Handwritten Song Notes

I was going through some of the bits and pieces of paper that I used to write down lyrics and chord progressions and I thought I would share them with you. As organized as I try to be in capturing my songs, sometimes I get inspiration when the only thing I have at hand to write things down is an envelope or a scrap of paper. These notes can show the process of writing songs better than any description I can provide. Sometimes the lyrics come yo me cleanly and some times I struggle to get the right words (as can be seen by the crossed-out words and lyrics out of order with arrows showing where they belong. Sometimes songwriting is messy and that is evident here.

Now onto the notes....

The sheet above are some of the lyrics to "Silly Actors Guild" (this song has not been discussed yet but that will be coming soon). As you can see, I was coming up with lyrics and needed to get them written down before I forgot them so I grabbed an envelope that already had information on it and I had to work around what was there. What you see is a couple of the verses, the chorus, and the beginning of the bridge with the chords.

Above you see an envelope I grabbed to capture some lyrics for two different songs. The first is a verse from "Real Enough" that was a late addition that was needed to maintain the structure of the song. The second part is what finally became the chorus to "Forever Stay". Again, the words come out pretty cleanly. The next one will show how messy things can get.

Above we see the chorus to "Make me love you" (an older song that I have not discussed yet). As you can see it took a while to get to to the final lyrics. Here, I was trying different things and the final result was a combination of the things I tried. Just to be clear, the final lyrics to the chorus are:

Make me love you
Make me care
Take my heart
Take me anywhere
Just remember my love for you
And try to see, the better of me

A recording of this song is on my soundcloud page here.

This is an early version of the first verse for "Make Me Love You".

The above two sheets show initial versions the lyrics for the second and third verses and the chorus for "Mountain Freedom". These lyrics represent a "stream of consciousness" that I try to get down in order to capture the ideas I want in the song. These lyrics are cleaned up later and then slightly modified to make sure they match the timing of the song. The chord progression is an early version of the chorus and was modified in the final version.

These two sheets contain the lyrics to "From Town to Town". This song was written pretty quickly (at least a version of the lyrics that is very close to the final version). Just for reference the lyrics that begin "The pretty señorita..." is for the chorus and the lyrics that begin "When I have nothing..." is for the bridge. The rest are lyrics for the verses.

This collection of sheets contain the lyrics to "After Thoughts". The initial version of this song came to me fairly quickly. I did jump around a bit when writing this song. I wrote a couple of verses then the chord progression on the second page is for the bridge. The lyrics after that are the chorus followed by more verses. The lyrics that start with "Better feelings..." were an alternate for the chorus followed by some drum loop notes. the lyrics that start "You can't say I told you..." are for the bridge. After that the rest of the lyrics are for the verses. The reason I'm going into this is that it shows the process I go through in writing my songs. I get bits of inspiration for one part of a song while working on another part (like coming up with the bridge chord progression while working on the chorus - 2nd page in this set).

These last few sheets sheet contains a revision of the lyrics for the first verse and chorus to "Make Me Love You" as well as an initial version of the second and third verses. As you can see here, I was trying a number of different things before finally settling on the final lyrics.

Just to show you how things evolve, here are the final lyrics for the verses:

I sit down on the park bench the songbirds serenade all around
Peace comes over me like a lover soft and warm I can feel the embrace
After a while I must move on this calm binds me like a ball and chain

Sometimes my mind might wander don’t forget that I still love you
You won’t let me down, if you don’t stay around I will be part of you
I might be distant from you never forget that I still want you

You don’t listen I’m not saying this silent movie we’re stranded in
We look in each others eyes suddenly words don’t mean a thing
So we walk out to the future the unknown’s brightness can blind us so

And here are the lyrics for the chorus:

Make me love you, make me care
Take my heart, take me anywhere
Just remember my love for you
And try to see, the better of me


I hope you enjoyed this peek into the early versions of my songs and get some insight into the process (if you can call it that) I use when songwriting.

The recordings for most of these songs are on my soundcloud page here.

Enjoy,

-Ron-

New Song - Forever Stay

Here is a new song called "Forever Stay". It started out as a "Homework Assignment" from my voice instructor and songwriting coach (Larry Rice) to write a sone using a different form of the A form bar chord. The song I wrote was in C so the root chord is fingered as (X 7 5 5 5 5). Using that as a start, I played around with different chord and tried different hammer-on and pull-offs but nothing seemed to work. For those of you that are not guitar players, a hammer-on is when you play a note on a guitar string and while that not is playing, you put your finger down on a different note. Pull-offs are the opposite, you remove your finger while you are playing a note. Anyhow, back to the song. I went back to the non-bar C chord and worked from there. I started playing the C - Dm - G7 progression and that sounded pretty good so I tried playing that progression at the same neck position as the original C chord and it worked. I worked on this some more and found a riff that worked, That was the original verse. For the chorus, I used a chord progression that started at the Am bar chord (5th fret 5-5-7-7-6-5) and progressed down to the F chord and then back to toe G chord (Am G F G) and then back to the funky C chord. That was OK for now but I new I needed to make changes to the chorus later. Now onto some lyrics. I normally play the chords and tryout lyrics and I hit upon some lyrics about a lost love that were promising. After some work here were the start of some lyrics for the verse.

Looking back to what I said
To figure out what I had done wrong
A blank expression mirrors what I have found

The frown on your face shows the pain
The tears in your eye can not stop them
Rain down on me like a raging storm

I see your face but don't hear your voice
A fleeting glance of what I have lost
Starting over is harder than it seems


At this point I was also working on the chord progression for the bridge and the fifth up from the root (G in this case) is a good place to start for the bridge. So I came up with the progression G - C - F - C but that was kind of boring for the whole bridge so tried a chord progression up the scale and that worked out nice. That progression is C - Dm - (skip the Em) F - G - C. So the bridge was G - C - F - C - C - Dm - F - G - C. Now for some lyrics. I was playing the bridge and the words for the second half of the bridge popped into my head "I didn't know that you were walking away. When I thought that you would forever stay". So I worked on the lyrics some more and was able to come up with the first half of the bridge "I thought my love was enough. To keep you here even though time were tough". So now I have the bridge finished. I needed lyrics for the chorus and some more lyrics for the verses.

For the chorus, I continued the the feeling of dread and loss of someone losing the person they love. So I came up with the lyrics "Feeling dark since I can't see you. Knowing that your love passed me by". The first line is kind of unusual but I wanted to use the double meaning of "dark" in this line. Dark as in depressed and also dark as in the absence of light which ties into the words "can't see you" (which also has a double meaning). OK, the chorus is somewhat done (I needed to work on the chord progression and melody but that was for later).

I needed to finish the lyrics for the verses so I continued the theme from the other verses but I also wanted to convey the sense that the main character really doesn't know why this person left him/her. The lyrics for the remaining verses are:

I was strong when I was with you
A carefree life without any troubles
So happy, I did not see the storm

Sometimes my words are not so thoughtful
Don’t mean what they seam, can sound awful
I’d take them back if I knew the pain they cause

Living the life I lived before
Now alone to carry on
with a life that a ghost of what it was


I went into the next lesson with Larry with my new song and played it for him. He immediately got that expression on his face that says "Not bad but...". The first change he suggested was in the verse and suggested replacing the riff with the chords Dm7 - Em7 - Dm7 while I was singing the verse. That progression sounded cleaner and the change in melody to accommodate the chord change sounded more interesting so I mage that change. The second change was the melody on the bridge. I wasn't happy with what I wrote and his changes made it much better. So I worked on those changes for a week and the the next lesson I played Larry the new version of the song. AT that point he thought that the bridge was too strong to be the bridge so he suggested I make that the chorus and what I had as the chorus the bridge. He also suggested a slight change in how the song returned to the C chord in each line of the (now) chorus. On the F-C chord change he suggested staying on the F chord an extra half beat and the melody changes from going to B-E to B-F-E. On the G-C change he suggested the first time using the progression G-Csus2-C and the second tine using the progression G-Cmag7-C. When you hear the demo I recorded you will hear how those chord changes work. The last suggestion was to make the chord progression and melody more interesting on the (now) bridge.

I worked of this a little bit and want the bridge to have a bit of a tie-in with the chorus so I changed the progression to Am - Em - Dm - F - C. Since Am is harmonically similar to the C chord (the key of Am contains the same noted as C major), the progression is similar to the second part of the chorus progression except the first chord is Am instead of C and it includes the Em chord. This was close but not there yet. I wanted to add a twist into the chord progression so I substituted a Bdim chord for the F chord and that was it.

I cleaned up some of the lyrics and added a second part to the bridge so here is the completed song:

I was strong when I was with you
A carefree life without any troubles
So happy, I did not see the storm

Looking back to what I said
To figure out what I had done wrong
My blank expression mirrors what I found

Chorus;
G C F F-C
I thought my love was enough
C Dm F G Csus2-C
To keep you here even though things were tough
G C F F-C
Had no idea/ that you were walking away
C Dm F G Cmag7-C
When I thought that you would forever stay


Sometimes my words are not so thoughtful
Don’t mean what they seam, can sound awful
I’d take them back if I knew the pain they caused

The frown you wear tells the story
The tears in your eyes, can not stop them
Rain down on me like a raging storm

[Chorus]

Bridge:
Am Em Dm Bdim Am
Feeling dark since I..... can’t see you
Am Em Dm Bdim Am
Knowing that your love has passed me by
So alone I feel I can’t go on
Missing the love I tasted before

I see your face but it’s not beside me
A fleeting glance of what I have lost
Starting over is harder than it seems

Living the life I lived before
Now alone to carry on
with a life that a ghost of what it was

[Chorus]


I recorded a demo of the finished song and put it on soundcloud. You can listen to it here:

Forever Stay Demo by tazthecat

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to tell everyone about the new song and I had finished it before I could write about the progress on the song. Anyway I hope you find my discussion on the writing of this song interesting or at least mildly entertaining.

Enjoy,

-ron-

Real Enough - Update 1

I've made a good bit of progress on the song "Real Enough". Most of the verses are written and I have an initial version of the bridge written. Here are the lyrics so far

You're in the room
I know you are there
I stop and stare
The fire in your eyes is real enough

I see it in your eyes
I feel it in your heart
I see it in your eyes
I feel it in your heart

You want to dance but I don't know how
And when I try
The stepping on your feet is real enough

I see it in your eyes
I feel it in your heart
I see it in your eyes
I feel it in your heart

You don't know why I act this way
When I act this way
The look upon your face is real enough

I see it in your eyes
I feel it in your heart
I see it in your eyes
I feel it in your heart

Some people think that I'm insane
I wonder if you feel the same
I hope you believe that I am real
Or at least real enough

You're all alone and love is not around
And it gets you down
The pain that you feel is real enough

I see it in your eyes
I feel it in your heart
I see it in your eyes
I feel it in your heart

I come around and try to smile
It's a sad smile
my hand upon your shoulder is real enough

I see it in your eyes
I feel it in your heart
I see it in your eyes
I feel it in your heart


I made some changes to the first two verses in order to make the number of syllables in the lyrics match the beats and rhythm of the song. Other than that I'm just making progress on finishing the lyrics. Here is a recording of the initial demo and the version I have so far.

Real Enough - Initial Demo by tazthecat

Real Enough - Second Version by tazthecat

Enjoy,

-ron-

Final version of Loving on the Road

I finally finished the song 'Loving on the Road' and here is the final version of the lyrics.



When I first went on the road
It was exciting it was fun
Loneliness not invited in
We were quite the rowdy ones
On the road I saw many towns
But it’s not new, the thrill is gone

Don't hate me, don't hate me
I was always true
But when it comes to loving on the road
I will still want you

Never saw a pretty face
To match you, could not match you
Your voice lingers on my mind
You're with me, you’re still with me
I don't know how I could go on
You were always the strong one

I slip back to my hotel room
Look out the window, pretend to see you
I don’t notice the night has gone by
I don’t notice it’s dawn...
It’s dawn

It’s dawn and I’m on the road again
Another day another town
It clings to me with many miles
It pulls me down, I will not go down
Soon I will be heading home
I am such the lucky one

Please love me, please love me
I was always true
When it comes to loving on the road
I will still want you


This version just has some lyrics tweaks from the last version I discussed. The first one is with the lines


I don't know how I could go on
You were always the strong one

Which was previously

I don't know how I could go on
Without you, I need you

The original intention of those two lines was to repeat the pattern set by the other line pairs in the verse. In the other line pairs in that verse, the second line repeats a phrase ( To match you, could not match you - You're with me, you’re still with me). That might have worked better if I could continue that through the song but I wanted a common tie throughout the entire song not just that verse so I changed that line. The replacement line although not lyrically similar to lines in the first and third verse, has a similar cadence to those lines. Here are the three lines that are tied together

We were quite the rowdy ones
You were always the strong one
I am such the lucky one

It might not seem like these lines have anything in common but when you listen to the song you will (hopefully) hear the similarity.

The second change was because of an oops moment in the previous lyrics for the third verse. Those were

It's dawn and I am off again
Another day, another town
Soon I will be heading home
I am such the lucky one

As you can see, this verse only has two line pairs and the others has three. So I needed to write two more lines for this verse. I had this thought of the wariness of being on the road sticking to the person in the song. That eventually became the lines

It clings to me with many miles
It pulls me down, I will not go down

The only problem is that this line made no sense within the rest of the lyrics of the third verse. The thing that is clinging is the road but that is not in any of the other lyrics. So I changed the first line from 'It's dawn and I am off again' to 'It’s dawn and I’m on the road again' and then it made sense.

Here is the recording of the final version of the song

Loving on the Road by rdlipps

Enjoy,

-ron-