Nov 12 Forge: Matthew De Zoete

We are very lucky to have Matthew De Zoete come to the Forge as a special featured guest performer next month. This is great opportunity for local songwriters to get some feedback from this very talented songwriter. As always, the Forge is free to attend. So mark Nov 12 (8pm) on your calenders, and don't hestitate to contact me thomas.g.wilson (at) gmail.com to showcase a couple songs for feedback.

two pithy (pitiful?) tips and a not so sad song

Thanks for those songwriters who participated in the last Forge. Here are a couple rather practical tips for writing a sad song.

#26 Arpeggios are sad. Joshua Weresch's song "the South Wins the War" was a very effective song . It had a beautiful arpeggetiated piano part. There's especially moving in hearing chords broken into individual notes -- a delicate vulnerability. I would definately recommend finger-picking for guitar players, if you are attempting to border sad subject matter.

#27 Melodrama, hyperbole and humour are not sad. I was told my own song "Someday" was too funny to be sad. Sad songs seem to require an appearance of sincerity and the sensitivity of understatement. Melodrama can be effective in eliciting tears at the movie theatres, but songs are very short form of writing, and so it is very difficult to engage the listener in such a dramatic build in such short amount of time.
I would still recommend writing overblown melodramatic songs -- like those Tom Waits, Rufus Wainwright or The Dears -- as I love to listen to them; but perhaps I should not consider these songs "sad".

Here are lyrics to my song, in case anyone would like to see by example or comment.

Someday (by Thomas Wilson)

On a Monday I first met you, in Love's innocence I stumbled
Over many hilly meadows, I rambled and I tumbled
I was chasing after your East-bound train
I almost caught up you, it was as close as I ever came

On a Tuesday we made a date, but my car broke down
And I got caught in the snow and the rai, fifteen miles out of town
I would've called up if cellphones had existed,
But the payphones were frozen and your number wasn't listed

But Someday
I'll declare my love (2x)
Someday
I'll declare my love
to --

On a Wednesday I was stuck like lightning in the eyes
God help me write a poem for you, God help me or I die
You laughed a might laugh, my dick shrunk in my pants
To quit while I was ahead, I took you to the dance

On a Thursday I bought you flowers, the kind you didn't like
And then I made you dinner, you didn't eat a bite
When you threw my toothbrush in the toilet out of spite
I was thinking just then, that it wouldn't be the night

Chorus

On a Friday I said I loved you a thousand times or more
But all my words just fell like dry gravel to the floor
You said you loved me too as a ricochet does bounce
A cease-fire was declared, for whatever that amounts

On a Saturday it felt like the last day of my life
I recognize you as someone who looked almost like my wife
You held my hand, cut my food with a plastic knife
I was trying to tell you something, but words didn't come out right

Chorus

Lea Beauvais: two songs for Oct 8th "sad" workshop

We have a full line-up for the workshop this Wednesday (8pm at the Freeway), so I encourage all of Hamilton's songwriters and enthusiasts to come and offer an ear and perhaps few thoughts about how to write a good sad song. Lea Beauvais transports us with a couple her songs.

The Travel Song

Sometimes I wanna take off my headphones,
And here the sounds of this place.
The noise of this train,
The breaths that these cities take.
There's so much, do so little, appreciate?

Well I walked alongside the bath and I,
Breathed Minerva's steam.
I don't remember, a more peaceful time that I've been in.
There's so much, do so many, appreciate?

(chorus)
Well,
Maybe they do,
I am only me,
Not the other minds I see.

All of this history,
What does it mean to me?
And how do they just walk by,
People walk by the way they do.
There's so much, that it gets so hard,
To believe.
Are people amazed like me,
Do they feel better off, like me?

(Chorus)
Well,
Maybe they are,
I am only me,
Not the other minds I see.

And I've learned,
That some things,
You really cannot photograph,
And some things,
You cannot describe,
And I, feel small.
But I feel connected at the same time.
Why do I, care what you're thinking,
Does it make me feel less alone?

(last chorus)
Well,
Maybe I'm not alone,
I am only me, I am,
Comprised of other minds I've seen.

How I feel

Will it ever be real?
Will I manage to feel,
The way its said to be,
The way its meant to be.

You see,
I've been hurt so many times now.
Do I open my heart too damn easily?
Because I let you play around with me
And as you lingered I waited, hopelessly.
Is this really me?

(chorus)
Will it ever be real?
Will it work at least.
Will I ever feel what they feel,
Content blissfully.
Is it just a myth?
Wanna write it off as it,
Cause that's how I feel,
That's how I feel.

Who will love me for me?
And do I, have to change?
(Cause) someone once loved me for me
What is the right way to be?

You see,
You make me feel like I am not,
Good enough and I know that,
Can't be right.
It can't be right.

(chorus)
So will it ever be real,
Will it work at least?
Will I ever feel what they feel,
Content blissfully.
Is it just a myth?
Wanna write it off as it.
Cuz that's how I feel,
That's how I feel.

Who will love me, love me, love me,
Who will love me, love me, love,
Real, real, real?
Real, real, real?

(last chorus)
Will it ever be real,
Will it work at least,
Will I ever feel what they feel,
Content blissfully.
Is it just a myth?
Wanna write it off as it,
Cause that's how I feel,
That's how I feel.

How to write a sad song: Oct 8

We have already a fair bit interest in our next meeting, October 8th. Don't hestitate to contact me if you interested in showcasing next month or in the future: thomas.g.wilson at gmail.com
Our last month's topic "repetition" was a little vague, so I for this next month, I would like focus flip side of last year "How to write a happy song". No matter how we all love an upbeat ditty, I think there is something more profoundly lasting in explorations of suffering. Romantic comedies may make the big bucks at the box office, but it is usually tragedies win the Oscars and draw interest for years to come. The difficultly lies in writing a "sad" song well.

Luckily we have Joshua Weresch joining us on October 8th, a Hamilton songwriter renowned in our circle for delving into the morose and morbid.

Here is new work in progress that he offers us:

South Wins War
21 September 2008
Hamilton, ON
Joshua Weresch

I suppose it is simple: "You're pissing me off."
It could be the laughter, could be the cough.
You awaken at dawn with blood on your clothes
And the South wins the war again.

Don't come to this calling, twitching with guilt.
Here are bricks without straw; there's a city re-built.
You awaken at noon, take the wrong antidote
And the South wins the war again.

And it's over the concrete to take the last stand.
The poor folk are coming with fire in their hand.
You awaken at night with a knife to your throat
And the South wins the war again.


Another pianist, Joyce McAughey offers us some songs self-described as " depressing, neurotic , kicked by the world lyrics with an upbeat feel".

Nobody's Fool words and music by Joyce McAughey
c.2008

I'm nobody's fool
I'm nobody's girl
I'm nobody's favourite star.
I never thought things would turn out this way,
I guess that's just the way things are.

I'm not a footstool in your living room nor
A doormat in your hall.
I know there's so much you despise about me
I know 'cause I've heard it all.

I'm sick and tired of this
I'm sick and tired of this
I'm so sick and tired of this
I'm sick to death of it.

I stay here on my sofa
Just to pass the time
I watch the world go by me
It seems to manage just fine.

I'm sick and tired of this
I'm sick and tired of this
I'm so sick and tired of this
I'm sick to death of it

I'm nobody's fool
I'm nobody's girl
I'm nobody's favourite star
I never thought things would turn out this way,
I guess that's just the way things are
I guess that's just the way things are
I guess
That's just the way things are.

Waiting words and music by Joyce McAughey
c.2008

She paces the sidewalk
She spins and turns around
Her lipstick's been applied
With a mirror on the ground.

Chilled to the bone
Under this warm October sky
She raises a toast to the passersby.

She waits
Patiently for someone
Who never really has appeared.

Was he late again for coffee?
Was he late again my dear?
She said she saw him on the corner
With his new-found long lost friend
And she thought that he'd be waving
But he never looked back again
He never looked back.

She said the days are getting shorter now
And the seasons how they change.
As she stood in the doorway under
Cigarette haze.

Chilled to the bone
Under this warm October sky
She raises a toast to the passersby.

A couple tips

Thank you Randy keeping the everyone up to date with radio show. Here's a couple older tips that I've been meaning to post.

#25 Young songwriters can add too many notes. Don't be afraid to give your melodies space to breath. --The Abbreviations

#26 Start with a good title and build your song around that.
--Bruce Springsteen (VH Story Teller) relied by Octoberman

I'm listening to The Forge right now on my radio.

So I'm listening to The Forge right now on CFMU 93.3 FM. I don't know about anyone else but I think Tom's voice sounds like it should be on the CBC!

I don't know if Tom would get mad at me for saying this but I am always curious about what technical difficulty will result each week. The amazing thing is that Tom is so mellow that he never sounds flustered. I'm sure that I would be no better at learning all that technical stuff needed to be on the air. I think in a couple more weeks, Tom will have delved into every possible technical miss step and he will have no more mistakes left to make.









Tonight's guest is Dan Griffin (a great Hamilton songwriter). Dan just finished giving his songwriting tip and it and went something like:

"Try and write from someone else's perspective, or a different story from your own."

I like that one. It has taken me a number of years to get to the place in my own songwriting that I'm starting to write fictional stories, but now that I have delved into this territory it has really helped my songs. Tom just said that he is going to condense Dan's tip in his own blog entry so I'll leave him to talk about it more.


Tom and Dan were also talking about country music. Dan was saying that he doesn't think you have to be from the "country" to play country (he's a suburban boy). They went on to talk about that country has come a long way from its Tennessee roots. I think it is worth noting that the sound and look of traditional old country was often city boys borrowing the look and sound of cowboys from western films. I know that some country music has its roots in rural folk music (like the original Carter Family) but most of country music's hey day was all urban. Think about Chet Atkins, the quintessential country guitar player. That guy is the foundation of so much of country music and his sound is so very urban, almost becoming jazz.

If you haven't had a chance to listen to The Forge yet, you are missing out on a great show. I have heard rumors that it might become podcast in the future. That would be really cool!

Radio Forge on CFMU 93.3 FM

So I was listening to the Forge radio show on my way in to the songwriting workshop at The Freeway Coffee House yesterday. It was a very cool experience listening to the show at 7 and attending the workshop at 8. This last week featured a conversation with Janine Stoll, a great songwriter that I have admired for a while. I loved her songwriting tip.

Try to avoid over using the word "and." Don't use the word "and" out of context. She talked about how a lot of songwriter use the word "and" as a place holder and if you tried reading the lyrics they don't really make sense.

Tom is doing a great job hosting the Forge Radio show. If you haven't had a chance to hear it yet, it is on CFMU 93.3 FM every Wednesday evening at 7:00pm for 30 minutes.

The Songwriting workshop is on the second Wednesday of every month at The Freeway Coffee House at 8pm. Hope to see you out next month.