lyrics this is one of the darker songs i’ve done. as with “bells” last week, the song parts came pretty spontaneously. i named the sound file “ollivander high” for no particular reason (i did not have the choruses fleshed out yet). the high school focus of the random title sent me deep into the […]
Category Archives: monday song
monday song #15: the bells of st. sparrow
lyrics fifteen songs. four plus months. and I’m just getting warmed up… this week’s song was a case of automatic writing as far as the music goes. i played the opening churchbell pentatonic run on the piano and was struck by the first melodic phrase.
monday song #14: one of these days
lyrics number 14. and no, it’s not the pink floyd song. this little ditty was conceived as a number for a post-modern musical. the hero kicks the ground, looks up to heaven, and in an optimistic and wholesome tenor (or baritone in my case) sings about how things will change for the better, one of […]
monday song #13: in your ear
lyrics lucky thirteen. ran late this week and did most of the work on valentine’s day, which might explain the romantic undertones. as you’ve probably sensed by now, i haven’t met a double entendre i didn’t like, and this whole song is an extend experiment in such duplicity.
monday song #12: swept away
lyrics with number twelve, we complete the first album. and free at that. i couldn’t make up my mind between two song ideas this week. then i realized that one fragment opened with the line “in the summer sun, praying for the rain.” since last week’s song ended with emily jane praying for rain, i […]
monday song #11: the cure
lyrics number 11 returns to the crazy theme. (wait, did i leave the crazy theme?) this song came as quickly as anything i’ve written in a long time. chords came with the melody. sat down to write words and just wrote them. after a little bit of editing, everything was in place. the result contains […]
monday song #10: fall down
lyrics number ten has a bit of a country twang. i really like songs where there is a simple story, with a more complicated reality lurking underneath. if you take the words at face value, this tune, like “winston please” before it, is a simple heartfelt love song. but after a bit of listening and […]
monday song #9: the queen of spades
lyrics i’ve had the basic melody and chords for this song for some months now. the original chorus ended “she’s a star of stage and shingles vaccines,” which i still enjoy, but try as i might, it just wouldn’t spawn any lyrics i liked.
monday song #8: the weather
lyrics number eight brings us back to the wholeheartedly sad songs. this one came very fast. the opening chord sequence and the lines “too much history, too much you and me” came almost at once. most weeks, finding words is like stripping wallpaper – a lot of effort for little progress. with this song i […]
monday song #7: and here i’m standing
lyrics the seventh installment and first of 2009. i wrote and recorded this one a week before the first monday song was released. the musical idea that kicked this off was the opening piano with the A moving up to an unstable Dmaj7. (it’s somewhat rare for me to come up with the beginning of […]