I like reading about songwriters and the back stories related to their songs. I thought, why not write something about my own. I have about 50 or more of these songs so far. Really, none are at the level you would expect to hear publicly, let alone commercially. I sometimes do them at an open mic.
But, hey, they are my songs and my stories. So, why not?
This is a bit tongue-in-cheek, with a country feel…
It’ll take a bit more drinking of that cheap banquet wine
And it won’t really matter, if I take my sweet old time
It’ll take a bit more effort to – get her out of my mind
Coz she left me standing all alone, when they played, “Here comes the bride” Read the rest of this entry »
Sitting around with some musician friends, we were all complaining about arthritic pain. Apparently the weather conditions were such that we all felt the effects. It got me to thinking about aging and that produced this…
I’ve been writing songs for a very long time
Never could get all the words to rhyme
Try to make the melody pure and true
But the notes get banged up, black and blue Read the rest of this entry »
Unrequited love as told by a photographer? …well, sort of. I finally got around to recording one of these and, although I’m not a great singer, it’s nice to have the melody available so, when I forget, I can come back to it.
I took a photograph of you the other day
You looked a–mazing, and that’s all I can say
And now whenever I think about you
I look at that picture and I know the truth, and
I, I, I, I, I
Wonder why Read the rest of this entry »
This one started off as something different, contemplating change by one person and the affect it has on another. But that became kind of confrontational, so I changed it to a more supportive song. I took a few verses out as a result of this change so, to give it some more time, I start with the chorus. The verse part, “You had your last cigarette”, would have been the start of the song and the reason for the title. I decided not to change it. Maybe, in the inevitable rewrite, I’ll end with that line, too.
Chorus:
You say your going to the river, there to meet the Lord
Go there with your body, go there with your soul
Start your life all over, so that you can survive
Gonna have that water cleans you, lead you to a better life Read the rest of this entry »
Sometimes a phrase pops into my head and I start adding ideas around it. I liked “drifting with the wind” and the melody that it puts into my thoughts. It took a while but, eventually, I came up with this.
I’m drifting with the wind, don’t know where I’ll end up today
Not sure where I am going, or how long I will stay
I may find a friend, that happens now and then
But I’m searching for something else, so I will drift again Read the rest of this entry »
This started off as an entry in my Project 52 effort from a few years ago. That’s where I created something each week for a year, a self-imposed challenge. On the very last week, it was a short, non-musical piece called She’s His Now. I thought I’d someday get around to making this out as a song at some point. Looks like someday finally happened. Read the rest of this entry »
I think I was in a rebellious frame of mind, or maybe I was thinking of “Eve of Destruction”. Either way, philosophical grumbling in my head spilled out into this protest song. The “I’m ready…” refrain has energy and anger when I sing it. The song, to borrow one of its lines, had an in-your-face kind of feel. My apologies to Forest Gump. I’m thinking that, no matter what’s inside, just eat the damn chocolates…although now I realize that my use of “stupid” could be misconstrued. I wasn’t referring to Gump, but society in general. (Maybe I need to change that line. Damn. But he used the line so, I guess, it fits.)
Someone had posted, on a social media network, that he and his girlfriend had ended a relationship. It was a very sad as he wrote about how she had thought it through. Almost immediately, this line kept running through my head…
after the thinkin’ through is done
A day later, I had this song.
I think I was sitting around getting into a Country Western kind of mood. Now, I’m not really someone versed in such songs, but I think I got close with this one, especially the line, “Bad luck, no luck, what’s it gonna be?” I don’t remember the inspiration for this, what I was watching on TV, or reading about in a magazine, but it came together that Murphy’s Law and I have a long running relationship. So, when I say “no no, no no no”, I know what I’m talking about.
I was hoping, one day, to be able to write a song and post it here immediately, and in only just a few days, start to finish.
I’ve been in a dry spell since starting this blog and I thought that the blog would force me to do this start-to-finish thing more often. That didn’t really work. Whatever cycle in my head needs to complete before I can do a song, the blog has had no affect. But, last week, I got an idea and, today, I finished it – including a melody and chords. So, why not post it?
As with most songs I write, this one will probably undergo changes. As soon as I play and sing it out loud, I’ll make adjustments. If I play it for an audience, even more changes. Usually, though, such changes don’t affect the essence of the song. Maybe when the dust settles, if it’s worth posting an update, I will.
So, what was the brainstorm that made me do this song? Nothing, really…
