AuthorI'm a high school English teacher who hasn't quite given up his dream of being a rock star. Archives
October 2022
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Week 7: The Bottle4/15/2022 Since the start of this project, I have been set on trying to finish a song. I promised three at the beginning, but I told myself from the start that I'd be happy with one good pre-production draft. And in all honestly, I thought I knew what the song would be — "Dying Light." It was the one that was already mostly written before the project started, the one I was most excited about. And yet for the past few weeks, I've been stuck on figuring out so many of the other pieces of the song. A part of me feels that maybe it's because I've heard the instrumental part so many times that I've solidified this arrangement as being more or less the final version, which is one reason why I can't get the lyrics and melodies to jive as well with what I already have. Regardless, this roadblock led me to get away from writing altogether for about a week or so, instead turning my attention to learning songs from artists I like and just working on my guitar chops overall. As part of this process, I found myself listening to a lot of music and taking in the sounds of songs I like by artists I respect. And then, the moment happened: I caught lightning in a bottle and over the course of two days wrote all the lyrics and rough melodies and chord progressions for a completely different song. This Week's Progress: SongwritingProving that no song ever starts in the same place as another, the genesis of the new piece I'm tentatively calling "Your Truth" came about from listening to a bunch of Breaking Benjamin and Rise Against songs. I would say Rise Against was definitely more of an influence on this one lyrically and harmonically, but that doesn't mean that I want to discount some of the other factors influencing its composition. After listening to a lot of these more up-tempo songs, I decided to plug in my guitar and just start jamming on a C# power chord and just moved around to different chords in and around the key of C# minor. I figured out the tempo as roughly 194 bpm, set the metronome, and just started recording variations of those progressions until I had what I assumed was probably a verse and chorus, though I couldn't have told you what was what. From there, a lyric idea came to me that seemed like it might or might not go with the parts I had just written. Despite this, I decided to write it down anyway since a good lyric is a good lyric. So on my Word document with lyric ideas sat this new line: "Hacks in Congress / Never speaking for us / Legislate on outrage/ Culture wars they enflame." I loved this idea and felt it definitely captured that pseudo-rebellious Rise Against tone that seemed in keeping with what I was jamming, so I crafted a rough chord progression that could go underneath those lines, one that ended up gelling surprisingly well with all the other parts I had already written. So, seeing as I was on a roll, I just went with it and followed those lyrics to see where they would end up. I don't know how much the lyrics themselves really represent my beliefs and how much is just me finding lines that seem to complement the first things I wrote. But regardless, I'm learning not to question where a song wants to go. If I've found the path of least resistance, I'm going to follow it. I feel that's definitely important to emphasize here sine there are some charged statements in the words themselves. Nothing that I feel is libelous or salacious, but they definitely reflect a particular worldview on the part of the narrator. And as I do my own little analysis of the lyrics at this stage, it seems as if maybe the narrator of this story has a lot of things right, but that perhaps even he is a bit misguided on the motivations of those he is criticizing. So maybe there is an inherent tragedy in the voice of the song's narrator and the way he interprets those who don't believe the way he does. I'll live with these lyrics for a bit and see if I can figure out what they're trying to say. Maybe there's some other angle I'm not seeing yet because I'm so close to the material. Some Stats
A Draft of Lyrics (For Those Who Stuck Around)Your Truth (Working Title)
They say that those who never lived Are worth more than one who gives Disregard the circumstance They should’ve known better Than to take a chance They say that kids can’t understand How a girl could some day be a man So hide from them the truth that is Their life and who they are Turn them into sin Hacks in Congress Never speaking for us Legislate on outrage Culture wars they enflame Manufacture rage Line their pockets off pain Don’t matter who dies As long as they thrive Justify the lies and call them love Mandates dictated from those above Never question what we all must do Every action taken for you Saves you From yourself This lie becomes your truth They say we’ll cancel all who dare Let virtue guide them anywhere The moral fabric of their lives A garment all should wear Or they won’t survive They say that we’re not worshipers We’re deviants and murders Projection is the party line A truth that will reveal in time Misinform the masses Burn the truth to ashes Ever praying that The master hears what you’re saying Justify the rage Burning through the page That condemns all you say The truth standing in your way Justify the lies and call them love Mandates dictated from those above Never question what we all must do Every action taken for you Saves you From yourself This lie becomes your truth Reignite the passion Waning from inaction Never resting cause The flame dies if no one’s listening You'd throw them all away As long as you'd have your day In the spotlight The last flight From heights never seen Justify the lies and call them love Mandates dictated from those above Never question what we all must do All your agency we take from you Justify the lies and call them love Mandates dictated from those above Never question what we all must do Every action taken for you Saves you From yourself This lie becomes your truth (this lie becomes) This lie becomes your truth (this lie becomes) This truth becomes
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