A couple of Wednesdays ago I put out a piece about “shaking the snow globe.” I am shaking mine through the homework of a songwriting course I’m currently enrolled in.
Within the first hour of the first class students were given 10 prompts, 20 seconds to write about each prompt, and then 20 minutes to take all of those musings and put them into a song. Oh, and we were given the G and E minor chord.
I came out with a verse and chorus and finished the rest a couple of weeks later. It was a great exercise in understanding that the barrier to entry doesn’t have to be as high as we are often wont to make it.
P.S. I don’t know where this song fits for me and I only mention that because I figured you might be thinking the same thing. However, for now, that’s not the point. The point is to keep creative, not judge and see what ends up sticking. Thanks for listening.
Shirtless sunning boys
On the rock by the falls
One broken
One tall
Shirtless running boys
On the track by the school
One fast
And one feels the fool
I’ll paint my smoking ghost
portraiture
Little vampires singing songs
As I forfeit her
Looking for love where it ain’t
So I’ll head back home
Find your water and sink like a stone
‘Cause Mama always did know how
To keep me safe from the world
Told me one day I’d find that girl
She lay still enough for the flowers
To grow from her
Head to toe in lobelia
a brushfire burn
Shirtless cunning boys
Calling her on the phone
One scared and
One tangle of thorns
Shirtless bloody boys
Setting fire to the night
Burning up with their appetite
She’d never come before
so why show now
Heard the songs of little vampires
And didn’t know how
She ended up here in the night
So far from her home
Getting caught in a tangle of thorns
Recognized the broken boy
Holding her so tight
taking orders
His knuckles blooming white
I’ll paint my smoking ghost
portraiture
Little vampires singing songs
As i forfeit her
Saw you last night in a dream
I’m always looking for you
In the scent of Lobelias in bloom
But never do you come to light
save for an edge of pain
Lost a limb that won’t flower again
She lay still enough for the flowers
To grow from her
Head to toe in lobelia
a brushfire burn
Looking for love where it ain’t
So I head back home
Find your water and sink like a stone
Mama always did know how
To keep me safe from the world
Told me one day I’d find that girl
Lobelia (phone demo)