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Lyrics Writing Challenge #4 - It's In The News


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Hi Gang

 

This week's challenge is in two parts....

 

Part 1:

 

Write a song inspired by something in this week's news.

 

Please supply a link to that news item to aid discussion about the lyrics.

 

Note, lyrics need to be "inspired by" they do not need to be literally about that news item.

 

Part 2:

 

Write in first person, as one of the main characters.

 

Have fun!

 

Cheers

 

John

  • Like 1
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http://www.thecannabist.co/2017/04/24/massachusetts-marijuana-legalization-regulation/78226/

They recently legalized pot here in Massachusetts. Here's a song about it!

 

Rolling on the Hill

 

As children rolling down the hill

Arms are tucked, our bodies stiff

Bump and thumping rolling down

Never straight and crashed at  the bot tom

 

Laughing til our sides were aching

In our mouths, the grass was fragrant

On our backs, we just lay there

Watching clouds and space invaders

 

Chorus:

Rolling, yes we were rolling

Rolling on the hill

Rolling, yes we were rolling

Rolling on the hill

 

On the hill, a few years later

Rolling joints was so much greater

We were running all around

Never straight and crashed at the bottom

 

Laughing til our sides were aching

In our mouths, the grass was fragrant

On our backs, we just lay there

Watching clouds and space invaders

 

Chorus

 

At Green Hill Retirement Home

Medicinal stuff got stoned

We rolled our wheelchairs down the hall

Never straight and crashed at the bottom

 

Laughing til our sides were aching

In our mouths, the grass was fragrant

On our backs, we just lay there

Watching clouds and space invaders

 

Chorus

 

At Sunny Hill Cemetery

That is where we were buried

We were rolling in our graves

Never straight and crashed at the bottom

 

Laughing til our sides were aching

In our mouths, the grass was fragrant

On our backs, we just lay there

Watching clouds and space invaders

 

  • Like 2
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Hi Ali,

Good one!  The cemetary verse alittle odd to me because dead but telling the story.

 

Enjoyed your lyric!

:)

Peggy

 

Edited by Peggy
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Hi, Ali.

 

I like the progression of the story. One suggestion I had is to tweak the first lines of V3 and V4 so they are a little less literal and paint a picture like V1 and V2 without naming the retirement home and the cemetery. That sort of pulled me out of the song to make sure I "got it".

 

I had the same reaction as Peggy to the cemetery verse. Then I got to thinking about being dead and buried with grass in the mouth and . . . I didn't feel like singing anymore! Just a thought, but maybe the last verse would better capture the dream quality of the other verses if you bypassed the cemetery and revised that last verse to be a scene in heaven, the afterlife, or some other imagery. Not making a religious recommendation, just a lyrical one :) !

~T

 

  • Like 1
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I love this challenge idea and actually did something like this on my own a few weeks ago. I'm finding that the news topic that got my attention this week (lunch shaming) is feeling too big emotionally to contain in lyrics just yet, but I'm working on it. But in the meantime . . . 

These lyrics did not get written under the time pressure of this song challenge, but I think they meet the brief and I haven't posted them before. I wrote them about a month ago after reading about all the social division in the US and around the world. I mainly needed to express what I was feeling and not lose hope that we could find a way forward. I recently made my first demo using a modified version of these lyrics. But this is how the words originally came to me after reading articles in this series below.

 

https://www.ap.org/explore/divided-america/

 

Two Hearts at a Time

Copyright © 2017 by L. C. Campbell

 

 V1

Dividing lines and choosing sides

Leaves no room to change our minds

You hold a gun, I hold a sign

We’re both holding on for dear life

 

Ch

We can’t mend all we’ve broken

But you and I can make a start

Let’s take it two hearts at a time

 

V2

If God is love, and to love is divine

Don’t let hate control our minds

Who are we to decide

That some love wrong, and some love right

 

Ch

We can’t mend all we’ve broken

But you and I can make a start

Let’s take it two hearts at a time   

 

V3

The common ground is open wide

With room enough to free our minds

I’ll meet you there and we will find

My pain is yours and yours is mine

 

Ch

We can’t mend all we’ve broken

But it’s time to make a start

Let’s take it two hearts at a time

 

Ch

We can’t mend all we’ve broken

But you and I can make a start

Let’s take it two hearts at a time

Let’s take it two hearts at a time

  • Like 2
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There's some good material in there!

  • Like 1
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I missed that this was happening widely in schools because I don't have small kids, but I tried to put myself in the shoes of the woman coming to the realization that she couldn't continue to follow the school policy of lunch shaming. I think we've all found ourselves not living our values, in big ways or small. I know I have. How do we find our way back?

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pennsylvania-school-cafeteria-worker-quits-over-lunch-shaming-policy/

 

Shame in Their Eyes  

Copyright 2017 by L.C. Campbell

V1

They reached out in need, too hungry for pride

Starving for more than a meal could provide

Too young to disguise the shame in their eyes

The shame that feeds the fire

 

V2

They were looking for safety and somewhere to hide

Holding out hope that the world would be kind

I turned away from the fear in their eyes

The fear drives the flames higher

And I burn

 

Ch1

I burn for the helpless

I burn for the hurt

In my little corner of hell here on earth

I burn

 

V3

Just a cog in the wheel, it’s no fault of mine

To turn them away at the front of the line

They were too young to fight the tears in their eyes

Those tears branded me a liar

 

V4

I went looking for safety and somewhere to hide

Holding out hope that the world would be kind

Is there a way back for the cruel and the blind

Redemption’s my greatest desire

And I yearn

 

Ch2

To turn to the helpless

To turn to the hurt

In my little corner of hell here on earth

It’s my turn

 

To turn to the helpless

To turn to the hurt

In my little corner of hell here on earth

It’s my turn

 

 

Edited by Timbre
Forgot to add title!
  • Like 1
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On 5/6/2017 at 10:49 AM, Timbre said:

I love this challenge idea and actually did something like this on my own a few weeks ago. I'm finding that the news topic that got my attention this week (lunch shaming) is feeling too big emotionally to contain in lyrics just yet, but I'm working on it. But in the meantime . . . 

These lyrics did not get written under the time pressure of this song challenge, but I think they meet the brief and I haven't posted them before. I wrote them about a month ago after reading about all the social division in the US and around the world. I mainly needed to express what I was feeling and not lose hope that we could find a way forward. I recently made my first demo using a modified version of these lyrics. But this is how the words originally came to me after reading articles in this series below.

 

https://www.ap.org/explore/divided-america/

 

Two Hearts at a Time

Copyright © 2017 by L. C. Campbell

 

 V1

Dividing lines and choosing sides

Leaves no room to change our minds

You hold a gun, I hold a sign

We’re both holding on for dear life

 

Ch

We can’t mend all we’ve broken

But you and I can make a start

Let’s take it two hearts at a time

 

V2

If God is love, and to love is divine

Don’t let hate control our minds

Who are we to decide

That some love wrong, and some love right

 

Ch

We can’t mend all we’ve broken

But you and I can make a start

Let’s take it two hearts at a time   

 

V3

The common ground is open wide

With room enough to free our minds

I’ll meet you there and we will find

My pain is yours and yours is mine

 

Ch

We can’t mend all we’ve broken

But it’s time to make a start

Let’s take it two hearts at a time

 

Ch

We can’t mend all we’ve broken

But you and I can make a start

Let’s take it two hearts at a time

Let’s take it two hearts at a time

Hi Timbre,

I really like the challanges too.  Wish I had of started participating sooner.

 

Nice going on your lyric! This could have been written today or yesterday. Very in the news. 

 

"We can’t mend all we’ve broken"

Such a great line.

:)

Peggy

Edited by Peggy
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26 minutes ago, Peggy said:

"We can’t mend all we’ve broken"

Such a great line.

Thanks for appreciating that line. I kept going back and forth with other options--fix, heal, etc, but kept coming back to the image of the social fabric of our country being torn and threads holding us together being broken and needing to be mended. So that's what I went with. ~T

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37 minutes ago, Timbre said:

Thanks for appreciating that line. I kept going back and forth with other options--fix, heal, etc, but kept coming back to the image of the social fabric of our country being torn and threads holding us together being broken and needing to be mended. So that's what I went with. ~T

The "we've broken"  is the killer in context for me.   You didn't write

We can't mend all you've broken

Or  We can't mend all they've broken.

It's just right for how it reads to me.

 

 

Edited by Peggy
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2 hours ago, Peggy said:

The "we've broken"  is the killer in context for me.   You didn't write

We can't mend all you've broken

Or  We can't mend all they've broken.

It's just right for how it reads to me.

 

Ah yes. I tried out "all that's broken" but there wasn't any personal collective responsibility in that word choice.

  • Like 1
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2 hours ago, HoboSage said:

 But, if one party is holding a gun and the other is unarmed, no way. :)  

Ya, I think David's got a good point here.

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2 hours ago, HoboSage said:

In this context, having one party holding a gun just strikes me as overly extreme, and doesn't well convey a pro-gun-rights person as much as it does a potentially violent and dangerous person.  Just my opinions. 

 

Hi, HoboSage.

 

I appreciate the comments. In V1 was trying to capture the adversarial images that we see of protesters vs police. My interpretation is that it does feel extreme and can be a matter of life and death, depending on the circumstances. I'll think on it. Thanks again. ~T

  • Like 1
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9 minutes ago, Peggy said:

 

2 hours ago, HoboSage said:

 But, if one party is holding a gun and the other is unarmed, no way. :)  

Ya, I think David's got a good point here.

 

This is good discussion. The way I approached it is by looking at it both literally and more figuratively. On the surface there is an obvious and real power imbalance between someone who is armed and someone who is not. But beneath that are 2 human beings who, from their own perspectives may be dealing with common fears and emotions. Whether you are driven by duty or another personal principle there's going to be some common ground. Not necessarily equivalence, but something shared  is at least a place for 2 people to start. Hmm, now how to get that in 4 lines?

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18 minutes ago, Timbre said:

This is good discussion. The way I approached it is by looking at it both literally and more figuratively. On the surface there is an obvious and real power imbalance between someone who is armed and someone who is not. But beneath that are 2 human beings who, from their own perspectives may be dealing with common fears and emotions. Whether you are driven by duty or another personal principle there's going to be some common ground. Not necessarily equivalence, but something shared  is at least a place for 2 people to start. Hmm, now how to get that in 4 lines?

I saw it as an imbalance  but in "divided America" there's no agreeement on who has the heavier weight on the power scales. :)

 

That's just one of those random thoughts lyric inspired :)

Edited by Peggy
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