Songwriter ( #AtoZChallenge ) ( #BOTB Results )

The songwriter can make you laugh or cry
He's pumping gas, yet manages to survive
And all he asks is for you to sing his song
And put his name in lights where it belongs
                                  ---Peppi Marcello lead singer/songwriter of 
                                                                 The Good Rats

Arlee Bird 4/21/2019 Easter

     Over the past year I've been turning back to one of my earliest creative loves--song writing.  During high school and through the seventies I used to write a lot of songs that would end up in some notebook.  Nothing has ever come of my songs, but I've never tried to get them published or recorded.  Still I think I can legitimately call myself a songwriter.  This is me--I write songs.

           This talent of mine--I do consider it a talent--seems to be coming back into its own this year. There is something I must do.  I've been working on it.  My dreams still include writing a book (or books) and publishing other writing. For now I'm on a creative interlude.  What has been happening with me recently might be just the ticket to dreamland.

              For now we'll have to wait and see.

Battle of the Bands Results



The Global Challenge Edition

          I don't know if my prediction about Afro Celt Sound System winning the previous three way Battle had any bearing on how anyone cast their vote, but for whatever reason my prediction turned out to be wrong. Actually I was rather pleased with the way things turned out at the end.

           As for my own vote, it was a difficult choice since I like all of these and have listened to them frequently since first discovering them. Afro Celt Sound System I first heard on the radio early the morning of August 2nd of 2015.  I was driving alone from Houston to Maryville Tennessee.  At about 9 or so that morning I started listening to some Sirius station playing Irish music and they played "Whirligig" by ACSS.  It blew me away and I've enjoyed their music since that day.  But as I said in the Battle post this was not going to be my vote.

            In previous posts I have acclaimed the cumbia group Los Angeles Azules, a group I've enjoyed since the end of the previous century (it sounds funny to say that so I did).  A few years ago I discovered the amazing Sinfonic collaborative videos they had started putting out and I was pleasantly surprised.  The group was going to new levels that I find to be quite exciting. I guess others have too. Last year they even played the Coachella music festival in Indio California.   Even though this video inspired this particular Battle, I am not voting for this group either.

             That of course leaves Datu with Han Han and company.  This is a new comer to my realm of music appreciation so maybe there is a freshness that influences my vote.  I first ran across this particular video when I was researching Filipino music earlier this year (I won't go into that story here, but it does fit into my current This Is Me blog series for the 2019 A to Z Challenge).  At first I was a bit taken aback, but the costumes and ethnic instruments drew me in.  Even the rapper became less annoying after a couple more listenings.  Other videos related to this artist collective are also interesting.  My vote goes to Datu.



Final Vote Tally

Los Angeles Azules                     8

Datu                                              4

Afro Celt Sound System             6




Next Battle of the Bands on Wednesday May 1st

        The next Battle will be on May 1st which is also the day that bloggers everywhere will exhale a collective sigh of relief that another Blogging from A to Z Challenge has ended.   If you can, please come back for my final A to Z posts, but do not miss that next Battle.  Not exactly sure yet what I'll choose in the way of music, but as always (most of the time) it will be something that I like and hope you like too.

          Is there something you enjoyed doing in younger days that you eventually stopped doing and then picked up again in later years?    At what point does a pastime become a career and vise versa?

If I Didn't Care (#BOTB) (#IWSG)

If we don't have some bad in life it's harder to appreciate the good.  Even though I've had my share of the bad, I can't say that I'd envy anyone else's life no matter how good it seemed...


Insecure Writer's Support Group

Join us on the first Wednesday of each month in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group--a forum of writers who gather to talk about writing and the writer's life. For a complete list of participants visit Alex's Blog. 

  The co-hosts for the October 3 posting of the IWSG are Dolorah @ Book Lover,Christopher D. Votey, Tanya Miranda, and Chemist Ken!

October 3 question - How do major life events affect your writing? Has writing ever helped you through something?

        Maybe I care too much about what's going on in my life even though some might say that I don't seem to care about much of anything. Over the past year or so I haven't been writing much and I can point to major life events hitting me from all sides.  It's all been a distraction for sure, but somewhere within me I have the power to write.  I've seemed to have developed a strange aversion to writing of late.

          A lazy streak within me plays a discernible role in my lack of writing initiative, but still there is a spark that is failing to roar into a blaze of creativity.  Frequently I think about what I want to write or what I might write eventually.  Ideas and words continually flow in and out of my sphere of thought.  Then I get distracted by my world, my life.  Writing gets put on hold again.

        In my past I have often retreated into writing as a means of expressing myself or venting my emotions.  Writing for the most part helped me get through high school and college--and I mean writing aside from that which was required by my classes.  Through stories I could escape into worlds where my real life troubles were translated into fantasy which in turn was cycled into expression of my feelings and my beliefs.  My writing was my communication to some unknown reader in some other point in time.

         As I have alluded to in previous posts, my writing that has been fueled by my most intensely troubled times has typically been songs.  Lately my songwriting drive has returned, not so much due to any painfully emotional times, but a complex series of events and circumstances that have come together to create that perfect storm of dilemma.  Don't get me wrong:  Life has been good.  Still, there is a diversion of thought present that makes me want to escape into song more than story.

          In the meantime there are my memoirs to which I must return.  There are novels and short stories.  I need to write, but for now I apparently don't want to write.  Well, I want to write, but I am not compelled in the way that would work to my advantage as a writer.

           Writing calls.  I keep hearing songs.  Those are what I will write for now and hopefully I can find a way to get them recorded in a way that does them justice.

           Anyone want to start a band?

Battle of the Bands

Battle of the Bands is the blogging event started by Far Away Series and now hosted by StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands.   This event happens each month on the 15th and on some blogs there is also a Battle on the 1st of the month.  My blog is one of those with a second Battle on the 1st of the month.   The premise is simple:  Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it.  Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.


If I Didn't Care

        The #IWSG questions along with my current patterns of thought in this year led me to use this wonderful song that has been a tune that I've heard throughout my life.  Some of you might remember this song from the film The Shawshank Redemption.  It's a song that has been oft recorded since its original introduction in 1939 by The Ink Spots.  Such a haunting melody expressing thoughts that we've all likely experienced. 

        Caring can be painful and distracting, but if we never cared about anything then we would lack passion.  A life without passion is not a life that I'd want to live.

The Ink Spots  "If I Didn't Care"  (1939)

       As with many other BOTB participants, I usually will avoid an original.  In the case of this recording, since it is so old it might be new for some of you. Anyway, it's old and maybe it's not your cup of tea.  You'll just have to listen and decide...




David Cassidy  "If I Didn't Care"  (1974)

          If you were around in the 1970's then you'll likely know the name of David Cassidy  He was quite a teen idol back then with his string of hit records and as a regular on the television show The Partridge Family.  I saw him live in 1981 when he was touring with a stage production of George M. Cohan's Little Johnny Jones. After that I had a whole new perspective of his talent as he did a nice job in that show.   Anyway, here is his more modern take on "If I Didn't Care"...






Time to Vote!

       I do care about your vote so I hope you will participate.  What's your favorite between these two choices? Which song version do you like best? You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.

         Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours.


Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts:

 StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands

  'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS'

'Curious as a Cathy'

Sound of One Hand Typing

Angel's Bark  

Debbie Doglady's Den

Jingle, Jangle, Jungle 

Cherdo on the Flipside



Winner of this Battle Announced on Monday October 8th

        Same place, same time next week.  Come back to see which version wins the most votes.  Have a great week.  I will try to do the same.

          When have you cared so much about something that it interfered with your life?   Do you ever feel like a passionate personal pursuit has been in vain?   Have you ever wanted to just totally get away from your life to do something that might seem crazy to others?

Let's Run (#BOTB) (#IWSG)

In this post I will be debuting the song "Let's Run" which was written for my favorite singing star, Marley Lego.  You likely have not heard of her, but she's still a star in my eyes--she's my oldest granddaughter...

Marley posing with some fans.

Insecure Writer's Support Group

Join us on the first Wednesday of each month in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group--a forum of writers who gather to talk about writing and the writer's life. For a complete list of participants visit Alex's Blog. 

The co-hosts for the September 5 posting of the IWSG are Toi Thomas, T. Powell Coltrin, M.J. Fifield, and Tara Tyler.

September 5 question - What publishing path are you considering/did you take, and why?

         As I have mentioned in most of my posts since May, I've begun to focus on songwriting.  I've been writing songs off and on since high school, but in April I became consumed with a song that I called "Let's Run" which I dedicated to my oldest granddaughter Marley whose singing performances had inspired my writing of the song.  Later in this post I will debut the song with three different recordings.

           I know very little about getting a song published.  I've seen movies and heard stories about songwriters trying to peddle songs to publishers or whoever would listen.  I've done minimal research though I know there is much information online about this topic.  Maybe I'll take this traditional approach in the weeks or months to come, but for now I'm going to just put the song out there as a sort of market test.   And to just have some fun putting something I've been talking about on my blog on actual display for public consumption. 

           The way I figure it, "Let's Run" is just one of many songs that I've written and new songs have been flooding my creative mind of late.  If I'm taking a bad route with this "putting-it-out-there approach then I'll do things differently the next time around.  For now I've had fun with this project and hope you listen and enjoy.  Then, once you've done that. please vote and leave your comments.

          I'm counting on you readers to help me with this project which might just lead me down a publishing path.   I've seen YouTube video break-outs before and I guess we just never know.  Especially when you're taking your first shot at doing something like I'm doing with my song.

Battle of the Bands

Battle of the Bands is the blogging event started by Far Away Series and now hosted by StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands.   This event happens each month on the 15th and on some blogs there is also a Battle on the 1st of the month.  My blog is one of those with a second Battle on the 1st of the month.   The premise is simple:  Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it.  Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.

Let's Run

       As the 2018 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge was winding down I began feeling a creative surge that began to focus on music.  Songs starting invading my brain space.  This was primarily due to video performances by Marley that were being put up on Facebook. 

         Then an odd melody began recurring in my thoughts.  It was a very peculiar simple melodic line which in actuality was not very melodic.  As these weird notes repeated themselves in my head, words began coming along with an expanded melody until I had a song.  I decided that this was Marley's song and maybe one day she might work up a version to sing.

          Why the lyrics were about running I can't really say since I've never been a runner and cannot run due to a heart arrhythmia.  But as I wrote I realized that the song was not so much about actual running as it was about persistence and staying in the race of life.  In the song life is a marathon and we need to keep on running in that race.  The message was as much for me as it is for any of us.

           Here are three versions that are very different in style and approach--keep in mind that all are very rough drafts.  I hope you listen, provide your feedback, and vote for the version you like the best...

Bird/Palma/Lucero   "Let's Run" (2018) 

            Toward the end of May after I had finished writing "Let's Run", I happened to catch my next door neighbor Ricardo Palma as I was picking up my mail.  I complimented him on his music website space at Bandcamp which I had recently discovered.  Richard is a friend of my youngest daughter (Marley's mother) so when I mentioned my song for Marley he immediately volunteered to help me record a version with his music software program and his own musical ability.  I gladly accepted since I didn't have much to work with on my own.

           Using his phone, Richard recorded me singing the song without accompaniment.  I know little about chords and writing music so it was in Richard's hands to figure out an arrangement.  Interestingly, his version was so different that what I had been hearing in my head and yet it worked very well.

            I like the way Ricardo imagined the song with a sixties surf vibe--or at least that's the way that I hear it.  Someone else said it reminded him of the group The Cars.  Beyond arranging this version, Ricardo also laid down 3 guitar tracks, one percussion track, and produced the entire sound.   Another neighbor, Nate Lucero, played bass guitar and I sang the vocals.  Ricardo used the Garageband app through his computer.

            If you're able to watch the video as you listen to the music you might note that I did a pretty decent job of matching the visuals to the lyric content.  All video is from my past summer's vacation. The road scenes were all shot by me while driving alone from New Jersey to Los Angeles (via Texas).   The journey segments shown start in Virginia, passing through East Tennessee and West Texas, and finally skirting a massive dust storm on I-10 just east of Phoenix.  The running kids are three of my grandkids.

            By the way, I often had the CD of "Let's Run" playing loudly as I drove on my trip.  As you might agree as you watch the road footage, this song version makes for a darn good driving song...   





Lonnie Carver   "Let's Run"  (2018)

           Some of you probably recall that I had put out a call for other musicians to contribute their own versions of the song (an offer still open).   I only got one taker so far and that comes from my friend of 50 years, Lonnie Carver.   This multi-talented performer has been involved with music since he was a kid and continues to this day.  He's been a great friend over the years and once again he's pulled through for me with his version of "Let's Run". 

            Using the Garageband app installed on his Ipad, Lonnie recorded his version with just him singing while backing himself on his guitar. He gives the song a nice laid back Tennessee vibe that takes me back to my roots.  After making his recording, Lonnie sent me the file which I added to a video I made.   Once again I've used my vacation driving footage from West Texas.

             Enjoy...





Arlee Bird   "Let's Run"  (2018)

          Are we ready to get weird?   As I was contemplating ideas for more cover versions of the song I remembered something I used to do back in the late seventies to make recordings of my songs.  Using two cassette decks, I would lay down a first track on one, then play that recording back while singing or playing something else over it and record that on the other tape deck.  I would record layers of sound back and forth between the decks until the sound quality was too diminished to continue.

           I decided to use this approach using my video camera in my living room.  This was an exercise in ineptitude and figuring things out by trial and error.  The video took over a week to make with numerous reshoots in an attempt to come up with an acceptable product.  Eventually I settled for the version seen here.  I was tired and wanted to get this done.

         During the shooting process  I did two different takes of me playing the violin and a final one with me singing in front of the big screen TV which is displaying the previously recorded layered video.  In all there are five layers of video and audio.  The percussion mostly got lost in the mix, but considering my lack of equipment the sound is not too badly balanced.

          It's a bit of a mess I'll admit, but I don't think it's a total disaster.  Perhaps we can call it an interesting experiment.   See what you think...







Time to Vote!

       Don't worry about hurting my feelings with your vote.  After all the song is mine and whichever version wins your vote still makes me a winner.  I just want people to listen and vote.   What's your favorite between these two choices? Which song version do you like best? You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.

         Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours.


Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts:

 StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands

  'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS'

'Curious as a Cathy'

Sound of One Hand Typing

Angel's Bark  

Debbie Doglady's Den

Jingle, Jangle, Jungle 




Winner of this Battle Announced on Monday September 10th

       
           I'll be giving this Battle some extra time for voting to come in--at least I'm hoping to get more votes than I usually get on these Battles.  Please help me out with this and share the post and encourage others to participate.

           Are you hesitant to post excerpts of your work on your blog or elsewhere online?   Have you ever tried to get a song published?   What is the most number of times you've submitted the same work before getting an acceptance to publish? 

The Roadway Ahead.... (A Look at Things to Come)

I don't need anyone to make a fool of me--I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself...

Arlee Bird posing with violin.

        We can all relate to putting ourselves in the spotlight with trepidation of looking foolish.  It could have been at school, work, or some other social setting.  You writers especially know that apprehension of putting our work out for the scrutiny of others.   Honest opinions are best for us even though they can seem brutal.   Feedback is important for personal growth and improvement.

        For example, blogging for me has been a strange journey that has been eye-opening in many ways.  The platform has provided me with great opportunity for written expression and allowed me to interact with all sorts of people whom I would have been unlikely to ever have encountered otherwise.  And though my earlier fervor for blogging has diminished to a great extent (as I've seen with other bloggers as well), I will likely continue to have a blog for sometime into the future. 

        However, as I have mentioned in some previous posts, my writing focus has currently turned to songwriting.  I've been writing songs since high school, but for long stretches over the years I would be less interested in that endeavor.  The songs came and went.  Now, again it seems, I'm back with a flurry of songwriting inspiration.

        And there is that one song that I've been referring to all summer--"Let's Run."   All summer I've been obsessing on getting some recorded versions of the song so it could be heard by my readers.  Since I had mentioned it back in May I wanted the readers to know that I really did write this song that I had mentioned.  It's a song that was inspired by my granddaughter Marley so I think of it as "Marley's Song" even though the message of the song is one for me and for everyone for that matter. 

     This coming Saturday September 1st, as a Battle of the Bands post, I will be debuting three versions of "Let's Run".   These will all be rather rough recordings so I hope listeners will be kind, but helpfully honest with their comments.  Please--I do want comments about what I'll be doing because I'm putting myself out there.

          If we never take chances then we never have a chance at success.  I'm going to try something with music and who knows?  Maybe something will come of it all or maybe it will be one more crazy post on my blog and a few obscure videos lost in the infinite YouTube universe.

            As a preview of my song recordings coming up on Saturday, here are the lyrics for your consideration:

Let’s Run

The beat of my feet upon the street as I am running;

The feel of the wind against my face;

My body is straining as my heart keeps beating faster.

The rhythm of life is setting my pace.

(chorus)

Look at me—I’m on a runner’s high.

Watch me run—see me fly!

Run with me—Life is a marathon.

Don’t give up!  Keep moving on!

Let’s run!

Hurtling through the universe on this rock we call Earth

Making our laps around the Sun,

I still feel a need for speed.  I’ve got to get away.  I’ve got to get outside.

I’m feeling that urge to break out and run.

Look at me—I’m on a runner’s high.

Watch me run—see me fly!

Run with me—Life is a marathon.

Don’t give up!  Keep running on!

Let’s run!

Miles disappear behind me like forgotten memories.

The roadway ahead is all I see.

And even in sleep my inner compass draws me further on,

As in my dreams I’m running free.

Look at me!  I’m on a runner’s high!

Watch me run, see me fly.

Run with me—Life is a marathon.

Don’t ever give up.  Keep running on…

Let’s run!

by Arlee Bird (2018)

        Please visit my next post and vote for your favorite song performance.  Then if you will be so kind,  share the videos and like wherever you can.  Spread the word.  It would be nice to get considerable feedback.  I thank you in advance.

        I am still welcoming more cover versions.  Even if they come after my Saturday Battle I can still consider them for a future run-off. 

          Does any melody come to your head as you read through the lyrics?   How do you think the song should sound based on your reading?   Have you heard any versions of my song yet (it's possible)?