Hi Jay,
Excellent work here men.
I much preferred Ver 2. I felt that the easy flow of music matched the mood of the song much better.
The first time I played it though, I was trying to figure out what was unsettling me on the first verse.
At first I thought it might be the phrasing, but after I played it several more times I found the culprit.
(IMHO).
Just before the 2nd line is delivered
"And forever, good friends we'd stay" (1:16 - 1:17) the Bass glide timing bothered me.
Maybe it's not needed or perhaps you might try starting the glide earlier so that the Ab is heard on the downbeat.
Btw, this goes for the same place in the 2nd verse.
Other than that, the music and lyrics fit wonderfully together.
The Chorus with it's Hooks is very memorable.
And the musicianship, arrangement and production are top notch and very professional.
Are you thinking about sending this out as a Demo to any particular performer?
I could easily see Blake Shelton making a hit with it.
Once again, great work by those MCS collaborators.
Good luck with it.
Ciao, Dan
