This is a great initiative to support local talent in Edmonton. The Edmonton Public Library has launched a program called Capital City Records to establish a public digital space to celebrate the local music scene and its history.
Anyone can stream the albums but if you have an EPL library card you can also download the tracks.
They plan to add 100 albums per year, with the call for the next round of submissions coming up this Fall.
I’ve taken a break from SAC Challenge 2015 this week because of other commitments but today I took a shot at revising how the lyrics are set to “Good Man Down.”
Over the past few weeks I’ve also been taking Pat Pattison’s course on songwriting. Among other things, he talks about “body language” and setting lyrics front-heavy or back-heavy. Front-heavy is on the first beat of the bar, back-heavy is set back in the bar. Pattison says that front-heavy lends itself to “stability” and back-heavy to “unstable”.
Following the general principle of prosody in songwriting, his approach is to think about and apply front/back heavy to lyric setting as a way to reinforce key ideas and themes in a unified way. There’s more to it than I can describe here but it is a helpful set of guidelines.
This morning I re-recorded Good Man Down with a vocal performance that sets the lyrics quite a bit different from the original recording. The verses are now more front-heavy, with selective back-heavy lines in various spots to give emphasis where it is needed. It’s subtle but it makes a difference (at least I think so).
Here’s GMD, take 2:
The original recording of the song is available here.
The challenge this week came from Ron Irving who asked us to write an “edgy” country pop tune with some added criteria:
Male artist, early 20s, no mention of marriage or kids, no references to partying at the lake, and no “bro country” vibe (I’m not sure what that means).
I don’t listen to much country per se, so I spent a few days getting exposed. Wow, the genre is really wide and there is plenty of room for crossover with pop/rock. What makes it country? The accent. The content. And, interestingly, almost every song I heard was written in first person POV.
So here it is. It does include mention of (a) beer ; (b) a woman; (c) a truck; And the guy loses his woman and his job. But if you stay with it, there’s a moment redemption at the bridge and third verse of the song.
Enjoy!
Good Man Down
Friday night he gets home late
grabs a beer and sits and waits-
for that woman he loves so much
what would he do without her touch
He finds a note by the kitchen sink-
she wrote it fast, in lipstick pink
she’s going south to West Palm Beach-
for sun and sand, and another man
God, he’ll never understand
Why an honest guy can’t get a break
he keeps on losing ground
when a lover leaves him in misery
we got another good man down
Monday morning he shows up at work
grabs his tools from out of his truck
he does this job to pay the rent
but by the end of the week the money’s spent
The boss is shoutin’, callin’ his name
tells him business just ain’t the same
they’re closing down the shop today
the payout’s just a couple of grand
we hope that you’ll understand
That an honest Joe can’t get a break
he’ll keep on losing ground
and when the economy leaves him in misery-
we got another good man down
Oh, he could crawl into a hole and hide
or he could curl up and die
but something stirs in him deep down inside
and he gets back up on his feet again
This stretch of highway is all his own
he puts the pedal down and leaves his home
it’s time to make a change for good
he’s gonna get what he needs
to hell with what they might believe
An honest soul can get a break
he might even gain some ground
he’s had enough of dealing in misery
you can’t keep a good man down
We got a good man down
we got a good man down
we got a good man down
we got a good man down
This week’s challenge was tough but I came up with a song early in the week. I spent a day touching up the lyrics and recording a simple, quick demo of “Wear Anything”.
Kids love hats (so do grown ups) and idea is fairly obvious. You can grow up to be who you want to be. I will love you for who you are.
I’ve included two links to the demo. The first is my original recording, the second features another SAC Challenge participant Mikalyn Hay. I think the song is suited to a female vocal and she kindly agreed to sing a version of it for me. Thanks Mikalyn and Michael!
Wear Anything
Who you gonna be-
Where you gonna go-
What kind of hat are you gonna wear?
A baseball cap-
A cowboy hat-
A pink beret or a derby
A panama-
A yamaka-
A black pork pie or a beanie
You can wear anything-
with that smile on your face
A tam o’shanter-
Just might be you-
Maybe a turban or a fez
A fruity hat-
Or a propeller cap-
Something crazy to make the news
You can wear anything-
with that smile on your face
You can wear what you want-
for me
Here’s the original demo.
Here’s the version in a different key featuring Mikalyn Hay.
This week’s challenge comes from Heather Gardner, Music Supervisor for Vapour Music. She wants us to write a 60 second spot that “captures the spirit of a child.” She cautions us that it shouldn’t be emotional or “heart-stringy” but instead fun and quirky. “Purely fun” is the exact phrase. The lyrics need to speak to childhood (in a fun way).
A number of reference tracks are provided, including The White Stripes “We Are Gonna Be Friends“, “Mushaboom” by Feist, and Karen O’s “Where the Wild Things Are.”
We’ll also need to be able to slice the song into 15/30/60 second cutdowns.
This is a good challenge and I think I get the gist of it, having listened to the reference tracks. My first impulse is to go minimalist, with a Jack Johnson vibe. I have a riff and a few lyrics for a song about “hats”. Yep, headgear. Let’s see what happens.
I’ve been writing about the progress of my song “Choose” for the 2015 SAC Challenge. Rob Wells has challenged us to write a pop song for a female vocalist and aimed at the teen market. Oh, and keep it under 3:30.
This is outside my comfort zone but I’ve managed to cobble something together. Thematically the lyrics centre on the idea of having “choices” and the girl wanting the boy to commit to choosing her.
I’m singing on the demo but clearly it would be better to have a female vocalist doing it (if anyone is interested I can provide the music bed).
The melody could be a bit stronger in my opinion but I’m happy with the overall results, especially given that at the beginning of the week I wasn’t sure if I was going to have anything at all to share.
It’s a simple chord progression all the way through (D/G/B/A) and relies on changes in the lyric phrasing to give it a sense of movement. The song doesn’t have a bridge per se, although I stuck in a short break before returning to the chorus.
Apple loops are used for the rhythm tracks but I played the other synth parts that embellish it. I also snuck a little bit of distorted guitar in the final section to give it some grit.
Here are the revised lyrics as sung on the demo. A link to the song is below the lyrics.
Choose
When it comes to music-
you have to make a choice
do you like it straight or swing-
do you want to dance or sing
When it comes to movies-
you’ve got to make a choice
do you want to laugh or cry-
or do you like a thrill ride
When it comes to a lover’s test-
it’s multiple choice
it’s your voice
so what’s it gonna be boy-
A, B, C, or D
I know love is strong-
but if you wait too long
I’ll be gone before you know it
So you can make your move-
you know I will approve
and I’ll love you over and over again
Let’s not wait forever-
to be together
you don’t want to lose me-
it’s time to choose
When it comes to candy-
you have to make a choice
do you like it sticky sweet-
do you like to trick or treat
When it comes to fashion-
you’ve got to make a choice
do you go for Calvin Klein-
or any old design
When it comes to a lover’s test ….
[repeat chorus]
In my last post I shared the chorus for a song called “Choose.” One thing I admire about the pop formula is how songwriters will establish a unified theme around a simple concept and play with it in the verse development.
Echosmith’s “Bright” is a love song that uses astronomical imagery as a unifying theme:
Did you see that shooting star tonight?
Were you dazzled by the same constellation?
Did you and Jupiter conspire to get me?
I think you and the Moon and Neptune got it right
I think you and the Moon and Neptune got it right
I think you and the Moon and Neptune got it right
‘Cause now I’m shining bright, so bright
Bright, so bright
Bright, so bright
And I get lost in your eyes tonight
This kind of writing takes a simple, everyday word or cliche and puts a new spin on it. I love the ingenuity in it.
So, for “Choose” I’m working on the idea of choice as a thematic motif. I’ve started to develop some verse ideas. I’ll share them in my next post.
The SAC Challenge opened with Matt Dusk’s pitch request. I have to confess that it’s outside the style of writing I’ve been cultivating for the past year and therefore a bit out of my comfort zone. I have listened to the reference tracks he offered and I began to play around with a title idea, with great input from some other songwriters participating in the challenge.
“Beautiful Freeze” is full of possibilities but if I’m going to develop it, I need to find a musical angle for it. I’ve got the seed of an idea but not quite ready to record and share it yet. I usually write with guitar, so working with piano puts me in a different zone, both musically and technically (i.e., not a strength). However, I like the “icy” quality of a simple piano track and I’m playing with the chord progression
C … Csus4/F … Am7 … G
C … Csus4/F … Gsus4 … C
And I’m going down tempo rather than up. I’m working with the a phrase “Like the frost in the trees/it’s a beautiful freeze”. The image and phrasing needs to be stronger but I have to start somewhere.
I’m going to sit with it as the challenge continues and see where it might go. I’m started to explore some collaborations with it too but that’s a challenge too when working online. I hope to be able to continue to work on that as well.
The La’s song “There she goes” is a good example of simplicity in songwriting across the four dimensions of lyric, melody, harmony, and rhythm. However, what seems simple at first hearing can be surprisingly subtle and, on closer inspection, harbour a few surprises for the astute listener.
This version comes in at 2:47, performed on this recording at about 120bpm.
Released first in 1988 then again in 1990, the story is a boy wants girl theme set in a repeating pattern that uses a single rhyme scheme that flows from the first line, “there she goes again”. Subsequent lines end with rhyming words “brain”, “contain,” “remains”, etc.
The harmony is the widely used G/D/C progression, followed by an Am/G/C with the minor chord giving it a bit of moodiness.
The first line of the melody is two half notes and whole note: “there/she/goes” singing on the 5th, 3rd, and 5th of the harmony chords. So, he’s singing D/F#/G. Giving it a nice open feel. Actually, the melodic line in this phrase is similar to “When the Saints Go Marching In” which might resonate subconsciously with some listeners. I don’t know … maybe.
The second line changes the rhythm with a quarter notes “there/she/goes” with again picking up the last downbeat beat in the bar and carrying over into the next measure. The third lyric phrase is similar
Then it moves to the Am/G/C progression with the line “And I just can’t contain/this feeling that remains”, repeating it, then turning around on the D to start the cycle all over.
Altough it’s a simple design overall, the song structure is unusual because it isn’t based on the usual 4/8/16 bar sections, opting instead for odd numbered sections:
12+1 bar intro
11 bar verse
11 bar verse
11 bar instrumental (same as verse)
12 bar bridge
11 bar verse
7 bar outro
The unusual structure stems from a five line verse followed by a one measure turnaround. The line phrasing is a typical 2 measures but the verse itself is five lines:
G D C
There she goes- (2 measures)
G D C
There she goes again (2 measures)
G D C
Racing through my brain (2 measures)
Am G C
And I just can’t contain (2 measures)
Am G C
This feeling that remains (2 measures)
turnaround on D (1 measure)
In terms of production, the song may sound relatively simple but it uses a number of devices to develop an arc and keep it fresh:
The Wikipedia entry for the song provides some additional background and context for the song, including an interesting note that seems to suggest that it took the magic touch of producer Steve Lillywhite to transform the original recording into a hit record. The song was covered by Sixpence None the Richer in a 1999 release. How do they compare? Listen for yourself.
A few months back I wrote about using Flickr as a source of visual inspiration for songwriting. At the time, I was working with a line “She’s like a merry-go-round” and had some vague ideas about how the song might develop. I continued with that initial theme of amusement park as a place to experience young love.
The final result is called “Carry On”. I wrote about the title and the bridge to this song in another earlier post. The original version was written for acoustic guitar with a much slower tempo in mind. When working on the demo, I brought the tempo up to 124 bpm and added a more complex arrangement, including some vintage analog synth parts that seemed to complement the mood of the song. Trumpeting the love, as it were.
The image is from a colour linocut by Cyril E. Power, called “The Merry-Go-Round” and posted on Flickr Creative Commons.
SELKIRK RANGE 