Download (free) MP3 (320 kbps)
It’s all on the quiet side – I normalized peaks to 0 dB. No other post-production, even EQ. Flat as a board. If you are comfortable with a DAW, here are the MP3 and FLAC files, or feel free to tell me the time stamp of any tracks and I will save/share all you might like.
The first “track” is yours, condensed into a 1-minute seed for the AI. I EQd, enhanced it, isolated, then spread out the single tracks so it’s now stereo with a touch of reverb and chorus. That helped the AI generate decent quality adaptations, but the second track in the mix is the basic adaptation of your original. Then the fun starts.
Sorry for the length and what, 85 adaptations? When I get on a roll… Seriously, your song, and your request for help with production, just kept me rolling. If you do not use AI and would like to know my process, I would be happy to share. I used to teach and still believe that information should be free and freely shared, and if it empowers someone or opens new pathways… bonus.
First, about the “produced” songs:
Most tracks are Americana genres, or Indiesque, with various fusions, but seeing that you are in Nashville, I added:
- Jazz-Infused Country
- Neo-Soul full band with female singer
- Trap-Country full band with female singer
- Southern Rock full band with female singer
- Bluegrass full band with female singer
- Roy Orbison (rockabilly, country, and operatic pop, marked by soaring falsetto, emotional ballads, and dramatic orchestral arrangements) full band with female singer
- Johnny and June Carter Cash (fusion of traditional country, folk, gospel, and rockabilly, heartfelt duet, raw storytelling, deep emotional and spiritual vibe) full band with female singer
- Patsy Cline (blends traditional country with smooth pop and heartfelt vocals, pioneering the “countrypolitan” sound of the 1960s) full band with female singer
- Chris Stapleton (a fusion of soulful country with blues, Southern rock, and heartfelt Americana, carried by powerful, gritty vocals) full band with female singer
- Full Folk band with female singer
And then there is a slew of “Sad Girl Indie” – I apologize. I disdain labels. Based on what I’ve heard, I assume you field that label often, but IMHO, it does not describe your work. There is a lot more going on… As I mention below, I sense you have eclectic musical tastes which feed your muse. That explains the amount of adaptations here. That tune, “Went Electric,” is a universal kernel, which made it a perfect “seed” for me, et voila. But no, Americana is as close as I would dare get to label you, only because it is so inclusive.
I had to know which other genres AI might suggest after analyzing the seed track. Things get weird(er) now. I stopped requesting a female’s voice, which usually just sampled and used yours (but as you will notice, not always did so) but in the following, we go outside the boxes. Who knows? Something might resonate with you and that is the purpose.
- Synthwave
- Folkstep
- Trip-Hop
- Bossa Nova (I am addicted to BN)
- Reggaeton
- Industrial
As for the AI adaptations, the constant destruction, rearrangement, and reconstruction, I am an aleatory fanatic and tend to take ’em as I get ’em. I also left most of the AI hallucinations in the tracks as many are poignant. It fascinates me to hear what code decides is relevant, or art, or human.
Adapted Lyrics
[Intro]
feels like summer of ’65
Like Dylan just went electric
and his crowd’s been resurrected
I always hated summertime
[Verse 1]
it took
all the courage I could find
to see that all my love songs
were prophecies that went wrong
[Pre-chorus]
you could never be my…
[Chorus]
baby, I thought love could look the other way
we played pretend and then one day
well, I don’t know
you asked me to go
that day never came
[Verse 2]
it’s hard to imagine but it’s worse
than comin’ down off of Molly
I wish that you had stopped me
but then I had left you first
[Verse 3]
I’m not just a girl standing here
asking you to love her
a hill turning to rubble
this is my Hail Mary prayer
[Pre-chorus]
you could never be my…
[Chorus]
baby, I thought love could look the other way
we pretend and then one day
well, I don’t know
you asked me to go
that day never came
oh, that day never came
[Bridge]
I lit a match in the motel rain
read your name off a freeway sign
but I was gone before the feedback faded
yet I kept singin’ like you were still mine
[Outro]
feels like summer of ’65
Like Dylan just went electric
and his crowd’s been resurrected
I always hated summertime
[Instrumental Outro]
Second, about your song!
Music
Are you a fan of Van Morrison or Tom Waits? I hear them both, a good thing. If not, check out Van’s late ‘60s and early ‘70s work (specifically Astral Weeks (1968), Moondance (1970), Saint Dominic’s Preview (1972), and Hard Nose the Highway (1973)). As for Tom, if not yet, listen to his debut, Closing Time (1973). You’d love it all. Consider this homework.
Vibe
Your song captures a kind of ghostly, weathered beauty. I am certain I am not the first to hear an old soul in you. It sounds like someone singing through the fog of a memory; there’s a crack in the voice, a tremor of truth that can’t be faked. The recording quality adds to the intimacy, almost like we’re hearing a private thought, which makes it all the more gripping.
And the piano sounds slightly out of tune, which I love to hear in any recording, and grew up with one myself.
Yes, there’s an undeniable Americana tinge, but with emotional storytelling. The title “Went Electric” evokes Dylan’s infamous moment, and that rebellion – that transformation – is mirrored in the lyrics and the character arc of the narrator.
But if you are willing, I would love to know the origin of the title and the backstory if there is one.
Lyrics
First, let me apologize for the errors I am sure I made. I came close. Maybe.
Now to the bridge. I rearranged the stanza sequence. Your “summer of 65” stanza crushed me. It felt like it deserved to be an intro and repeated as the outro, to bookend the beautiful guts. But then I felt the song also deserved a killer bridge. I felt as if the narrator was also a songwriter and her former love was too, so I wanted to show that he now shines in the limelight, hence the “freeway sign” line. He made it; but she is standing, crying in a motel parking lot, still singing, and hoping for that elusive break, but mostly missing him. Character development. I am not assuming anything about if the song is autobiographical or fiction; it was just an artistic call and as a former Creative Writing major and English teacher, I simply and unapologetically cannot control myself.
But you… The concise lyrics are rich in poetic imagery, contradictions, and unresolved emotions – a hallmark of someone who feels deeply and writes honestly. To me, your few words tell a deeper, much more personal story of love, loss, and life.
Highlights
- “Feels like summer of ’65 / like Dillinger’s went electric / and his crowd’s been resurrected”
This is haunting, iconic, mythic. Presumably referencing Bob Dylan’s infamous “going electric” and blending it with outlaw imagery (Dillinger) suggests betrayal, evolution, and backlash – all at once? Maybe.
I think in metaphor and pay close attention to titles. I am not sure, but if you named the song intentionally, possibly as a message to someone, and it does allude to Dylan, the summer of ‘65 was the same as the Newport Folk Festival when he plugged in, and as some have said, betrayed their expectations of him as an artist. If so, fucking brilliant, and to use it figuratively in the context of an ex lover, or perhaps the narrator, is some damn fine writing. - “All my love songs were prophecies that went wrong”
Damn. Beautifully devastating. This line alone carries the heartbreak of many relationships and the disillusionment of idealism. Love is so bittersweet and distinctly human: a train-wreck from which we cannot avert our eyes and hearts. And it echoes an emotional voltage surge, as her heartbreak again turns prophetic. - “I’m not just a girl standing here…”
A subtle nod to Notting Hill? But here, it’s turned on its head. She’s not asking to be loved – she’s revealing the rubble of a relationship, praying through the wreckage.
Emotion
What’s most powerful about this song is not just the vulnerability, but the way it’s delivered – understated but pierced with feeling. It doesn’t cry for attention. It lets the silence speak between the lines. Silence is underused but deafeningly loud. It’s not a polished, radio-friendly pop hit – and that’s exactly why it hits hard. You can’t fake this kind of ache.
There’s trauma in the pauses. Regret in the inflection. It’s not performative sadness; it’s lived experience.
Closing Notes
This song is honest, haunted, human. It doesn’t pander. It doesn’t flinch. You clearly have something to say and a voice worth hearing. You aren’t trying to impress; you seem to be trying to process. And in doing so, you reach those who’ve been through the same fires and walked away just as scorched, but thankful for the warmth that lingers still.
This is the kind of song people hold onto. The kind they come back to during their own motel-rain nights.
If this is only a rough voice memo… then the world hasn’t heard the full depth of what you are capable of, yet. I hope you are still playing, singing, and they are listening.
P.S. The AI artwork in the carousel are images randomly generated with each of the 85 raw tracks. I kept the interesting ones and in time, it seemed the AI was visually communicating a subtext I still am not sure I am reading right, but I considered all when I generated the “cover” image. If you are whom I think, I left an Easter Egg for you in the cover. And if that IS you, here is my catch: Check us out: TATANKA. Click around – there is a lot – but I can be available if you are interested, have questions, or just want to discuss. We could use a heavyweight like you.