Writing Songs

I’ve always been impressed how singer/storytellers like Bill Harley, Michael Parent, and others create the songs that they write and perform. In the past year, I’ve written two songs, both of which I would like to use in my storytelling events. What has fascinated me is how these songs came to me.

The first song, ‘Tell Me A Story’, which is the theme for my performances came to me a week before I was to perform at the Long Island Storytelling Festival. I woke up one Sunday morning with the chorus to the song (both words and tune) rattling around in my mind. In order not to forget the tune, I got up and hummed the tune into my digital recorder. After breakfast I worked out the chords to the tune and then wrote down the words to the chorus. Once that was done I probably spent a good hour or so working out the different verses, until I got it to a point where I liked how it sounded. I then shared it with friends of mine for input and revised the words a few times until it became the finalized version it is today. A colleague at school, after hearing me sing it, told me to get it copyrighted and I did.

The second song, ‘What Do You Say?‘ started in a somewhat similar fashion. This time I had no words but the tune kept running through my mind overnight. Again the first thing I did was record the tune so I wouldn’t forget it. This was a very good idea, because I had forgotten the tune within the hour. After working out the chords to play on my guitar, the tune sat around for a good 2-3 days. I had no idea what I was going to write as lyrics for this tune. Similar to last time, an upcoming performance spurred me on to create the lyrics. This tune was designed for younger kids. I had an issue at home with the concept of, ‘Thank you’, and when one should say it. My family and I don’t always agree on when to say it. I knew I wanted to write a song or a story that reflected my views on saying such things as please, thank you and excuse me. The writing of this song took longer. First getting the words right and then constant revisions based on feedback and my own misgivings about how words went together. I’m still waiting for more feedback before I send it out to be copyrighted, however I do feel comfortable performing it as it is written now.

The hardest part of creating new songs that you hope to perform is trying to learn them. I tape myself singing the song and then I have to sing the song over and over again, constantly referring to the words or listening to the tape until it becomes ingrained in my mind. I want to perform them without a cheat sheet.

Where my next tune takes me, I’m not sure. There must be other ways to create music. I still wait for music to come to me first subconsciously and take it from there.