New tune in the works

[Marshall]

Maybe it's Spring has finally sprung. Maybe I just had a good day. I don't know. But I picked up Ernie tonight. He's in DADGAD lately. And I thought I'd try something different. So, i stuck a capo on it. Never done that in DADGAD. And I just noodled around like I often do. I found a cute little rhythmic thing on a couple chords. I played them over and over until it was a pretty well developed "A" part with some variation. Nice fun melodic possibilities for vocal.

Then I deceide to find something complimentary and hit upon a couple of unusual chords that make a "B" that's a nice counterpoint to the "A". And it has some great (for me) possible vocal lines.

No idea where the song should go thematically (lyrically). It could be a quirkie love song. But I'll probably stew it over for a few days and see if any interesting thoughts pop up. I can always go through my "ideas" folder and see if anything I've been saving matches up.

This is the way I write a lot of my stuff. I guess I most often follow the "scrambled eggs" method of writing.

[Cornflake]

That way works for a lot of people. I've never been one of them but I envy those who are.

I hope to hear it in Iowa.

[Marshall]

I think this one will fester. . . . , that's a good thing. It's already gotten under my skin enough that I'll probably do something with it. If I do, I'll get a simple mp3 some time.

And there's always Iowa.

[Marshall]

Nothing new to report. (but I will anyway). It's turned into a Verse/Chorus format. I think I want to find a noble character to write about; could be somebody I know; or a historical figure. I want to have a serious element to the song. It could turn into a bee-boppy thing, otherwise. But I don't want it to be that light.

(It's quite fun to play).

It may need a bridge. But until I get a subject, I'm not making that commitment.

[Cornflake]

For some reason, Marshall, that reminds me of something I read about Robbie Robertson. He said he played the music to "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" for months and months before he had any idea what the song was about.

[Marshall]

S t i l l nothing to report. I've flirted with the idea of making this one about Todd Frank, (of all people). But somehow writing a song about dropping little green soldiers through a hole in the floor just doesn't seem like it'd have a wide appeal. *smirk* But i still might consider that.

But there's another character in my life, Garland, who is a piece-of-work. He's a man of my age who's always been a closet ADD/HDD personality that is larger than life character, with a heart of gold. But he too, will not have a true storyline to follow. It'll be hard for me to put down my feelings to create a storyline with some direction to it.

But I'm still churning thoughts on the tune with no urgency.

[Marshall]

Well. I think I'm finally on to something. The music verse is pretty light and upbeat. The chorus line ( ) is less light. As I said before, I want it to be a light hearted thing with some noble conclusion to elevate the feeling.

Anyway. I think I like Johhne's thread from last week about the Redneck Wedding. It's a fun story with lots of juicy details and a noble and deep conclusion.

It's not really redneck sounding (the music). But I wouldn't be able to carry that off anyway.

[Cornflake]

When you have some lyrics to share, do.

I can pull off a redneck sound. "All I have to do is...act naturally."

[Marshall]

Well here's the likely first verse. It becomes an exercise in paring down the details and stitching them into a new entity.

Two balloons were hanging there. As the invitation said
And a piece of plywood with the word; WEDDING painted in red
I drove around the back and found no one I recognized.
Just some redneck looking biker types. And the father of the bride.

The chorus should come next musically. But I'm not sure I'm thematically ready for it yet. Plus the musical chorus has a lot of word spaces to fill. I think I'll work on what to do with that next, as it will spin the rest of the story around it.

[Marshall]

OK. I have most of the chorus:

Groomsmen in denim and white
They're looking handsome while
Bridesmaids in bare feet step light
Their faces grinning wide
His toast; a Bud. Her's; Bud light

They say, "I'll always be here
Forever my dear."

The last two rhyming lines are the punch line. And admittedly these don't have as much punch as I'd like. This is supposed to cement the nobility of the event. These last two lines aren't colloquial enough, either. So, they'll probably change.

I probably need to write one more verse, after the chorus is tightened up. There's plenty of material to choose from. The likely structure is: V1, Ch, V2, Ch, Instrumental V, Ch. So it could be done soon. The lyrical structure would support a bridge. But musically, nothing has presented itself so far. So, I expect I won't have one.

[Marshall]

I'm thinking now that I might pull the Bud & Bud light out of the chorus and substitute something about the preacher or somehting else.


The Bud & Bud light might work better in the second verse.

[Cornflake]

I'm having trouble getting a feel for it, Marshall, but my sense is that Bud and Bud Light should be in a verse, not a chorus. I don't think that line can bear all that much weight. (And I don't like their beer, so I don't want to hear about it repeatedly.)

[Marshall]

Yup. The Bud & Bud light thing will get shuffled to the second verse.

Here's a reconfigured chorus. I think this get's across the escence better. I think the Darlin' reference is more spot-on.

Groomsmen in denim and white
They're looking handsome while
Bridesmaids in bare feet step light
Their faces grinning wide
Preacher steps up to invite

The lover’s say with a grin
“I do, my Darlin’.”

There's still room for tweaking the chorus. I toy with swapping out handsome with studly, or boadcious, or something like that. But I don't want the chorus to be too comical. Of course, it's possible to change some wording each time the chorus is sung. That keeps it fresh.

[Marshall]

I'm swapping beaming bright for grinning wide, because grin is used by the bride and groom.

Groomsmen in denim and white
They're looking handsome while
Bridesmaids in bare feet step light
Their smiles are beaming bright.
Preacher steps up to invite

The lover’s say with a grin
“I do, my Darlin’.”

[Marshall]

I messed around and played my way through what I've got a few times last night. Burning it into the memory banks. Playing with the sounds. Tweaking the wording and sylables. I won't report every little tweak until it's settled in.

But I did decide to evolve the chorus to be more bodacious at the beginning, and evolve into handsome at the end. The last line will also evolve from something like:

"I love you, my Darlin' "

to:

"I do, my Darlin' "

The most likely title would be My Darlin'. But I don't know. There's still something cool about Redneck Wedding.

[iamjohnne]

Marshall,

Dunno if this fact about the wedding will help, but when I saw the bride and groom a week later, we were laughing about the wedding and about how much fun it was. And that the kegs had been tapped before the wedding started.

Jessie said she made JB stay sober until he said "I do". He laughed and said he was too.

[Marshall]

Thanks, Johnne. I cut and pasted that update into my RedneckWedding.doc file. Fun is the operative word with this one. That with an underlying sense of joy.

I have been playing the music and rolling the lyrics around in my mouth; always trying to get comfortable with the phrasing.

It's going to be a busy next few days, so I might not get a chance to be creative and close this out for a while. But I pick up a guitar and run through what I've got every chance I get.

It's very satisfying and enjoyable to be in-the-hunt on a song like this.

Thanks for the story. You get co-writing credit on lyrics. That, plus a token should get you a bus ride.

[iamjohnne]

My joy will come when I present it to Jessica and JB.

[Marshall]

I'll be sure to keep it clean then, Johnne. I should be able to get a recording fairly quick too when it's done.

Anyway, here's some more tweaking (I know I wasn't going to talk about that). But it's just cleaning up loose ends for now:

Two balloons were hanging there. Like the invitation read
A piece of plywood with the word; WEDDING painted in red
I drove around the back to find no one I recognized.
Just some redneck biker types. And the father of the bride.

Groomsmen in denim and white
They're looking studly while
Bridesmaids with bare feet step light
Their smiles are beaming bright.
Preacher steps up to invite

Papa walks the bride in
“Good luck, my Darlin’. “

(I like studly. It sounds colloquial enough, yet fun and respectful. It'll probably be handsome too.

(The Preacher will invite this verse. Later he'lll recite. )

(I changed the last 2 lines to show some evolution of the event.
I loved the photo of the bride and her father walking down the steps. The look on his face was priceless. I wanted to give him some billing. Later the lines will probably evolve to: Luv you, my Darlin' ; and: I do, my Darlin'. )

[Marshall]

Oooooh. I took a walk at lunch (on this beautiful sunny day) to the bank and to get a sandwhich, and while I strolled along churning the words in my head, I realized that it might not be obvious that it's an outdoor wedding. I think that's an important thing to convey. So i came up with a swap out of removing:

Their smiles are beaming bright
to:

The sun is in their smiles.

(I only highlight this to show what process I go through to get some songs. It's really a case of total emersion. It's important for me to finish the song before I become so sick and tired of it that I never want to hear it again. )