Well, here I am at Week 4 in the epic 2015 Songwriting Challenge au Canada! Honestly, I didn't think I would make it this far. Between my Berklee class and easing myself back into regular life after cancer treatment with exercise, food and wellness workshops, I thought it was a pretty good bet that I would be a spectator here on out in the challenge.
But here I am.
So here we go.
The Song....... Stand Up. (listen here)
This weeks task? Write some edgy country/pop and don't talk about marriage or kids or partying at the lake or trucks and tailgates. Oh, and No 'Bro Country' vibe.
My first thought was, "What the hell is 'bro country'", followed by "What the hell am I going to talk about then". Oh, and the song is for a male country artist in his 20's. Hmmmm. Okay. Let me just put myself in his shoes then and away we go! haha. Not.
So, I began with a chorus that I had from a Berklee assignment from a few weeks ago. Seemed like a good starting point. The rest of the harmony and melody lines came pretty quickly. Overall, I was happy with everything except the first verse, which is a bit of a drag on account that its the intro and set up for the whole song. If there was one part of a song that you didn't want to have suck, it would be the first verse. But it was the best I could do in this amount of time and the fact that its ready to post is, in itself, amazing to me.
The Recording
Well, a few firsts for me in demoing up this song. I have never sang about my girl leaving me before nor have I sang about having a beer or two. I must say it was a bit weird singing a song that is from a dude's perspective but alas, on short notice, there was no singing dudes to be found in time.
Like I mentioned before I had the chorus, so I piano'd my way through the harmonic structure for the song and then Brad went to town on creating the groove and feel of the song, recording all the guitars, programming the drum tracks, mixing the whole thing, producing the vocal....etc. etc. You know, the easy stuff! Honestly don't know what these songs would be sounding like without him. I'm thinking Trish live via iPhone! Painful.
Anyways, I sang a lot of the verses and harmonies on the fly. Brad has told me that we in fact tracked all the vocals in an hour and a half, which is another first. I think because I'm doing so much singing and small garageband type demoing for my music course, its helping me with my confidence and proficiency. Whatever the reason I'm pretty proud of being able to get it done.
So congratulations to all of us who are still meeting the deadlines, wether it be in style or by the skin of our teeth! Cheers!
Lyrics
I was new in town and feelin' down
Cuz my girl left a second time.
So I found somewhere to have a few beer
And ease my troubled mind.
Well I shared my past and got a few laughs
'Bout the stupid things I did
And I can't believe, like a mall police
They fink'd every word I said.
Well there's just one thing that turns my disposition black
Its a 2-faced double crosser talking shit behind my back.
Stand Up
And look me in the eye
Stand Up
When you're unpacking all those lies
I almost fell to the ground
When I finally found
That your truth is worth nothin
And that you've been bluffing
oh yah whoa you better
Stand Up
With the money I was makin' my dates were always taken
To places extra nice
But she'ld be gone before mornin' and that should have been my warnin'
I was gonna have to pay a price
When things seemed too good to be true
I started to question why
Turns out she was cheatin' and the candy she was eaten'
Was from a richer man than I.
Well there's just one thing that turns my disposition black
Its a 2-faced double crosser diggin' gold behind my back.
I wrote this song about right and wrong
Cuz I was taught to tell the truth
How we act should be manner and fact
Hey There"
I'm talking to You!
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