Bob Abner

Reid, I thought the production seemed pretty solid, nice job on vocals—it seemed sort of a cross between pop and country—the problem I had with your song was that lyrically it was about some fairly heavy subject matter, but musically it seemed “light and fluffy” (in other words I felt like the lyrics and the music were pulling me in slightly different directions). Best wishes in all your musical endeavors!!!

Reid Yamamoto

Hi Bob,

Thank you for the listen, and for your feedback.

You make a good point, and I understand exactly what you mean.

The main goal or message I wanted to give to people who have lost a loved one, is one of hope.

Hence the use of major chords vs. minor, upbeat arrangement, etc.

Thank you for your feedback.

Best,

Reidmoto

Frank Renfordt

Hi Reid,
Totally agree with Bob, nice tune, nice lyrics, but they don’t match.

Reid Yamamoto

Hi Frank,

Thank you for the listen and the feedback. I’ll take that into consideration as we finalize the arrangement.

Best,

Reid

Guy Michael

Reid-I love the idea here, it feels like a song of closure, after the grieving process has been gone through.
One spot that stood out that I think has a lot of potential, but could stand a little tweaking is this line: “Like a harp with a string out of tune,
our lives re-arranged.”
It doesn’t quite ‘land’ with me yet as I’m not quite connecting the harp with rearrangement of lives.
Anyway, great work; it would sure be the kind of song I’d want people listening to while they remembered me after I was gone.

Reid Yamamoto

Hi Guy, thank you for the listen, and thank you for your feedback What you said as far as being a song of closure was one of the things/emotions I was aiming for, but my main goal and theme was to give people who have lost a loved one hope.

I think that regardless of a person’s religious beliefs or faith, that everyone on this Earth would like to feel there is hope in reuniting with their loved ones in the “Ever After.”

Now that you pointed it out, I think that line of the verse is weak too, and could be improved as you said to deliver more punch. The idea, and why I used, “Like a harp with a string out of tune….” is because I hate playing an out of tune instrument, the analogy being, that after our loved one passed on, everything was out of tune and harmony.

Thank you for a pro-level songwriter analysis!

Reid

Haydee Ahrens

I seriously would love to hear this slowed down a bit with production that gives it more soul and gravity. I LOVE some of the lyrics. The string out of tune? Loud silence? Seriously great lyrics with substance and very on point. This perfectly describes how I felt losing my sis.

Reid Yamamoto

Hi Haydee, thank you for your listen and feedback, and I’m glad you related to the message of the song, and I’m sorry you lost your sis.

I wrote the song after my maternal grandmother passed away, and she was the matriarch of our family in many ways. She was a very successful real estate investor in Hawaii, and she made it happen on a waitress and cabdriver (my grandfather) salaries.

Thank you for your kind words on the lyrics.

I will mess with the tempo and slow it down and see how it sounds.

Thank you again for your time and feedback!