Songwriting. Dreams. Both strangely inspiring and logical too. Perfect therapy. A journey of a single step. First step? Maybe an unusual or common chord one finds or one that is used often. Or a one line initial sung melody that arrives out of the blue. Then leading into witnessing ongoing steps producing sound and sight. Realising the beginnings of another hopeful dream of a song is possibly in the making.

Songwriting. Songs. Like flowers on flowers blooming inside your mind. They hold their spell over you. Eventually breaking free.

Like a butterfly escaping the cocoon and flying into the light of day.

One of my favourite eclectic Beatles’ albums is The White Album. I absolutely love its twists and turns. Released in its pure form, it is obvious it went through infancy to acceptable presentation for release album status. So due to the diversity in this one Beatles album, one of my favourite current internet seeks is to investigate the bands I love and have loved over decades having ‘boxed set collections’ of various recordings over their years of poor initial tryouts to sublime finished productions of their music. We had a reel to reel tape of The Troggs in the studio arguing. An infamous recording you can listen to on YouTube. How bands argue amongst themselves to capture the much desired song’s outcome.

These band collections show the raw/naive/regress/experimentation/progress/successes of there total outputs. I am currently looking at the wonderful collection from Dream Academy of their 7 CD collection history ‘RELIGION, REVOLUTION AND RAILWAYS CLAMSHELL BOX’. All songs have magic in their singular presentations. Journeys are shown and that shouts soul and endeavour.

Solo artists? A musician with simply an acoustic guitar or piano. Is there less of a collective of recorded attempts due to the very nature of recording solo in this manner in the past? Google this scenario and many artists do have periods of solo flying, with a single instrument, and released to realise success.

What is it like to be in a band? Life’s songwriting inclusions of a band’s total music output opens eyes. I adore warts and all showings. I suppose their presenting in seeking inspiration to finding pathways and windows of enlightenment to eventual successes give me confidence to show my own journeys to get to those points of hoorays. I actually do not bother what people think. New AI and its manipulation of old recordings to get them pitch perfect is abhorrent. Where has the soul gone in music!

Some bands show the hours on hours on hours of captured recordings. The prolific Marc Bolan and his Tyrannosaurus Rex/T.Rex for example. Some examples of a fair few hours of rough beginnings to winning outcomes show the process of eventual captures. Too many to mention of songs that reached finality and are now found in their officially released songs’ catalogue. Whatever the presentations, it gives us songwriting hopefuls some strings to cling on to. Various successful bands’ ownership of their own warts and all are akin to us seeking our own dreams. Their presentations help us to present our own weird recorded inclusions, because we know, by others’ subsequent successes, that we also have a chance. If they can do it, then why can’t we?

I thought of the way I approached songs I have written over the last 50 years.

The naivety of beginnings from the very first sitting in the isolation of the bedroom, writing weird lyrics for song themes. It was in the late 1960s so a lot of influences regarding that decades holistic vibe. The vinyl album ‘Hair’ and The Monkees ‘Head’ were particularly fond memories. But so were my parents albums. Joan Baez, Frankie Laine, Mario Lanza, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones. And so many 45 singles too. Dozens of eclectic choices from the 1950/60s.

In the early 1970s. Strumming a cheap acoustic guitar which began the realisation that becoming a musician was a very great way to go in life. I claimed my own music then. Playing mostly covers and a few self written songs in church halls, the pubs and working men’s clubs was how our band started. I realise now that writing song lyrics can be fraught with not seeing the bigger picture. Lyrics written regarding the hopeful relevant inclusions of early 1970s influences from that particular culture in time added tinges to songs which, on reflection, completely dated my lyrics due to naivety and focusing on irrelevant theme inclusions.

1977……On to punk, then to new wave and then a timeless never ending hopeful dream in the bands’ awareness of always logically wanting success. It hits the senses to realise success in ambition is a ‘nope’ and then split. Going on to the slender/‘write songs for the fun of them’ years of having a professional career elsewhere (nurse, social services) and therefore no ambition musically other than writing all types of nonsense (jetsam and flotsam songs/ditty tunes) and lastly to….the here and now…current thinking of what do I adopt now! Recording it and presenting it to you here in the blogs since about a year ago.

….and there are so many more that I have written over that time from 1972 to 1982 and the decades since! Just need to remember to sink a few hours into focusing on the inner synapses…and capture even the most bizarre.

Why? A tune is a tune is a tune.

And must remember…….Awful to decent is but a heartbeat away.

Working Song Titles: Recently written.

With Vocals:

A Million with Shotguns.

November, the Stereo and You.

It Doesn’t Matter Much to Me.

Stop This Heartache.

Trust Me.

Moving to the Rhythm of Life.

Hey Yano.

Old Man.

Year One.

Gone are the Promises…that held your hand.

Eddie Just Loves to Dance.

Lighten Up.

Stars Above the Dunes.

Currently Just Instrumental: Muzak and the other ‘Just Weird Stuff’.

Maybe take ideas from them because tunes/melodies and some lyrics are already being formed over the top of them.

Back Beat.

The three bar chord Ditty. 1,2,3,4….testing out the new…..microphone. The SM58.

Groovin’ With Mr. Cloud 9.

The Choir. Chords of E, A and B7.

TADA.

Mindfulness. New Age.

The Insomniac.

Echo guitar (Newest): Today. Vocal tune? Okay-ish.

Ideas that are Strong Contenders for Developing into Songs. (A).

In this case….Check out the iPad quick recorded ramblings of rough ideas I have forgotten, because of my mind lapsing.

Also, songs from the past that still may have promise if rediscovered, updated and so re-recorded.

A is current. There are far more. Need to listen to the small ‘catches’ on the iPad.

B is old. But maybe can be updated. Akin to the new sound and rhythm of ‘Year One’.

Giving it time. (A)

Living in a world with no imagination. (A)

Today. (A)

Mistaken Identity. (B)

Losing Out. (B)

She Said. (B)

Red Lights, Blue Nights. (B)

My friends tell me she’s gone for good. (A)

City Girls. (B)

Lies. (B)

Faded Velvet Suits. (B)

Thank you for both reading and listening.