Challenge #45 Mix It Up And Start Again

[john]

Hi Gang

Bama, lead singer of Me2, and pop princess Larde are looking to to really mix it up with a cross-genre song that either of them could sing. Additionally, they want the resulting song to be able to stand the test of time. They thought contacting Songstuff and setting our writers a challenge would be a good idea!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write a song that:

1. Appeals to two completely different genres, containing elements that would be typical of each genre. Examples of elements that can be genre specific (or typical of a genre) are: song form, topic, style of language, emotion.

2. Could just as easily be sung by either a man or a woman

3. Your song should not contain anything that would make it easy to date the song

Please post your submissions by close of Wednesday 12 November. Please also comment on each other's work. You do not need to post a work to pass comment.

This mission will self destruct in 7 days...

Cheers

John

[jamestoffee]

Here is my submission:

 

http://forums.songstuff.com/topic/39730-45-we-didnt-know-you-are-god/

[john]

Thanks James, sorry for my late reply!

[sgtsoul]

I am in the same boat as Les actually. Stuck on a premise and title but haven't got much further. Just don't want you thinking we aren't interested. Still have a couple of days so I am hoping to come up with some inspiration

[john]

Thanks guys.

 

It might be worth looking at how you write, the process you use, to allow you to more reliably take a song from initial idea through to completed draft and finished piece. Even how you identify and develop ideas can be worked on.

 

For example, often when writers dead end, it is because they didn't really develop the idea before writing. Instead they came up with a line and let that find the second line and so on... ie the lyrics themselves lead direction, rather than a fully formed idea.

 

It isn't the only cause, but often it is a permutation of that.

 

Take a look at the articles in the songwriting article library to get some writing process ideas

[john]

See if this helps you:

 

http://songwriting.songstuff.com/article/process-of-writing-a-song/

[sgtsoul]

Cheers John. I'll give it a read in the name of improving myself. My main problem at the moment is a long term one - I go through long periods of inactivity S9sometimes mood based, sometimes due to heavy workload etc), periods of being able to come up with snippets here and there, and eventually it's like the dam breaks and I can actually get some writing done. I have been back writing 12months now after a 6 year writers block. I currently have around 150 ideas/snippets/titles/verses with only 2-3 at the half finished stage. I've felt the dam about to break for 2 months now but its like one of those annoying sneezes that teases you a few times before it happens

Edited November 13, 2014 by sgtsoul

[sgtsoul]

I got out of one writers block by writing a song called Writers Block

Edited November 13, 2014 by sgtsoul

[john]

Well, a songwriting process would be an ideal fit for you. Using a process helps you to avoid writers block. Add to that the writer's process can evolve and adapt as you evolve and adapt. Well worth investing in.

[jamestoffee]

Hi John,

 

A lot of great advice there

 

 

Here's what I posted last week regarding my songwriting process in the topic 

In Topic: Writing Lyrics - Do You Know What To Write About?

:

http://forums.songstuff.com/topic/39092-writing-lyrics-do-you-know-what-to-write-about/#entry254829

 

 

I often start with the lyrics.....

 

Once I have an idea, I can get to finishing the song....

 

Until I have I idea, I have a routine that I follow until I find the idea to write about.

 

I often start with a title then ask a lot of questions about that title.  

 

For example: 

What does the title mean literally?

What does the title mean figuratively?

 

Asking the W questions:

     Who is saying this title and to whom?

     Why are they saying it?

     Where are they saying it? 

     When in the day, calendar year, when in the relationship (beginning middle end)?.....etc

 

If no ideas came, I find rhymes for each word in the title (Pat Pattison's idea)....this not only gives me rhymes, but also sparks ideas of what the song can be about.

 

If no ideas came, I'll Google some quotes or jokes about what topic might fit the title.

 

If no ideas came, I sleep on it and see what my first thoughts are in the morning.....I'm no longer surprised when I get the idea during a morning shower. 

 

Usually by this point and idea has come.....but.....

 

If no ideas came, I'll take a musical approach......I'll sing the title 3 times as the chorus to see how the words fit.

 

If I like the chords, I'll think of the tension chord I want going into the chorus

 

Then I'll think of the verse chords that contrast the chorus

 

 

If an idea still doesn't come, I will start writing a first line and then keep asking, "And then what.....and then what,,,, and then what"

 

I write a song a week.  (and have been doing so for the past 6 years)

 

By committing a week to an idea, an idea almost always gets made into a song.

 

 

Once I finish the song of the week, I spend the rest of the time reading or doing something regarding songwriting to keep learning.

 

Having developed a routine helps me make the most of my waiting time until I get that idea.

[john]

Not an uncommon problem Les.... here's a tip that I use.... let the emotional integrity of the story guide you, let that help you filter your ideas.

 

If you can have an emotional story that works, you can use that as the measure you hold your story ideas up to.

 

For me this makes sense as the emotional integrity is fundamental to any song working.  It is also in essence a simpler, more raw version of what is going on, so that helps greatly with filtering a profusion of ideas.

 

 

James, it's great to see you using integrity questions... who, what, where, when, why and how are so key to achieving something that truly works. Don't get me wrong... you don't always need to answer them all, but you most definitely shouldn't do something that breaks or contradicts, and it is here that asking these questions really make a difference.