiesel said 230 days ago (April 10th, 2009)
Country or cheese?
Either way, I'm not sure that the various imperfections in the production (timing, balance, distortion) contribute much. Cute lyrics.
Check out my latest song called Desert Stars
Warren Smith said 226 days ago (April 14th, 2009)
Spreading the Country Cheese

Why try to decide betwixt? "Country Cheese" sounds like a felicitous category for this piece.

Ah, if only my imperfections amounted to some kind of accumulated treasure; then I could produce a winner every time.

Cute? I like to think they are insightful, but no doubt that's an imperfection in my thought process.
Check out my latest song called Pushing and Pulling
davisamerica said 227 days ago (April 13th, 2009)
wow ....
the vocals "sound" a bit like Neil Young [a compliment] but the tune is just a big grin and really a knock out. Lyrics are great and had me laughing. Really... really ... a fun and enjoyable listen !
Check out my latest song called No Son(egobandit band)
Warren Smith said 220 days ago (April 20th, 2009)
Comparison

Thanks for the comparison. However, I have been listening to Neil Young's latest album ("Fork In The Road") and it doesn't sound anything like this song : )
Check out my latest song called Pushing and Pulling
davisamerica said 227 days ago (April 13th, 2009)
btw ....
download and thanks !
Check out my latest song called No Son(egobandit band)
Bob6stringer said 218 days ago (April 22nd, 2009)
the perfect after-love song
An after-love song? Hmm... does love actually exist or are we just animals who want to to believe? Who think we believe? You give such a post-sensitive, anti-nuanced performance that I virtually well-up with tears. That's T-E-A-R-S, as in RIP, the veil of mass-hallucination -- the belief in romantic love -- from my eyes. I now see the light. But how will the child custody issue be solved?

I admire your guitar technique here, so perfectly id-like in backing the vocals. This is inspired stuff. I could go on but I must be going; It's time for my primal scream...
Check out my latest song called Yours and Mine
Calchas said 163 days ago (June 16th, 2009)
Still looking...
...for a girl with a heart of gold?

Sorry Warren...Perhaps your weary of Neil Young comparisons.

This is great fun man. Fine storytelling lyrics. Nice vocal delivery. Crisp melodic guitar riffing. Interesting arrangement. Clean mix.

Nothing to find fault with herein bro. Enjoyed!

Be well!
Check out my latest song called It's Not The Same
tmcfate said 136 days ago (July 13th, 2009)
so entertaining as usual.
Peeled like an onion
Gutted like a fish
Carved like a turkey
I guess she got her wish
great drums. your mixes have become something.
melody,melody
you are so entertaining as usual. i find myself thinking about singing along. such a breathy "matters of the heart"

tim
Check out my latest song called Shadow of the son
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Artist Info
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Name: Warren Smith
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Born in a Minnesota blizzard, I now reside in Brooklyn, New York City, which doesn't get anywhere nearly as cold. I recorded my first original composition as a teenager using a reel-to-reel tape recorder back in 1967, and I'm still finding it a c... [see more]

Check out some of my other songs:

Genre Info
Country music, also called country and western music or country-western, is an amalgam of popular musical forms developed in the Southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, Celtic Music, Blues, Gospel music, and Old-time music. Howe

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