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Take It Over

Uno dei miei brani di maggior successo, un vigoroso Funk per tutti coloro che sanno stare al mondo!
One of my most successful songs, a powerful Funk dedicated to all those who know what they're for!

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Lyrics

They say I must grow up and face my lazy life
They think I'm still a child, a useless kind of beast
every day they tell me 'bout the things I ought to do
every minute they remind me I should graduate

Oh yeah, I'm not so blind, I see the man I am
I live from hand to mouth at the speed of snails
Every day I watch myself and ask "What's going on?"
yes I'm late, I'm really late indeed

But the question's even harder, nobody told them
what I'm really searching for
I'm wise and patient, so stop telling me things I already know

"HEY MAN, THINK ABOUT YOUR LIFE,
YOU'VE GOT TO TAKE IT OVER, TAKE IT OVER
HEY BOY, WHAT'RE YOU DOING NOW?"
I SIMPLY TAKE IT OVER, TAKE IT OVER
YOU JUST CAN IMPROVE YOURSELF
JUST TRY TO TAKE IT OVER, TAKE IT OVER
YOU ASK "WHAT'RE YOU DOING NOW?"
I SIMPLY TAKE IT OVER, TAKE IT OVER
...JUST MY WAY

I know I'm getting older with nothing in my hands
but I see nobody's happy, there's too much mess around
Every day I meet somebody who doesn't know his way,
who’s been living without knowing what he's got to do

Life is always so mysterious, but we're not curious
so no one ever tries again
just watch yourselves and start to live your life
Oh yeah

HEY MEN, THINK ABOUT YOUR LIFE,
YOU'VE GOT TO TAKE IT OVER, TAKE IT OVER
YOU JUST CAN IMPROVE YOURSELVES
JUST TRY TO TAKE IT OVER, TAKE IT OVER
HEY YOU, DON'T FORGET YOUR LIFE
YOU'VE GOT TO TAKE IT OVER, TAKE IT OVER
YOU ASK WHAT I'M DOING NOW
I SIMPLY TAKE IT OVER, TAKE IT OVER...
...once and for all.

You've got to take it over, take it over
You've got to take it over, take it over

© Giuseppe Gambino (SIAE)

Review this Song!

Reviews

A smart, catchy piece composed of lush, jazzy chords, neatly arranged vocals and thematic material driving home the importance of being in control of your life, emphazising the need for self-discipline... Tasteful pop with intelligence and style, a hybrid with focus. Patti Sterling

Great new version...! Love the Rhodes-y keys work. Good mix and solid production. As always, vocal harmonies are creative and excellent. Great jam to take it out at the end. Love it. Anthony Ruocco

..The guitars are not the only funky thing going on. The keys get pretty funky in the outro. I love that part. I hope you don’t cut too much off the end! Steve Wood

The Production on this song is good, all instruments are present. Nice solid Kick drum and Bass guitar. The mood is of the song is very pleasant and uplifting, the piano work is nice with a lot of soul. During the chorus the vocal has a Steely Dan feel to it and that should be taken as a compliment. At times the vocal could use some improvement but all in all has a nice feel. C.M. Wood

This song was well written, well played, and basically just well done. I really, really enjoyed the vocals nice job, man. Oh, the piano right here around 4:20 is awesome, nice job and good job throughout the song. Everything sounds well balanced throughout the song and its taken at just the perfect speed to set up a great mood. The vocals though, great voice. You have some real talent, keep up the good work. C.P.J., Champaign, Illinois

I like the way the instruments play together. The singing is soulful, though the singer sings in a narrow range. The song has distinct verse and chorus, which is good to hear. The production seems fairly minimal, the music does the talking quite well. The recording is clear and well balanced. I would like a bit more production, but this song would get me going good live.. Stan Williams

Groovy jazzy beat. Vocals could be more rhythmical and have more feeling and energy. They are a little blase until they hit the high notes and then it seems the energy is right. Drums and bass are really tight. Like the piano too. Production is good as is arrangement. Mood is cool, like the musical Chicago/42nd steet or that song about Broadway. Like the break down at 3:30 with that funky piano going on in the background. Has a definitely dancy feel and is swinging towards the end when the band lets loose. Nice work. Makarmusic

Love the organ. Well, it is definitely original. Not your average beat, it's almost new wave. It's definitely fresh and has character. Man, you've got a good voice when you rolled up an octave, I would never have guessed the singer could sing like that an octave higher. I'm impressed, but something about the vocals during the verses.. could be a little stronger. It's still a neat song: there are parts where the vocals are a little strained, and could use more backing vocals and maybe clean up the lead vocal line and making it more hooky and simple. Good stuff. Unusually fresh. Stephen Skrehot

The production is generally pretty tight although the vocals dip in and out of the mix a little, perhaps a little more compression could help. I like the style, kind of Ian Dury meets incognito. The piano is really good and that crunchy chord is a real feature of the verse. Perhaps a little too much jamming at the end; maybe the fade-out could start 8 or 16 bars earlier. The mood is very laid back and everyone plays to this effect perfectly. Perhaps playing really softly in the verse would help the overall dynamics and make the choruses leap out a little more. Pascal of 8 Fold, Guildford, Surrey, UK

Piano) - I love a bit of piano with some muscle to it. That throbbing chord underneath the into verses is really smart, sharp, dissonant and beautiful. The pianist is definately accomplished and knows his jazz. Production) - there's a little bit lacking in this compartment. Perhaps this is more of a recording/engineering issue here but the elements of the song kind of rests on the surface of the song and scarely fit into a "sonic pocket" in which divides the line between professional/ameteur. In my opinion, this track would serve as a great demo to give others a hint of your sound but as far as a sellable product, I'd recommend a rerecording with a more professional sheen. As far as Production goes, I find it's biggest value comes in at the end of the song. The song largely grabs me only at the end of the tune. The wurlitzer/rhodes in the beginning was a nice touch but I was let down until the breakdown that happens around 3:30 in the song. Mood) - This is not my genre of choice but I'm not going to behave like many reviewers on here: "It doesn't sound like Korn - I hate this". It's well done in the genre and it emminates fun and I could imagine this song is an ass mover at live shows. It's gotta be a fun one. Very much a live song, I assume. The lyrics of the song though are a mismatch with the mood but that a moot point really as Morrissey has made a career of doing just that. Overall - A descent song that could use a little more elbow grease and muscle to turn it from decent into great. My suggestion is to cultive the unique aspects of the band - something to set it apart from the massive amounts of stuff that it out there already. This song unfortunately could blend into the crowd and be unnoticeable. Work out a few kinks here and there and this song will shine like a badge." Daniel Horine

"Good toe-tappin' rhythm, and nice use of the keyboard to establish rhythm and melody. I can imagine this being very popular with live audiences. Very good drum punctuation. The vocalist does not have the type of voice I would usually associate with funk music, but does a creditable job, in key and on pitch, with a good sense of how to break up the beat. In my opinion, the vocal could use just a little bit of effect to "thicken up" the sound. There are a few spots where the backup vocals get a little pitchy, but most people won't notice that, I would think. Good punch in the hook line really carries the refrain. All in all, a very danceable tune." Mr.Troll, Dallas, Texas

Cool piano open and groove. The bass and drum parts are great!, they have created a fantastic pocket. The little keyboard tinkering is great. The song has a very vintage funk feel. The musicians in this band are pros at their genre. This bassist is one of the best funk bassists I have ever heard on Garage band. Great set up into the chorus. The chorus is very upbeat and is a strong hook out of these verses. I feel like dancing now. This would be a great song for a large party or corporate event. The lead singer is really good but I don't know that this is the style of music best suited to his voice. I think he is trying to sing a bit out of his range. When he singes lower notes it is a weird contrast to the music behind him. But that is just my opinion. Love the vibe of the song. The production is first class, the mix is perfect. A real professional job. I imagine this band will be very successful. I look forward to hearing more of this artist's songs. Brian Bair, NY

This piece just jams. Swingin' vocals with a great groove make for an excellent jazz/funk flavor. Piano starts off kickin' and never lays back. Vocals are jammin' and well mixed. This could easily fly R & B, Pop Rock, it is multi- faceted in style. Love the instrumentals - keyboards, percussion, bass - well mixed and never overshadow the vocals. My biggest constructive criticism would be a little cleaner vocal - lyrics are not always determinable for me on Hi bandwidth. Vocalist has a very catching sound - shades of Tom Johnston (Doobie Brothers for all you young whipper snappers). What can I say - GROOVY! Okay - enough - I'm on my 3rd play. Bari Brumfield

Love the Rhodes! Production Quality is very good on this. It's a little repetitive though. The vocals in the first half of the chorus are too low in the mix. Great harmonies at about 2:45 into the song. Drums sound awesome on this cut. Everything sounds totally pro, very well recorded and mixed. This is in the funk category which I think is the wrong category for this. This is more of an adult contemporary song with a groove, a little bit funky but it's not a funk song. Over all this is a very well put together song. Well produced and recorded with very good musicianship. Ken DeRouchie, Portland, Oregon

Pretty Original Stuff. The Stevie Wonder-ish intro really lets you jump right into the song, and I really dug that. The piano is playing one particular chord during the beginning of the verse that kinda strikes me as odd. It sounds like a cool chord to use for flavor, but like salt, should probably be used sparingly. The only other odd thing I noticed was that in the chorus the guitar tries to play in syncopation to the rhythym but actually distracts from the awesome groove. The production was great, except the vocals might need to be turned up a little more in the mix. Other than that, I really dug this song; there was great vocals, great production, great keyboard/piano. Good job, I really enjoyed it. Mario Salazar, San Antonio, Texas

"This is a funk track with syncopation and a good bounce true to the style. No drum machines or sequencers here, it is the real thing. The verse has two vocals in octaves on top of a rhythm section consisting of acoustic piano, bass and drums. The relatively sparse playing in the verse is contrasted by a busier chorus that also includes an electric piano and, of course, the compulsory frantic rythm guitarist doing 16th notes on a Fender Strat. The style reminds me a little of Sister Sledge. Even though the playing is not absolutely world class, and the production is adequate rather than outstanding, the track really swings and the vocals in octaves ensures an original sound. It is a happy, lively track that puts you in a good mood." Ole Kirkeby, Helsinki, Finland

"The last track I reviewed had the worlds worst opening bar. You prove that the first bar COUNTS: it grabbed me hook line and singer. There are a couple of little timing issues throughout. I'm not a fan of the programmed bass and drums. Get it done live if possible. The chords are really nice. The vocals have some really awesome moments and some pretty dismal moments too. I would suggest rerecording them with a really honest and experienced producer to maximise the even greatness of the performance. The songwriting reminds a little bit of Robert Palmer's "I Didn't Mean To Turn You On" and some of Steely Dan's stuff. Huge compliments there, 'cos I love both of those artists. That "oh yeah" note at the end of the pre-chorus is really smooth. Great chorus, really hooky. Catchy song. Top marks for songwriting, and I like the break down a lot. The guitar is cool as well. I would sincerely suggest you do the recording again from scratch. Save your pennies and get a sweet arse studio, awesome producer and pay some delicious session musos to fill in your progammed elements. Great melodic, harmonic and rhtyhmic ideas throughout. 100% for songwriting. You're almost there with the production - just don't be afraid to outsource for talented experts in their respective fields. Music is about community and having talented friends and colleagues makes EVERY difference in producing top shelf profesional work. Good job. Top shelf song! Hang in there and you guys will create some very tasty recordings in the near future - I can feel it!" Love and Peace, James Higgins, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

"Lounge funk with great technicians!!! This is a really handmade groovin' little thang with a fantastic melody and a perfectly fitting instrumentation. A great sounding piano added with discreet funky drums and a solid bassline are building the ground for a kind of white oldschool funk. Little e-piano vibes are liven up the athmosphere of the staccatos from the piano and the bass. The singing theme is a little bluesy, and is getting better and better while the song is playing. A very good performing choir in a harmonious arrangement and a melody which is not surprising with unknown elements but very solid composed and charming with the groove! It is not really funk for me even if it´s funky. Maybe a little too european and straight on its way where the funk could have a little more playful intensity. Even if the bass part is very groovy I would liked to here a little slap here or there and also the guitar could have brought a little more to the front but that's a 0,01% criticism for this really round thang! My extra award for the the real good piano and the catchy mood. Christian Sandkuehler, Ahaus, Germany

Zenith - Lord Bygon's album

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