I wrote a song. It’s kind of what I do. No biggie. Have a listen, read the words and then – if you’re so inclined – let’s have a little chat and a cuppa.
Lyrics
You climbed to the top but your knickers are showing
Everyone knows whose trumpet you’re blowing
Well it’s all very well
You lie through your back teeth, you lie when you’re sleeping
Everyone knows just whose secrets you’re keeping
It’s all very well
Tell it all goes to hell
But stars rise and fall, we’ll thank god for it all when it’s over
When the day comes that you’ll never say never again
Everyone knows what you are
You’re not the real deal
But you think that you’re some kind of star
You think that we don’t know that you know that we know
That nobody knows which direction we’re going
That’s all very well
You climbed up the slippery slope without falling
Think you’re a star, and that destiny’s calling
It’s all very well
Till it all goes to hell
But stars rise and fall, we’ll thank god for it all when it’s over
When the day comes that you’ll never say never again
Everyone knows what you are
You’re not the real deal
But you think that you’re some kind of star
Thoughts
Quite bouncy that, innit? And I enjoyed it a lot. I hope you did too.
This was one of those weird songs that arrives almost fully formed from the ether. I was up early, and sat in the dark hitting some chords… and suddenly there was a verse. And even though it didn’t have lyrics, the phrase “it’s all very well” was already there. Played on an acoustic, this has a very natural folky swing – despite how it sounds under a load of production.
Actually, the verse came easily. The chorus was a bit more deliberate. I’m trying to stretch my horizons a little bit when it comes to songwriting – looking for changes that are slightly out of kilter, or take the song in a new direction. I managed to take this song from a B verse to a chorus in D by using A as a pivot chord in the prechorus. It sounds pretty natural, IMO – and I don’t think you’d even really notice the change if you were just listening along and not playing the chords yourself or anything. And then, for additional spice, the chorus (D, Dmaj7 and G) leaps somewhat erratically to an E major after a trip down the F major scale – travelling back to the home key via an A and a surprising (but logical) F#.
Sorry. That’s all quite boring isn’t it? But I don’t care. The takeaway here is this: I crafted this. Between you and I, I have quite an exciting project in the works – which might involve an Actual Thing With Real Musicians. With that in mind, I’m working hard on my music – and while this might sound like a two minute throwaway, it was very deliberately written.
Lyrically? It’s basically about… well. Not quite sleeping your way to the top – but the kind of shameless cock sucking that people do for fame, money or power. I guess you’d naturally hear/read it as being about women, but really it’s not: cock sucking can be metaphorical. I guess it’s quite vituperative. I’ve been on this earth long enough now to tire of seeing nonentities crowding out talent and intelligence just because they’re willing to poke their tongues in the right arseholes.
Plus ca change though, probably.
To round it all out, I created a bit of a polyrhythm with a 4/4 piano motif over the 3/4 backing. In an ideal world? I’d have done the outro in 5/4, but frankly I could not be bothered programming that in. I could be bothered doing some tapping though! Like a PoundLand Eddie Van Halen. It’s a pretty risible effort, but I just dropped it right into the fadeout because it’s quite a nice effect.
In other news, you might be wondering* where my fifth album is if you’re a regular reader. It was all pretty much done before the end of last year.. but. This new project means that some of the material might be getting used in much more interesting and significant ways. I’ll tell you about it when it happens though.
Now go have a nap.