Sunday, December 30, 2007

Kick Off The New Year With A New Song!


Here are some suggestions from Graham English.


For other ideas you could also visit one of these sites:

The Songhacker's post on the Musak Test.

Jeff's Songwriting Blog. A Lesson From Country Songs.

Rob Roper hangs his songwriting butt out for all to see.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Pepto Bismol Revisited

Yes. In this post you may remember my challenge. To go where no writer has gone before. At least, no writer here at Songwriting Apples. To my knowledge anyway.

So here goes. I ain't too proud. Heck, I posted a song about Unicorns so what have I got to lose?


Pepto_Bismol.mp3

Pepto Bismol Commercial Jingle


Nausea, heartburn, indigestion
Upset stomach, diarrhea

Yeah, yeah, yeah pepto bismol oooooh
Yeah, yeah, yeah pepto bismol oooooh yeaaaaahhh.



I made it to be exactly (or almost exactly) 30 seconds so it would fit as a traditional commercial length. It's patterned after those cheesy beer commercial type songs. I think I may have achieved it too well. :)

2007-12-09 Instrumental: Did I Steal This From...?




...that one band? Uh...what's their name?

Seriously, I can picture the band I stole it from. The beauty is, most people won't know I took it. But I confess now in advance that I realize after the fact that I most likely stole it unintentionally from...

**edited on 12/28/2007** The band was Built To Spill. I'm pretty sure I must have ripped off something from their album You In Reverse.


I can't remember. But there last album looked like the drooping clock paintings that Van Gogh. Wait. Google says that would be Dali. (See accompanying picture).
Whatever.

2007-12-09 Instrumental



I just had fun playing bass, drums, and guitar.

Rock A Bye Baby




I don't know where this song is going, but this is a jam I was playing on my front porch. I saw my kids playing outside, thought of the old nursery rhyme, and found that it had a new significance (at least to me) sung in this way. The keychange weirdness is something that popped into my head as I was working it out in my mancave.

Here's the origin of the song. I may reference this more if I decide to do something else with this song. Here's an extended lyric and a midi-esque sounding piano version.


Rock A Bye Baby.mp3

Rock A Bye Baby



Rock a bye baby on the tree tops
when the wind blows, the cradle will rock
if the bow breaks the cradle will fall
and down will come baby cradle and all, cradle and all

even if God finds me I will take a chance
even as the sun hides from the moon
even if the wrongs I've done can track me down
even if your love comes back too soon

Friday, December 14, 2007

Some Effects of Playing Music I Never Counted On


Last week the bass player in my new group asked me to play in a situation I had never before. His church was hosting a group of homeless men each night this week. Feeding them, offering hair care, entertainment, etc. He asked if we might have our weekly practice at the church building to entertain the visitors. I quickly said I'd love to, not at all aware of what sort of effect it might have on me or the visitors.

Last night on the way to the building, I found myself feeling anxious, but excited. I wondered how the music would be received. Mostly, I just reminded myself to be open to anything.

After practicing for an hour or so, the vans began to arrive. And for the next hour and a half we were able to play our music for a group of homeless men. They applauded. They joked. They sat, rapt at the music they heard. Privately, they discussed some of their feelings with Dave while Lisa and I did a few songs ourselves.

Today I receive an e-mail from Dave with some of the content of those discussions. He mentioned that a few of the men indicated that they appreciated the songs. They were easy to understand and had a relevant meaning. The following is a quote from the same e-mail:

"Many of these guys that I have had conversation with each night this week indicated, they were "just like me" (hope that was meant as a good thing) when they were younger but had just taken their eyes of of God and started to direct their own steps and bang! This is where they are. Interesting find in all of this, not one man has asked for anything more than what we have provided and not one man has blamed God for their misfortune. Quite the contrary, they blame only themselves."


And here I thought WE were the ones providing the service and giving out the lessons...

John

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

In The Studio With Stephen M.: Control Freaks Letting Go




Here's one of my indie-rock super heroes talking about letting go in the studio.

Dylan Goes Electric





Well, it's nothing so radical, but for the last three months I've been playing acoustic only shows. This week I will be plugging in and hauling along a drummer as well.

I'm actually pretty excited about it. I get to use my newest amp for the first time in a live setting.

I'll report back or post a link of the show when I'm done. Here's a tentative set list for the evening:

Paul
We Could Write Our Own Songs
Things (Brothers, Sisters)
Such Great Heights
Here's To Things I Haven't Done
I Can't Get Over It
Can You Hear Me?
Don't Give Up
Silent Night
Auld Lang Syne

Monday, December 3, 2007

I Like How This Song Sounds

This song sounds good to me. When John posted his last post about hearing records and listening for sounds you want to have, I realized that I had a recording of my own that I was reasonably happy with sonically. If I can recreate the acoustic sound, the drums, and my vocal sound, I will be very happy with my own recordings. I just have to see if I can recreate it.

(I accidentally posted this post on my family blog and someone commented that it sounded like Wilco. Cool! I'm sure I hope it sounds an eighth like one of the good Wilco records).