A Song A Day For A Year

To me rock songs should come there and then in the practice room: Four guys slashing away at their instruments with vehement intensity, giving their individual fire to the staggering flame that is the whole - the band - the unit. From the streets of Shepperton, to the big lights of Birmingham’s NEC I’ve travelled with my friends playing heart on sleeve to all within earshot. Somewhere along the line I’d retired to the quiet of the acoustic guitar, modelling a new sound for myself, but though the flame had gone out - the embers still red hot - were beginning to flicker. 

This week I’ve decided to put aside the multi genre take on the songs I’ve had for the first two and instead, focus my energies on writing seven straight up rock songs for my band These Are Teeth.

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Day Fifteen - Strangers

An adventure was about to take fold and I needed to pack my bag, but not overfill. Queens of the Stone Age, Nirvana, Thin Lizzy and Led Zeppelin buzzed about me as I set up my guitar and pedalboard for the strange solo-kitchen-jam I was preparing to toss myself into. The idea ‘About Me and Everything’ screamed ‘MORRISSEY!’ at me, loudly. Nevertheless, I was to turn this personal examination into a rock and roll war zone that would set the bar for the oncoming week. 

And so it is! ‘Strangers’ is a tale of my missing a loved one very far away. The riff sharks through dissonance and distortion in the verse part yet arrives at a melodic chorus taking the meloncholy, and shaking it a well-earnt lesson amidst the chaos.

Strangers put a grin on my face,

Sixteen - Blood Money

Sundays are rarely a day of rest for me, be it a hangover or the release of a week good or bad, something hits me and it’s one blow I quite enjoy.

‘Money doesn’t really belong to anyone, does it?’ - Jackie Brown

Money, it can be the cause of much good, but the source of great evil. It was a hit subject for Pink Floyd (not evil) in the 70’s and now I had the chance to write my riddle or rhyme. 

Blood Money is the tale of a thief, a hero and a deadly hunter bent on claiming the money for his own. This comic strip idea was inspired by my love of these types of characters and the conflict that comes between them. The thief goes through a transition, from living a life of sin to giving up the evil only through death, she takes the money with her to the ‘bottom of the ocean’, inevitably ending the hunters quest and saving the lives of thousands.

I love stories. This story may have come to an end, but another ill-fate awaits another character in the blood-related ‘vampire Lovelife’.

Seventeen - Vampire Lovelife

‘Vampire Lovelife’ - you can’t help but think Twilight, am I right?

Well this may surprise you but I’m not interested in further documenting the romance of Bella and Cedric Diggory (yupp I know their names, I’m cool). Originating as the idea of ‘My Lovely Face’ I wanted a funk rock tune about an insecure vain guy, reminiscent of early Chilli Peppers and full of bravado. Somehow I slipped and it became the try-but-fail love story, with stampeding powerchord sequences and a chorus not fitting for a jaded Twi-Hard.

Strangers made me grin, Vampires made me chuckle. I needed something that I could pin to my soul. Lucky for me, there was a shiny coin at the bottom of my riff bag.

Eighteen - Circles

Onion Rings, meet Circles your close counterpart of a song subject. I will say now to all those reading that if you ask me to write a song about food I will change it, but I will make it relevant, thus Circles was born.

This week I had less to do in the daytime and more at night so I cut my time into three, songwriting, watching Dragonball Z and reading Girl With A Pearl Earring - but in reverse order. So I was writing on a diet of cartoon violence and manners in the late sixteen-hundreds, what fodder for lyrics!

Initially sprung to mind was the thought of drug rings and the gullible character from my previous tale caught in the middle of one. With this story however, I wanted less focus to be on the lyric content and more on the riff, which I was quite happy with. Quite a Biffy tune in my opinion (see Who’s Got A Match? by the band), vocal melody aside it has a bouncy quality and the potential to go further. What happens to the gullible guy who becomes involved in foreign espionage and villainy? Who knows, I hope I see him again…

Nineteen - Love, Lust & Lollipops

Enough with this storytelling malarky, time for metaphor and heavy dynamics to make a welcome comeback. ‘Love, Lust & Lollipops’ is the exact title that my Uncle came up with on boxing day after we’d all had a merry drink, or two. The track begins with me crooning the song title over tapped guitar building in to the verse where drums and bass would enter. 

Not a great deal to mention on this one, I get back to basics making claims of motor hearts and addiction to an unknown female entity. This will definitely be the first song I show the band, when we return to writing in April.

Twenty - In The Dark

As the week progressed I used up all the leftover riffs I had for jam sessions and felt fulfilled for doing so. By track twenty and the realization that I’d written a song every day since new years I began to sweat it on the subject of creating something anew again. There was a lot of ground to cover and my ship was becoming emptier with each take-off, I needed a new crew to bring life to an old craft. 

‘In The Dark’ was the inspired work of Dogs & Vodka, an idea that just makes me think of some very louche’ bulldogs with cigars dangling from their dopey mouths staring at the oncoming gatecrashers to their much-loved kennel. 

Animals are cool man.

An answer to that dry-period that songwriters occasionally step into out of the cold, ‘In The Dark’ is of smoke and mirrors and concealed daggers as she lures him to his fate, deep in the dark reaches of the human psyche.

Twenty One - Pillow Song

Now for the final chapter of this seven part story of love, death and well… pillows apparently. ‘Man Pillows’ was the idea and I had half an hour to write it in. It was gig day, first of the year and I had to be quick if I was gonna make the cut. Minutes fell away quicker than usual as I darted back between the car and my guitar. Unfortunately, this was not to be the climax I had entrusted it to be, time was a rival, this time it had got the better of me. 

Pillow Song became instead an acoustic tune about the comfort bed brings and how sleep seemed so far away. I was in a rush and the song reflects this, but it is in no way bad nor a waste of time. It challenged my method and will be there if I ever need it.

So there it is, my week of rock and roll (bar one) over and out. It was a challenge that was also a lot of fun, however I do look forward to folking it out this weekend! I will in time formulate new challenges for myself, I intend to get to know my ukulele better, perhaps a few tunes on that, who knows?

Thanks for reading part 3 of the Scoblog! Next week sees me back at Uni, writing more collaborations and spreading the word, of the Songwriting Project