The Song Project, Week Six

Oh man, if there was a way to monetize forgetfulness, I'd be a rich man. Once again, I forgot to put out a blog post on time. Ah well. For week six, I didn't record the song at all in my studio; I filmed myself playing it and posted in on Youtube here. I've also filmed the previous five songs, plus an intro. They can be seen in this playlist.

This song, called "The Wilds of the Day," was written very quickly - in about one and a half hours. I had several stops and starts on Thursday (my usual songwriting day). I went in about three different directions, and then hit on this particular motif.

I knew I wanted to go a little more uptempo this week - I'd been producing a number of slow to mid-tempo songs, and wanted something a little more energetic.

Here's the lyrics:

I dreamed I wore a calico coat and an old fashioned tie
no memories of heartbreak, and no reason to cry
with one foot on the trampoline and one foot on the ground
if I could fly I didn’t know it
but I could fall without a sound
All my memories have twisted, oh they seem to slip away
left abandoned by the gardener in the wilds of the day
in the wilds of the day

I’m a fool for the night
I’m a fool for the dawn
waiting for the light
or for you to come along
yeah I’m waiting here for you to come along with me.

Leave the trials for the faithless leave the funerals for the dead
leave your worries in a bundle right here beside my bed
take a step into the ocean leave your past up on the shore
the fires of your heartbreak don’t burn here any more
don’t burn here any more

CH

I dreamed that we were flying out across the great divide
we were bluebirds in the blue gathering across the sky
and we looked down upon the people
they were lonely and afraid
left abandoned by the gardener in the wilds of the day
in the wilds of the day
CH CH

On Friday, as I was practicing the song in order to play it when I busked that night, I made an adjustment. I thought that "the wilds of the heart" sounded a little more appropriate to the theme. So I changed a couple of lines. "All my memories have twisted, oh they seem to slip away / left abandoned by the gardener in the wilds of the day," became "All my memories have twisted, oh they seem to fall apart / abandoned by the gardener, in the wilds of the heart."

One other part still bugs me a little. I feel like the tag at the end of the chorus, "I'm waiting here for you to come along with me / fall in love with me," doesn't quite gel thematically with the rest of the tune. However, I've yet to decide how to change it.

Overall, though, I think it's one of the better efforts in this project. Which I guess goes to show that the outcome of a song isn't always linked to the amount of time spent writing it. 

I have a little bit of anxiety about this project. I feel like it's going to get harder and harder to produce fresh and original tunes as I go - I keep thinking I'm going to end up rehashing stuff I've already done. And even though I keep telling myself that's OK, that I am not trying to produce "album-worthy" material week after week, it's still hard. I desperately want every song I write to be awesome. Letting go of perfectionism and ego is definitely the hardest part of this project!

I'll be writing this week's song tonight, as I'm leaving for the weekend tomorrow. I'll be blogging about that trip, and more about my band Baaba Seth, in the next hour or two.

Have a great day, everyone.