Just got an email notice from the NY Times and found a link to a new songwriting blog called Measure for Measure, featuring Andrew Bird, among others, and thought I should share it, if anyone else out there is interested. His fairly detailed description of his own creative process left me a little ashamed of my own feeble efforts, both at blogging and songwriting, but also inspired me to try a little harder next time.
Captured this bumper sticker on my afternoon trek to the cafe for a caffeine fix and it seemed like a good thing for an old dog like me to keep in mind. Who knows, maybe there is even a song somewhere in that message.
Trains always seem to provide good material for songwriting, whether about coming or going, or the journey itself as in Steve Goodman's classic, "City of New Orleans".
This one verse song started with a common chord pattern finger picked in A, and the idea of a boy standing on a platform noticing a girl, but too awed or afraid to approach, so he lets the moment pass, she boards the next train and is gone, leaving him behind with only a haunting image and lost opportunity. I think there should be another verse out there somewhere but guess I will have to wait for it to arrive on another track.
Maybe I was too quick to give up on Spring in my last post. Two days after another record setting snowfall, we just looked out our back window to see a pair of sandhill cranes, back from their winter vacation for another summer in the marsh beyond the park behind our house. Such is the changeable weather in Wisconsin at this time of year, but you learn to take the signs of promise where you can find them, and this is surely a good omen.
My last post was a simple declarative statement of hope and promise that "Spring will come", eventually. After getting hit hard with a major snow storm Friday ("Good Friday", by the way) you begin to have doubts, but in an effort to find something positive in this temporary setback, I decided to capture it in a Flickr set. Here are a few of those shots.
The first day of Spring will be upon us this week, and none too soon. Its been a long, cold winter with record snow in Madison, leading to a bad case of cabin fever over the last several weeks. As we waited for a break in the weather, I decided to see if there was any chance a new song might be ready to germinate along with the first signs of Spring. It also gave me a chance to try out a couple of new toys including a new banjo I picked up, and a new portable recording set up through a refurbished Dell laptop with an M-Audio direct input box. This is what came out.
Old man winter's been here too long
I'm getting cabin fever trying to write this song, for you
been 4 long months of mostly gray and white
the days run short into long cold nights, feeling blue
Spring will come and its almost here
Spring will come and the skies will clear, for you
took a walk outside and felt a gentle breeze
but the weatherman said that tonight will freeze, again
but the sun gets stronger and extends the day
old man winter's grip will melt away, my friend
Spring will come and its almost here
Spring will come and the skies will clear, for you
Seems like I have hit another dry spell probably brought on by the depressing winter we have been having this year here in Madcity. Record snowfall for the season already, and no sign yet of the Spring that Jimmy the Groundhog promised us back on February 2nd. While I waited for a break in the weather and some songwriting inspiration,
I started on a book my son recommended as a fresh perspective on the Beatles and their music. It was written by Geoff Emerick (with some professional help), who was there at EMI studios to witness and help record much of their music from the beginning through Abby Road, their last album together. As they grew as recording artists, he grew as well as a recording engineer. His insight into how many of their songs and albums came together is fascinating. Even the technical stuff was useful for an amateur like me trying to capture better sounds in my little home studio. So, if you are suffering from cabin fever and need a diversion, I recommend this bit of music history even if you have already read a ton of Beatles books and articles.
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In the hope of creating a little more activity in the Ginza Line group, I dug through my files and found a few shots from a brief visit to Shimbashi, another stop on the Ginza Line that I had forgotten about. I remember visiting an old coffee shop on the second floor of a building near the station that a friend took us to, but I can't remember the name. It had a great atmosphere and I would like to find it again, so if anyone recognizes the unique interior shown in the picture below, please add a comment.
It's a bit of a hike, but one of the great gardens of Tokyo is within walking distance from Shimbashi, through the new office towers of Shiodome, to Hama-rikyu. We strolled the grounds on a pleasant sunny day in February when the plum trees were just beginning to blossom which was a welcome sight for visitors just arrived from the cold and snow of Wisconsin.
At this point in my life, I don't seem to write a lot of the traditional boy meets girl type of songs, probably because it is hard to find a fresh approach to these emotions and situations which are already pretty well covered by so many others anyway. It is easier and safer to play on the less traveled backroads with less songwriting traffic, but sometimes the crowded freeway of love themes still beckons. And instead of trying to avoid all the usual cliche's, we dive right in with a title that is about as over-used as anything could be. On the other hand, I could probably argue that this new song with a well traveled romantic route is really more about the virtue of patience in a generic sense, than just an antidote to love in the fast lane. In this accelerating world we live in, sometimes you need to just take things one day at a time, and one step at a time, to get where you want to go, whether it's to the church on time, or some other destination. Anway, since Valentines Day is this week, I'll use that as an excuse to post it and let anyone who cares to listen take whatever message they can get from it.
It comes in two versions, with version 1 being the original acoustic sketch used to get the initial idea down before I forgot it, while version 2 is a later, full-on electrified production with a country feel at a little slower tempo, so have a little patience.
One day past the Superbowl, two days after Groundhog Day, and ten days before Valentines Day. Here we are in month two of a new year in which many of us had (yet again) resolved to lose some weight, gain some confidence, save money (and the planet), and develop our creative spirit, among other things. This year Jimmy the Groundhog in Sun Prairie did not see his shadow which is supposed to mean only two more weeks of winter. Right. If you believe that, you might be one of those wishful thinkers that actually thought the Giants could upset the unbeaten Patriots and win the Superbowl. But wait! That did happen didn't it. Well maybe Spring will be early this year afterall.
At times like these, you want to believe that the weather, and even more important things like global warming, will get better soon. But from day to day, its often the little things that get us down. Like losing your dog, or paying the rent, or frozen pipes. What you could use at times like these is someone to call and tell your troubles to, kind of a humble hot-line for ordinary people with everyday problems. The lines would of course be staffed by retired super heroes whose physical powers might be in decline, but they still want to help as sage and sympathetic listeners. So here's a simple song written about coping with the daily trials of modern life which goes like this:
V1: When the doorbell rings and there's no one there
when your tire's flat and you got no spare
when you're in a jam, and you're on the lam
B1: just call on me, just call on me, just call on me and I'll be there
V2: When the landlord knocks and the rent is due
When your dog is lost and you got no clue
When you're in the rough, and you've had enough
V3: When your furnace dies and its 10 below
and your car's outside in seven feet of snow
when you think your hot but then you find you're not
V4: When the cupboard's bare and the pipes are froze
when your father's drunk and dressed in women's clothes
when the coffee's cold and you're feeling old
just call ...
Recent Comments
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mick said:
Don't talk - or sing - to me about the weather! Easter seems to have fallen at an odd time... read more
on Spring Will Come -
humbletree said:
Its not exactly balmy here either, but it is less unbearable than a few weeks ago. And the potholes are... read more
on Spring Will Come -
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humbletree said:
I start a lot of books but don't always finish them This one kept me going all the way to... read more
on Winterlude
Good to have you back on Vox, although after checking out your myspace page, I can see you have been... read more
on Spring Will Come