NUR EIN
almost 5 years agopassed
3:42
Semiprecious
Crown Shy image
Crown Shy

Entry from Semiprecious in Nur Ein XVI.

Gradual emphasis of repetitions

LyricsShow lyrics

Semiprecious
by Crown Shy

Do you tell her that she's dying?
Is it right for her to know?
Six months or so of freedom
Before it all begins to go?

We paused the world for a while
That's what it felt like for a year
But all the time bombs went on ticking
Even if I didn't want to hear

And I didn't make the most of it
I could have listened, could have changed
I washed my hands of all the hard stuff
And lost a year to single days
They could have been
So precious
So precious

I got the message from my cousin
About the will, about the house
About the time she has remaining
And when her money would run out

But I didn't make the most of it
I could have listened, could have changed
I washed my hands of all the hard stuff
And lost a year to single days
They could have been
Semiprecious
Semiprecious

She forgot the word for pencil
Called corn kernels "yellow O's"
Is this a secret we should swallow?
Is it cruel for her to know?

And I didn't make the most of it
I could have listened, could have changed
I washed my hands of all the hard stuff
And lost a year to single days
That could have been
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Semiprecious
They slipped away
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And all the words
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That slowly fade
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I feel ashamed
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But not enough to change
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Do you tell her that she's dying
Just so she can be afraid?
As all the words go wafting skywards
From the wounds inside her brain
Or should we leave the last to remain
Semiprecious
Semiprecious

Reviews

3 posted notes

j$

Forum post

Really like this one, but the chorus guitar almost ruins it. Overpowers the melody almost totally. In fact the over-arrangement is the maddest thing about this. the voice is the best thing about this, stop trying to bury it in the mix! Keep it simple!

JonPorobil

Forum post

Through the first verse, I was thinking to myself, "This one's going to be the winner, isn't it?" Such a confident opening! The plucky arpeggiated synth, the confident soft vocal, that absolute sucker punch of a first line "Do you tell her that she's dying?" - Wow-whee, did you set the bar high for yourself! I anticipated the guitars coming in for the chorus, and it was incredibly satisfying when they did. But, unfortunately, your mix lost its footing a bit after that point - I think maybe your voice and either the guitar or the supplemental synth sounds you added at the same time are fighting for some frequency ranges? I had a really difficult time making out your vocals from the first chorus all the way through the reptition of the first verse at the end of the song, and you lost some points for that. If you're open to mixing advice (and I get it if maybe I'm not the person you want get mixing advice from, lol), I think the guitar in this arrangement is serving as kind of texture, or subtle emphasis to make the choruses sound bigger, so it doesn't need to stand out that much. You could lower the guitar's overall volume, probably by quite a bit, and I suspect it would improve the overall impression. More than just making the guitar quieter, however, maybe use a visual EQ to locate your voice's fundamental frequency, and give the guitar a cut in that freqency range - if you're feeling ambitious you could even automate the frequency so that it only cuts when you're singing. I suggest trying the same with the extra synths added in the chorus and second verse. Maybe that'd be too conspicuous, I don't know. Worth trying, though! I still had you in my top five, so keep it up and I can't wait to hear what else you bring this year!

vowlvom

Forum post

I know the mix on this is last-minute / no time to check, but for the most part I like it a lot, when you do revisit this one I hope you don't clean it up TOO much. The only thing that doesn't really work for me is the odd clicking sound that comes in on the second verse, not sure if it's part of the bass sound maybe, or the drums hitting differently with the different arrangement but it sounds Odd. Otherwise, this is a really great, very sad song. I love the choruses where the synth and fuzz guitar come in together.

Crown Shy - Semiprecious | Nur Ein