[Stephen]

The songwriting process


No I'm not one of the great songwriters but I've written quite a few I'm happy with, none published so far. So I thought this might be of interest to those who say the process is difficult for them.

Today I was riding home on my motorcycle and wondered what I might call an album if I ever made one. The title that came to mind was “Of course” which might seem ordinary but has a special meaning to me. Then I thought well if that was the title there might be a song with that title too.

A few scraps of snatches of phrases came to me, which I tried to remember. Some of them came back as I sat down at the typewriter to string some words together for a new song. I had a feeling for it, a kind of slow swing (because Annie doesn’t like fast swing a la Stephane Grapelli), sounding a bit like a classic because I love the classic songs.

Here’s what came in the first half hour or so. The actual process is very difficult to analyse. The state of mind is free-flowing and receptive, and it’s probably enough just to set your mind in that direction. It’s a listening kind of thing, being able to snatch the thoughts that resonate, the phrases that have rhythm, the lines with end words that rhyme, before they slip from memory. If they do slip, they can sometimes be called back, but the whole thing is kind of slippery, it can’t be taught like other arts in terms of steps, it’s a kind of leap to a thought high in the air. You can see the difficulty I’m having describing it.

Anyway, what I intend to do is keep you up to date with my progress on this song in the hope that this is of some interest to those of you struggling with lyric writing.

As more verses come, if they come, I’ll post them. I have a kind of rhythmic feel in mind, and a style, so in my mind I’m listening for sounds and sequences of notes that will fit. As I do I will try to remember them, find a chord progression that fits. I might develop a chord progression from that start. Let’s see what happens. I might decide in the cold light of tomorrow morning that the whole thin is cr- ahhh rubbish. Back to you soon.

Oh, before I go, I’m looking at the fourth and fifth lines and thinking that’s where a rewrite may be needed. It depends a little on whether I can find a tune that fits with the rhythm of the words.


Of course the love between us is the real thing

Of course you can believe it’s true

Of course it’s bigger than we can imagine

There’s something about it that’s more than it appears to be

That’s more than me and you

Of course you can believe I’m thinking of you

Probably when you’re thinking of me

Of course the we two are really one,

Of course we’ll always have the sun,

Of course, of course of course, I love you

[si16]

Hi Stephen,
I have really enjoyed reading your posts on the songwriting process - very interesting and informative. Do you write songs to perform yourself or are you more interested in going through the publishing route? Having never tried to write a song I'm not in any position to give advice - I only ask out of interest.

Don't know how things are in Oz but here in the UK acts such as Jamie Cullum, Michael Buble, Madeleine Peyroux are doing well, in additon to the ever popular Rat Pack as well as Rod Stewart with his new standards album. It seems like a good time to be writing music inspired by the classics so good luck

Simon

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by si16

Hi Stephen,
I have really enjoyed reading your posts on the songwriting process - very interesting and informative. Do you write songs to perform yourself or are you more interested in going through the publishing route? Having never tried to write a song I'm not in any position to give advice - I only ask out of interest.

Don't know how things are in Oz but here in the UK acts such as Jamie Cullum, Michael Buble, Madeleine Peyroux are doing well, in additon to the ever popular Rat Pack as well as Rod Stewart with his new standards album. It seems like a good time to be writing music inspired by the classics so good luck

Simon

Hi Simon

Thanks for your positive feedback. I write songs because I love music and it's fun. I do perform them when I have the chance -- I'm playing three of mine at a gig in a couple of weeks. I'm not that interested in touring and carting gear aorund, which is one reason why I haven't become a fulltime professional, but I plan to make some recordings and see what happens. I would be very happy for others to take them up and perform them.

Yes, Buble is very popular here too. We also have a wonderful female jazz singer, Janet Seidel, who specialises in Hoagy Carmichael and other writers of that era and has recorded some lovely versions with a harmonica player, William Gallison.

I'm very keen to see the move Kevin Spacey is making of the life of Bobby Darin. Spacey is something of a singer himself and does the actual singing in the movie.

Thanks for your good wishes.

[si16]

As I said the UK is right into the old standards at the moment so hopefully Janet Seidel will make some appearances.

That film was actually released over here a while ago and while it didn't get great reviews Kevin Spacey certainly did for his singing. It's good too for Bobby Darin who most people remember just for 'Mack the Knife'. I love his versions of 'Clementine' and 'Beginning to see the Light'. There was also another film released at the same time about Cole Porter starring Kevin Kline. It got similar reviews in that it's not a great film but worth watching for the music.

As you seem to love this type of music can I recommend you seek out recordings by the guitarist Martin Taylor who I mentioned in a post the other day. He uses his phenomenal technique to adapt classic songs, Gershwin, Kern, Van Heusen, etc, for solo guitar. And, perhaps unlike Michael Buble, he always brings his own personality to the piece rather than relying on traditional arrangements. Strong melody and rich in harmony. Here's a link to one of his best recordings. Check out the sound clips and reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...music&n=507846

PS Although I sound like his agent I don't actually know him. Hearing him, though, made me want to play fingerstyle and also introduced me to many of these great old tunes I hadn't heard

[Stephen]

Thanks, si!6, I'll check him out. With a name like Martin Tylor...

[Stephen]

At the last post I had come this far with the lyric of a new song:


Of course the love between us is the real thing

Of course you can believe it’s true

Of course it’s bigger than we can imagine

There’s something about it that’s more than it appears to be

That’s more than me and you

Of course you can believe I’m thinking of you

Probably when you’re thinking of me

Of course the we two are really one,

Of course we’ll always have find the sun,

Of course, of course of course, I love you



Additions

10 pm Sat

Of course, you can, be free from the care you once knew

Of course you can say you don’t want it but I know you do

11.20 pm Sun 11 Dec 05

Of course there’s a star in the heavens that carries your name

10.50 am Tues 20 Dec 05

Of course there’s something in me and in you that’s the same

4.50 pm Mon 26 Dec 05

Of course you’re forgiven, of course love is living

In you and in me, there’s no blame



5.00 pm Mon 26 Dec 05

Okay. In the cold light I noticed a number of problems, the main one being that there’s a bad rhyme. The last line should rhyme with the “me” of the fourth last line. I don’t want to change the last line so the fourth last must rhyme with “you.” It’s not ideal to rhyme with the same word which means these two lines have to change:

Of course you can believe I’m thinking of you

Probably when you’re thinking of me

Can we find a way to say the same thing with the correct rhyme? It addled my brains this morning.

It also occurred to me that this sentiment occurs in another song, Anytime, by H. Lawson, performed by Arlo Guthrie:

Anytime you’re thinking of me, that’s the time I’ll be thinking of you

So let’s try something else.

Of course you can believe the things I’m saying

Of course my every word is true

That’s better.

Maybe the lyric can be improved further, but at this point in the process, for me, it’s time to start grabbing some of the snatches of melody I’m hearing in my head (you can hear some too if you imagine singing the words). The next step is to catch enough melody to nail it down and then find a chord progression to fit. Notice that the bridge has quite a different rhythm from the verse, and the melody will have to be tailored to the rhythm of the words because the words came first (they usually do with me). There may be another verse in it, but I tend to keep my lyrics fairly short. You can always sing them twice, as often happens in the classic songs. I did rewrite the fourth line as I thought I may.

More updates to come as the process continues.


Here is the song as it now stands with deletions and new additions:

Of Course

Of course the love between us is the real thing

Of course you can believe it’s true

Of course it’s bigger than we can imagine

There’s something in it I can see that’s more than it appears to be

That’s more than me and you

Of course you can believe the things I’m saying

Of course my every word is true

Of course we two are really one,

Of course we’ll always find the sun,

Of course, of course, of course, I love you


(Bridge)

Of course, you can, be free from the care you once knew

Of course you can say you don’t want it but I know you do

Of course there’s a star in the heavens that carries your name

Of course there’s something in me and in you that’s the same

Of course you’re forgiven, of course love is living

In you and in me, there’s no blame

[Stephen]

Did some work on a chord progression and melody this morning. Playing a C chord followed by a Cm gave me some inspiration. It seemed to fit the bridge better than the verse. I found this for each of the first two lines:

Of [C] course you [Cm] can be [D] free from the [D7]care you once [G]knew
Of [C] course you can [Cm] say you don't [D] want it but [D7] I know you do


I had got to this point at the time the attached recording starts so you can hear how I got the rest of the progression.

I don't really know what I'm doing here but just trying stuff to see what works, knowing some of the tricks the classic songwriters use in their progressions.

Of [B7] course there's a star in the heavens that carries your [C] name
Of [A7] there is something in me and in [D7] you that's the [G] same
Of [C] course you're for-[Cm]given of [E7] course love is living
In [A7] you and in [D7] me there's no [G] blame

Please ignore crappy vocals and playing. I was definitely not thinking about either but concentrating solely on getting that progression and melody. There may be some refining to do. I may be able to apply a variation on that progression to the verse. I may make the bridge the verse (or the whole song).

The file upload is hanging up on me so please download the recording here:

http://www.notabody.com/Songs/Of%20Course%20bridge.mp3

This is fun for me, I've never documented my progress before.

[Stephen]

I finished the song today after coming up with a new second line: "There's nothing about it we can do."

There's a recording posted in the Recording Booth forum or you can download it here:

http://www.notabody.com/Songs/Of%20Course.mp3

[Stephen]

Here's the song in its final (or almost final) form:

Of Course

Of [C]course the love [Cm]between us is the [G]real thing
There’s [C]nothing [Cm]about it we can [G]do
Of [B7]course it’s bigger than we can im-[C]agine
There’s [A7]something in it I can see
That’s [D7]more than it appears to be
That’s [G7]more than me and you
Of [C]course you can [Cm]believe the things I’m [G]saying
Of [C]course my every [Cm]word is [G]true
Of [C]course we two are [Cm]really one,
Of [Bm7]course we’ll always [E7]find the sun,
Of [A7]course, of course, of[D7] course, I love [G]you


(Bridge)

Of [C] course you [Cm] can be [D] free from the [D7]care you once [G]knew
Of [C] course you can [Cm] say you don't [D] want it but [D7] I know you [G]do
Of [B7] course there's a star in the heavens that carries your [C] name
Of [A7] there is something in me and in [D7] you that's the [G] same
Of [C] course you're for-[Cm]given of [Bm7] course love is [E7]living
In [A7] me and in [D7] you there's no [G] blame

Repeat verse

[Nem]

woooow very cool indeed

and im finding this documenting of a process very helpful

were there any reason why you chose that particular chord progression, particularly with the 7ths in there?

and how did you know where to place the chord changes? was it planned that way?

[Stephen]

Sevenths add flavour that you don't get from plain major chords. One of the starting points I use for finding new progressions is the circle of fifths (there's a post in this forum under that name) which works best with sevenths.

The chord progression came partly from playing around with the C-Cm change (a trick I learned from looking at "September Song" a jazz standard), partly from the snatches of melody I had floating around in my head and partly from applying the circle of fifths idea.