As a composer, one of my most splendid experiences is sitting down at the keyboard with no song in mind at all and letting my fingers lead me into a variety of musical progressions extemporaneously.
I may have some fragment of a tune to start with, as in this case, but then the session takes off on its own and I just follow wherever it goes.
Sometimes, at the end of a jam session, a few of the unexpected progressions or riffs become seeds for the development of complete songs in their own right. You’ll hear that in these tracks from time to time.
Here’s an upbeat depressing song (see lyrics below). The music is cheery but the message is a downer. Many of my songs are built to convey a message. This one is about the way people join any line they see and follow it mindlessly without even considering where it is going. I know that’s pretty lightweight, but this was written when I was in high school or thereabouts, so cut me a little slack here.
Still, I still like the juxtaposition of an upbeat marching song with a depressing scenario. I think it helps make the point that often the most terrible things in life are sugar-coated, dressed up, and celebrated so that no one looks at what’s really going on.
The recording quality is pretty poor, so here are the lyrics:
Lyrics
Three billion people marching in line, going to death but they don’t know. Three billion people marching in line, going to death but they don’t know.
La la la la, la la la la.
See all the children marching in line, follow their parents footsteps. They’re punished whenever they step out of line. Nobody but the sky wept.
La la la la, la la la la.
What is the purpose and what is the cause, and where do we think we’re going? We hope for the harvest but really we know, we won’t even finish sewing.
I wrote this one as an experiment in creating a melody flow that would require a sour note to sound right. I’ve always been fascinated by intentional discord and transient harmonics that must pass through unpleasant chord/note combinations to get from where it starts to where it wants to go.
Listen for the sour note. You’ll hear it, and also understand why it is part of the required progression for the melody to work.
This cheery little melody (which includes a few notable hooks) felt to me like a beach on a Pacific island – no job, no problems, no worries.
Imagine that after the first stanza repeats twice, a heavy beat as the drums kick in along with a strong rhythmic bass. I can hear cheering people in the track, perhaps bright trumpets and perhaps even a ballsy flute. Love to hear it that way, I would….
Written and recorded in the early 1970s
My Composer’s Sketchbook is available on Amazon with downloadable mp3s of every song, demo, and riff
The early 1970s began with my last couple of years in high school. For me, this was a very positive time. My mom and dad were great parents, I was involved in clubs and organizations, and the future looked bright and beautiful. Naturally then, many of my songs of the time were equally bright and cheery, and this one exemplifies that mood quite well.
My Composer’s Sketchbook is available on Amazon with downloadable mp3s of every song, demo, and riff
This is a nice frolicking melody. Nothing fancy, but intended as a “feel good” song. Obviously it needs a chorus and bridge, but I think its well on the way to being an enjoyable little ditty.
Words? I don’t know. I can see it with lyrics, though I half-imagine they might spoil the flow. We’ll see if that’s the case should I ever come back to this one for further development.
Originally recorded around 1970-1975 on audio cassette.
My Composer’s Sketchbook is available on Amazon with downloadable mp3s of every song, demo, and riff
This one is a concept recording for a melody and a change-up partway through. When I wrote it, it struck me as something majestic in the beginning section that suddenly breaks into a playful mood at the change up.
Not sure if it would be better as a song or a soundtrack, but I find it draws me in – at least the opening section which strikes me as a rather original little progression. Perhaps I should just grab that part and build something around it since the honkey tonk middle section is really pretty uninventive.
My Composer’s Sketchbook is available on Amazon with downloadable mp3s of every song, demo, and riff
This is the first track in my Composer’s Sketchbook dating way back around 1970. Since then, I’ve composed and recorded nearly twenty hours of original music including finished songs with lyrics, instrumentals, demos, riffs, and hooks.
I’m a terrible musician and a horrible singer but a pretty good composer. So, you may be hard pressed to hear the diamond in the rough. Even worse, these recordings were made on an old cassette recorder with no noise suppression and very low quality. All this means the sound is muddy and the performance unimpressive. Still, I think you’ll find the music itself is worth your while.
Try to listen past all those incidentals as I did when I originally recorded these tracks. Embrace the concept of the music and imagine it in your mind as it would sound as a proper studio recording with talented singers, skilled musicians and all the power and finesse of today’s studio technology.
I know, but do your best.
Getting down to specifics, the original tape where this initial song resides is actually labeled as Volume 2. Volume 1 may still exist, but it has been missing for years. I sure hope it turns up some day as I don’t even recall the songs I wrote and recorded on it.
This particular song is a melody/performance concept on electric guitar with voice. No words had been written for it at the time of the recording and I never went back to do anything else with it. Still, hearing it again now some fifty year later, I really think it has some potential.
Just because an idea for a song is simply scribbled out to save it for later development doesn’t mean it didn’t have the seeds of a really good piece. So, perhaps now that I’m finally organizing all my early material, I might just revisit this one and see where I can take it.
My Composer’s Sketchbook is available on Amazon with downloadable mp3s of every song, demo, and riff
