Nov 12 Forge: Imagery

For next week, our guiding topic is Imagery. This is very widely emcompassing literary term. One meaning is looking words/phrases that appeal to the senses. One way of thinking about it, as I discussed on my radio last week (Wed, 7-7:30, CFMU 93.3), Imagery is writing that makes you want paint a picture of the scene. The other meaning I mentioned I suggested saw imagery as having two sides: the literal and the figurative, that is, what is actually happening in the song and what the metaphoric meaning of that action is.

I have new song about Hamilton that I'm hoping will be featured on CBC, that I might play. It uses an extended image: "If Hamilton were a woman... I posted it here: www.myspace.com/wilsonfamilyforgery

Meghan LeBlack of Purl of Surf also offers us some great imagistic material for us to sink our teeth into, lyrics which are printed below. (And don't forget that Matthew DeZoete is offering us a set as well!)

HEAVY
This city is a mood
Melancholy anchors in the dusk
Atlas, it’s all you:
Weighted by fog, this cloud is seriously HEAVY. Do lift it, won’t you?

This stranger is my vibe
Sent forth in waves to administer the shock
Eros, be my guide:
The shyness that binds me is so very seriously HEAVY. Do lift it, won’t you?

Won’t you? Won’t you?
This encounter’s flower is blue
See it blooming, open to the public
Gaia, it’s all you:
The dirt on these petals is so very seriously HEAVY. Do lift it, won’t you?

If all of the gods could break us free from all that our bodies seem to feel
All of these inhibited spirits could reveal their real presence and confidence

This lava is my ride
Traveling slowly on blankets of sandy fire
Volcan, be my guide:
Forged by my heated past, this coat is seriously HEAVY. Do lift it, won’t you?
Won’t you? Won’t you?

©Meghan LeBlanc 2008

June 11 Forge: Why is it so easy to write sad songs, and so hard to write happy ones?

Oh my beleaguered songwriters!

The title says it all. As one anonymous person once commented on this blog, why can't singer/songwriters write something upbeat for a change? The reasons why we like to write sad songs are manifold, so please post your theories in the comments section below. I have some of my own, but right now I am much too depressed to write them. (that's a joke! haha-ha!)

But seriously, we can work on all this mopey melancholy, if we wish. So next Forge for the examined songs on the hot seat, we will discuss whether the song is "sad" or "happy" or something in between. We will also try to give suggestions and techniques that alter the mood of the song. So Forgers, scan your brains, listen to your happiest and saddest songs, and interrogate them, asking why are they so happy or so sad?

Please songwriters of Hamilton and beyond, help us in out quest to answer the eternal question above. Bring us your sad songs, happy songs, and everything in between (bipolar song?). Do not hesitate to contact me to showcase thomas.g.wilson (at) gmail.com .

PS big thank you to Brian for suggesting the topic!

The Beginning of the End: Ins and Outs of Songwriting

Our focussing topic for the next Forge (May 14th) is: Beginnings and Endings.

"Intros" and "Outros" seem to be significantly less popular today than throughout the "progressive" songwriting of the 60s and 70s. These are parts are distinct musically from the main body of the song and, if you will suffer me to speak logically, act as introductions and conclusions. 

Beginnings and Endings can drift in and out like slow boat down a canal or a marching band coming from streets afar, or they strike you and awake you like gunshot or a thunderclap. Do you want to start with a hook or a slow build? What fits?

But we don't need to only look at intros and outros for beginnings and endings. We can look at the first word of the song, the first line or the first verse, and see how each sets the tone. Ditto regarding the last word, etc. of the ending and how it leaves the listener. What feeling or thought has been achieved? Academic writing style guides suggest you alter the syntax (word order) to put the most important word at the sentence's end. 

Suffer me again, songwriter and critics, to make a foolishly metaphysical comment regarding beginnings and ending in song. I hazard to say that all good beginnings are borne out of some greater ending. Like people, songs are not born ex nihilo, out of nothing. From what death is your song born out of? What is the context you wish to evoke (and perhaps subvert) with your song? In regards to endings, what new beginning comes from this end?

But to not get too lost in the outerspace of metaphysics -- let me say pragmatically that beginnings tell your audience "hey, it's time to listen" while the endings say "okay, now clap!" This is a subtle art, so watch experienced performers to pick up on all the ways they queue their audiences. 

Suspenseful Forge!

We have full line-up of showcasers for this Wednesday, so without any further ado I will introduce of centering topic of discussion. 

Yes, ladies and gentleman, banjos and bandoneons, brass bands and dancing hippos, ahem, let me get my megaphone: For next forge we will discuss... (ooh, the suspense, as I twirl my moustache and stroke my beard) we will discuss... suspense! I bet you didn't know your songs had suspense in them, but all good ones do, if I may go out on a limb only to have it chopped up to furnace our forge. 

When I say suspense, I mean that I would like to look at the dramatic movement in song: the starting point of the song, its driving "problem", conflict, mystery or discrepancy, and the direction of its conclusion or resolution. Perhaps this all sounds terrible complicated. Well, it is! But what's frustrating about most complicated things is that also have a very simple side that gets in the way. 

Therefore, simply: Suspense is what drives the song.

We can also look at suspense musically: for you theoretical types, think of suspended chords, and 2-5 resolutions, builds and releases of dynamics.

Well, perhaps this is all not so clear... do not fret, all will be revealed this wednesday -- I could not but leave you in suspense what with our topic.

Next Forge: March 12th; Hooks; Marine Band, Midwinter Sunrise

Hello all you songwriters and songcritics,

Our next meeting is this coming Wednesday, March 12th. As usual I'll introduce one aspect of songwriting that we can use to centre our discussion and reflect on the nature of songwriting. This time round why don't look at "hooks", the little clips of a song that catch us and get stuck in our memory, that drawn us in and spin little whirlpools in our minds? Sometimes these hooks hold the musical kernel of a song, but other times a hook can overpower the song, nauseating us. Hooks are the reason we love and hate pop music. Do we need hooks? Can we add them, develop them or diminish and remove them at will according to our musical vision? Or is that a false freedom that makes our art truly artificial? And to take this another level: if songs reflect the world and our experience of it, are there "hooks" in our lives? What are these hooks?

Please do not hesitate to add your comments -- even grossly tangental thoughts are appreciated.

I will also offer up as fodder a couple of newish songs of my own. One these is already here: www.myspace.com/thomaswilsonfolksongs

Midwinter Sunrise (duet)

By Thomas Wilson

Me:
Midwinter darkness flickers and fades
I'm thinking coffee and dreading the day
oh no
layers of sweaters, long johns and scarves
can calm my shivering, a-lacking your warmth

chorus:
I rise again 3x
When will look in your eyes again?

You:
Cobblestone courtyards, croissants and café
Will not make the sun rise one other day
oh, a-
'cross those Mediterranean skies
as my sun is setting, I see your sun rise

Both:
The beauty of sunrise, vermillion-leafed gold
If only beauty could conquer the cold
oh, and a-
rise you and fly you 'cross shimmering sea
and bring my darling back home to me

Marine Band

By Thomas Wilson

Riding deep rolling waves, I was mopping the deck,
When I saw your blowing hair showing your lovely neck
The spray and the surf and the sheets of falling rain
Made my efforts at mopping all lie in vain

To you, my uniformed comrade
you traitor to homeland
I’ll play you my marine band
Just to sit near your cabin
And hear you translatin’
What stirs your soul dear
Your loving or hating

As the hot rains were heaving, we bunkered below deck
And I thought of you dear in the steam and sweat
I’d give all the silk in China, just to undress you of your camouflage
And whisper deep secrets, in our deep secret espionage

Yes you, you phosphorescent woman
Your skin soft and golden

I’ll play you my marine band
Just to sit near your cabin
And hear you translatin’
What stirs your soul dear
Your loving or hating

You came up beside me, I was mopping the deck
My tour of duty with just two days left
You said you would write, I told you please no
I said I’d be alright, but I lied doncha know

To you my south east asian siren
your transmitters firing
Me playing my marine band
to every island
While you are translating
What stirs your dear
is it loving of hating?

I dreamed that our differences, were but froth on the sea
we’d make love as deep as waves-meant-to-be
But oh how I lied to you, buffing the prow
I speak only truth now that’s my lifelong vow

To you, my enemy’s daughter
Why did I even bother
To play you my marine band
To walked on your island
While I was translating
What stirs you soul dear
Is it loving or hating?

Now I’m back in America, my feet on dry land
Sitting on my porch, blowing my marine band
Sounds of dying high winds, salt stick in the reeds
Could I ever play this thing? my heart concedes

to you, you double agent Juliet
you submarine suffragette
I played you my marine band
I sat in your cabin
I heard you translating
What stirs you soul, dear
your loving …
did I lie is your cabin
when I heard translating?
your loving... your loving...