Just a bit of fun covering this popular ditty. An opportunity to explore some of my softsynths and try out a few programming ideas. Actually... a hard one to reproduce. So much layered sound in the original. And of course, Harry is quite the star.
cover
harry styles
adrian j pratt
as it w as
Story behind the song
A fairly recent adventure in music making for myself has been creating cover versions of current popular hits. This was a practice encouraged at some of the song writing retreats I have attended. The idea is that if you get inside the way other songs are created, it will help with your own creations. It may also cause people to give your own tunes a listen.
It is a fact that people really like listening to things they already know. Sounding like someone else appears to grant a validity to your work that sounding like yourself is unable to achieve.
Maybe there is a tipping point where you become treated seriously as a songwriter. Or maybe you have to prove you can master other peoples songs first. Or maybe folk need the validation of commercial sales to accept the value of what you are doing. I'm getting to old to worry about such things. I just like making music because I can. Some paint. Some sculpt. Some write. Some play Scrabble. I musically doodle.
And ... despite my reservations... figuring out how other folks songs work is a whole lot of fun. It is the way almost every songwriter on the planet began to write.
Harry Styles song 'As it Was' has turned out to be one of the most popular ditties of 2022. A global hit no less. Even featured in an episode of one of my favourite TV programs "Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing." So it seemed like a good one to fool around with.
It is of course ludicrous for an old guy like me to take on a young pop legends creation, but it's all done very tongue in cheek, and provides me a wonderful opportunity to explore all my newest music software. lol.
It is kind of frustrating that more folk will listen to this than my own creations, but if it causes them to give some other of my songs a listen... then that is just fine by me.
And for more information about the song than is ever needed, it has its own wikipedia page. Weirdly, it is does not mention my cover version. Wonder why? A serious omission to my mind.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_It_Was
Lyrics
As It Was - Harry Styles
Come on, Adrian, (Harry) we wanna say goodnight to you
Holdin' me back
Gravity's holdin' me back
I want you to hold out the palm of your hand
Why don't we leave it at that?
Nothin' to say
When everything gets in the way
Seems you cannot be replaced
And I'm the one who will stay, oh-oh-oh
In this world, it's just us
You know it's not the same as it was
In this world, it's just us
You know it's not the same as it was
As it was, as it was
You know it's not the same
Answer the phone
"Adrian (Harry) you're no good alone
Why are you sitting at home on the floor?
What kind of pills are you on?"
Ringin' the bell
And nobody's coming to help
Your daddy lives by himself
He just wants to know that you're well, oh-oh-oh
In this world, it's just us
You know it's not the same as it was
In this world, it's just us
You know it's not the same as it was
As it was, as it was
You know it's not the same
Go home, get ahead, light-speed internet
I don't wanna talk about the way that it was
Leave America, two kids follow her
I don't wanna talk about who's doin' it first
(Hey)
As it was
You know it's not the same as it was
As it was, as it was