Songwriting
@belindayhughes (1096)
United States
February 7, 2013 7:00pm CST
A long time ago, when I got my first house, I wrote my first song. It was just the lyrics but written with the tune to the Babysittin' Blues (from the movie Adventures in Babysitting) in mind. It was called the 32s Blues and covered all the crazy things that happened on that birthday of mine. Long ago lover, most recent ex, the house and the long list of homeowner responsibilities that came with a bungalow that was not aging very gracefully. I was performing with professional blues musicians in my church band at the time, and in the movie the babysitter has a lot of challenges in one night, all of which she's responsible for resolving on her own, and she ends up turning it into a blues song, so I guess that influenced me. I still remember the last line about the house:" ...and the list just kept getting longer!"
Nowadays, I enjoy listening to Pandora and reading up on the biographies included with the songs. A lot of my favorite artists are singer-songwriters: Jim Croce, Bill Withers, Amanda Palmer, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Melissa Ethridge, k.d. lang, Norah Jones, Melissa Sigler. Of course, some of that is born from the necessity of creating your own tunes when starting out. Established artists can buy rights to perform and record others' works or express themselves with songs from their own life stories or fantasies.
Lately, I'm wanting to join the ranks of singer/songwriters, but I'm not proficient at any instrument nor vocals. I'm not bad at vocals, I'm just experienced, not educated. Past partners, family members, friends and students have enjoyed my a capella singing - when I'm in good voice. But I can write, That much I know. I miss singing with a live band of talented musicians and vocalists. Amanda Palmer says she can't read music, but she plays different instruments and sings and writes rather well, and I find her "just do it" attitude very inspiring. I guess I have to emulate Amanda and "just do it" myself and see what happens. Maybe I can save up for an instrument and study via the web.
2 responses
@Adoniah (7512)
• United States
8 Feb 13
When my brother and I were kids we had a neighborhood band. It eventually grew to a central Fl. band...
The band broke up when we all went into the military. My brother and I still wrote music, but we were stationed on opposite sides of the world.
One day I got an emergency message from the red cross that my brother needed me...They put me on a Mac flight and off I went to the other side of the world which just happened to be Hawaii...
There was nothing wrong with my brother, he just wanted to cut some records...He had made some friends there in the 'business'. They had to keep dragging me off the beach from surfing to sing, but we got it done in spite of me. We ended up in the top 10 for Hawaii and the West Coast for several years...my lyrics his notes...AND I surfed all over Hawaii!
The band broke up when we all went into the military. My brother and I still wrote music, but we were stationed on opposite sides of the world.
One day I got an emergency message from the red cross that my brother needed me...They put me on a Mac flight and off I went to the other side of the world which just happened to be Hawaii...
There was nothing wrong with my brother, he just wanted to cut some records...He had made some friends there in the 'business'. They had to keep dragging me off the beach from surfing to sing, but we got it done in spite of me. We ended up in the top 10 for Hawaii and the West Coast for several years...my lyrics his notes...AND I surfed all over Hawaii!1 person likes this
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
9 Feb 13
Het Adoniah, that's totally cool about you and your brother singing and songwriting together and growing it into a band and career. So what's happening now with your songwriting?
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
11 Feb 13
Oh Adoniah, I am so sorry to hear that your brother is no longer with us. It's too bad that you cannot locate the rest of the band, even with the internet as developed as it now is. I'm glad to hear that your poetry still flows and is appreciated. Maybe someday you will happen across a musician or group that is in tune with your words and a pleasure to work with. I've read about many great bands whose members went on to successful solo careers or reformed into other acts with existing or new members. I wish you love and luck in all your endeavors, whatever your choices may be.
@wolfie34 (26770)
• United Kingdom
20 Mar 13
Just catching up with your discussions my friend, I hope you are alright, I haven't seen you around for a while. Sending you a hug. I was useless at learning an instrument at school, mind you I have bad memories of my music teacher making me stand up in front of the whole class and play the recorder which I couldn't he did it to blatantly humiliate me. With instruments you even have the talent or you don't, similar to learning a new language.
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
17 Apr 13
Heya wolfs! ^5 I've been working on other projects for about a month. Gardening, food blogging, surviving the Easter cold snap, etc. Missed you too, buddy! Sorry you had such a mean music teacher. Mine was very encouraging. I'm actually a step closer to my songwriting dream as of last night. I tried some real belt-it-out singing with Anita Baker pieces I haven't done in decades. When I got done, my head, neck and chest felt better than they have in ages. I was impressed with how well my performance voice came out after such a long time in dormancy. I have to check on copyright laws before sharing any of my singing other artists' and songwriters' work online. Happy days!
