Laura Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 Eric-Thanks again for the song that you allowed us to download. The commentary and the process of writing the song add depth that only you can give us. You have given us so much of yourself through your music. These are the gifts that you give us time and again. Have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim From Wisconsin Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 Thank you for the song, and thanks for the great insight into the process! What a great way to end this year and enter a new one. I've listened to it a few times now, and I really like the sound of the Bass used for the song - It's a different cool sound. I love this song! Tim 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Ellen Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 Eric, You are the most yummy cool guy around!! Yeah, I know this is probably at least a little bit embarrassing, but you know!!! Like I said before - you are fearless in your songwriting. Love you, M.E. xxoo P.S. Really like all the other comments - fantastic shares. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. M Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Eric, I understood the meaning of your new song when I first heard it. However, thanks so much for the insight behind your creative process. It is somewhat in the mode of Johnny Nash's I Can See Clearly Now. We all experience those dark clouds at some point in our lives. But it is cathartic and an important part of the healing process to remind ourselves that if we patiently endure the painful times, better times will come. My best to all, Dr. M 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsnana1 Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 That song is so beautifully breath taking thank you Eric, Merry Christmas 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharen Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Wow! Thank you for the sharing Eric, it is so precious and inspiring! Love it! Merry Christmas!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAM Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 The song is fabulous Eric. Oddly enough, my wife and I just went through a horrific year also. I just returned home from a 6 month hospital stay that started out with a grim outlook on if I was going to even survive. My wife heard Brand New Year about an hour ago and she looked at me and said "Mike, that's "our" new song". I have to agree with her, as 2013 is a year we would love to forget. We look forward to 2014 with excitement. And your music will always be a part of our lives. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Ellen Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Eric most dear person, Your voice is splendid and your writing process is magical. I could go on and on here about you and how much you and your music mean to me, but I've already said and done everything I will here this Christmas morning. The best is yet to come I think. xxxxxooooo...M.E. God bless everyone here at ec.com too. Yesterday I woke up way too early because one of my cats was pressing his lips against mine. Yes, that was odd, but I realized he was telling me "Wake up and get on ec.com!!" So I did and what a fabulous Christmas surprise was waiting!! So now that I've actually had some ex-in-law and family holiday strangeness, cheer, lunch with my son Paul, (and most importantly, sleep), I'll make some additions to my original post. Marv said it well when he shared about your sitting down at the piano and writing again. It must have been some bit of momentary perfection converging in the universe when you found your inspiration on that lonely night at your home during this most cold winter to write your "new" song. All I can say is you are a bright and shining star in the universe dearest Eric, and as I've said previously "a rare soul." I do gush shamelessly about you on a regular basis, but I did "get you" from the beginning, before the inception of the Rs, so I can and I will continue to gush, etc. <3 <3 <3 I know your children are part of your heart and soul. It should warm your heart to know that going forward, whenever they hear "Brand New Year" they can feel and think - "Words and Music by Eric Carmen, my DAD." Love, love, love to you ec, Mary Ellen 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Eric, love the song as well as your insight on the writing process and inspiration behind it. Your talents as a writer, musician, and vocalist are astounding! You are very articulate and an incredible lyricist. As a high-school English teacher, I've had classes study some of your songs in our poetry unit. e.g.- "Sunrise", "Boats", "I Don't Know What I Want" (timeless anthem that teenagers will always relate to!) I will soon be adding BNY! Best wishes for a blessed 2014 for you and your family. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna L Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Dear Eric, The song is beautiful, and definitely sounds like it came from the heart.. The friends from EC.com are always here for you. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and the very best for the New Year. The Best for you always, Donna L 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew C. Clark Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Eric, you made my day!!! Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianchick Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 A song that touches the soul..nuf said except 'thank you' 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LobsterLvr Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Eric, I downloaded 'Brand New Year' the day it was posted, but have deliberately waited a few days before commenting. I thought by waiting I'd be better able to put into words how much that song means to me. I now realize it's impossible because, on every level, BNY captures the story of my life over the past several years. So I'll keep it simple and just say thanks for, once again, giving us the words and music we so deperately need to hear. Happy New Year, Dave Shea 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Ellen Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Eric, Now I'm waiting for what comes next on the new cd! Love, M.E. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catnip Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 x 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspbernie Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 And email requests to radio stations with the link! Spread the word!!! Bernie 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Eric, could you post the lyrics here? Thanks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catnip Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 x 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Ellen Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Posted on my Pinterest EC and art and music boards and to FB. So fun!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspbernie Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Brand New Year Words and Music by Eric Carmen It’s been a long, hard year Sometimes it felt like we might not make it But baby, we’re still here We showed the world that our love could take it We'll never let them break us down As long as we still believe Happy New Year’s Eve Drink a toast to All the ghosts we Leave behind us Here’s a fresh new start Full of promise That’s what brought us here It’s a brand new year The world can be so cold It breaks your heart in a thousand ways But baby, we won’t fold We’ll stand our ground for another day And we won’t let them break us down As long as we still believe Happy New Year’s Eve Drink a toast to All the ghosts we Leave behind us Here’s a fresh new start Full of promise That’s what brought us here It’s a brand new year You’re the one That I want for all my life Stroke of midnight Here’s a kiss for Auld Lang Sine Happy New Year’s Eve Drink a toast to All the ghosts we Leave behind us Here’s a fresh new start Full of promise That’s what got us here It’s a brand new year A brand new year It’s a brand new year 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspbernie Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 By the way, this is a good time to post some comments on the song's great lyrics. I know over the years Eric has frequently spoken of how hard he worked on crafting words for the Boats album, only to see it become a commercial failure. We all recognize that album as a smash artistic success, but it must have taken one hell of a toll on Eric's confidence as a songwriter. It's not hard to see why he relied more and more on lyricists on later compositions. So, "Brand New Year"—What incredible brilliant songwriting treasures lie within! Like rhyming "toast" with "ghosts," for instance. Heck, how about the rhythm and creative rhyming of the line: "Full of PROMISE, that's what BROUGHT US here." Hell, yeah! That's what I'm talking about! Speaking of that line, Eric sings, "That's what brought us here" on all of the choruses except for the last one, when Eric cleverly (and subtly) changes it to "That's what GOT us here." I love stuff like that! Then there's the line, "As long as we still believe," which doesn't rhyme with anything in the verse, but instead rhymes with the first line of each chorus! Cool stuff, folks. Would love to take that class on popular songwriting at the Cleveland Institute of Music if Professor Carmen takes the gig. Wonder how out of place I'd be with all of the younger students? Ahhh, who am I kidding? I'll probably be sitting right next to Marvin and Andy. Eyes down during the pop quizzes, boys. No copying! Bernie 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Carmen Posted December 27, 2013 Author Share Posted December 27, 2013 Hey, Bernie I took the liberty of editing the only two words that weren't right. Everything else was perfect! Thanks for posting the lyric. I'd like to point out a couple little "fun" things in "Brand New Year" that listers may have missed, because they're pretty subtle. If you listen closely, after the line "Drink a toast to....", you can hear two glasses "clink" together. And , a little more obvious....after the line "Stroke of midnight....", I found a church chime to include. "Bong!" I love tiny, little, almost subliminal things like that. e 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Carmen Posted December 27, 2013 Author Share Posted December 27, 2013 .......And, there have now been 10,000 independent streams of "BNY" registered at the Legacy Soundcloud in exactly 72 hours, since the link was opened! Cool! 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Ellen Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Bernie and Eric, You seem to have already brought up just about anything I was thinking of. This song was written in the moment and as you said E, is organic in it's feel and composition. Clearly a classic along the lines of Paul's "Let It Be." Amazing stuff - subliminal indeed! xxxooo I especially like the reference to "ghosts" left behind us, as we can all use a break from the negative haunting influences of people, situations and feelings which have caused us painful introspection. Such a wonderful positive song via a rare and gifted spirit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 The song is great, Eric! I first saw your post, four days ago, but I'm glad I waited to reply, now I will listen more. I listened mostly to the music, then it hit me. The song does what Brian's songs do. You become a part of the music, and the music become part of the words. Brian will put alto sax, and play the same notes he sings. Our design , when there is no partner. Women, enjoy family , friends, and their home, and are fulfilled. Men are design to get fulfillment through work, family. So, we move on. Going to read at bookstores, cafe's, etc. To expand our social circles. Philosophical now. I learned about this, in a class I'm in. the palm of my hand facing up is Ying. Turned down ibecomes Yang Life is like Ying and Yang. Once one turns or moves, it creates a working affect. The silence you experienced caused that affect. From nothing, to something. Or, to a positive result. So is the universe. Like strings attached to the sun, it looks like nothing is happening. Then you see the planets moving. Imagine strings attached to the sun. Something is always happening. Humour. I used to joke with a friend saying, "it's been a record shafting year! Someone got the goldmine, and someone got the shaft. Even that is ying and yand affect ! So it was the silence, that finally helped to move you ! From Ying....to Yang ! I guess, from cause...to effect ! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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