Week 4

I guess this is my last song of the month, just 11 more months to go. This week I did a short a capella track. I recorded three vocal backup parts in the order that they appear in the song, then I toyed around with a bass line and ended up dropping it out of the song. I then recorded the melody track then the "drums" and finally I recorded the chorus in four tracks. Here is the song:

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Lyrics:
Don't you know that wheel will keep on turning, no matter what you do to try and stop it.
Don't you know our flame will keep on burning, no matter how the world turns.

Free your mind, and open your eyes.
To what is actually happening, and the world will always be ours.

Week 3

This weeks song is the first song I have written for my new band. My friend and fellow band mate, Brandt, plays mandolin on it. This song was written over two sittings, the verse was written at my apartment, and the chorus was improvised for the first time practicing with my band, so here it is. Johnny Bad Seed:

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Lyrics:
Please forgive me for I have sinned
It wasn't the first time and it sure won't be the last.
I have done some pretty terrible things in my past.
I walked in the shoes of saints but they don't fit me well.
So I'll continue driving this steam engine right through the gates of hell.
Better Hide your liquor, Johnny bad seeds in town.
Lock your daughters up, grab your guns, we ain't here to mess around.

No Name #1

I don't have a whole lot to say about this one, I wrote this little finger picked riff I liked and toyed around with it until I got something I really liked. The vocals and lyrics are improvised and the soloing is improvised around a theme.

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

details

Ok, so this is my first song post, the song is called "details". I started this song with the guitar and then wrote the melody and lyrics together. I was taking with a friend on the phone and saying that I needed to work on my first song for this blog and I started fiddling around with a C chord on my guitar and a rhythm progression started to emerge. I got off the phone and ran with it and got the chords figured out. Then I started thinking about lyrics, a couple of days ago I started toying with the line "life is lived in the details" and that turned into the chorus. The rest of the lyrics, along with the melody were written while playing the song. I recorded it on one track in one take using my internal mic. I usually take a lot more time tweaking songs but I thought the lo-fi sound really worked with this song. The whole process started a little under an hour ago, so this song came out pretty quick. I have talked enough about it and if you are still reading and even if you aren't, here it is.

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Lyrics:

I may not have a lot of money,
I may not have many dreams.
My life may seem boring,
but it is better than it seems.

Because I know that I can hear the ocean in seashells.
Because I know life's lived in these tiny details.

I may not have your smile,
I may not have your look.
I may not have your brain,
and I may not understand all of your books.

But I know that I can hear the ocean in seashells.
And I know life's lived in these tiny details.

First Post

I am going to try and write one song a week for the entire year of 2010. On this blog I am going to document the writing process of each individual song. I will make each song available as I complete it.