Hey everyone. This week’s post is about making a song like “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus.
This one is pretty similar to “Flowers” but I put more of a disco kind of feel to it. The chords are the same for the most part, fitting the vi-ii-V-I sequence with minor alterations between the chorus/post chorus. Let’s give the song a listen then discuss how I put it together.
Listen here:
How did I put this together?
I started out by, again, checking out the top trending songs on various streaming platforms and noticed that Miley was way ahead of the pack. After that, I just listened to her song a few times and decided to throw together one of my own.
The writing process began with the bass line that goes throughout the song that fits the chord progression mentioned above – vi-ii-V-I. This was recorded with a real bass as well as two software instruments to get the sound I was looking for without spending too much time editing it. After I laid down the bassline, I put down a pad for the harmony using the software instrument “80s Fizzy Synth” which underpins the song, allowing everything to flow over top of it with ease.
After completing these sections, I added the little guitar parts to the verses and chorus/post chorus sections. This is what made me feel like it’s more of a disco track than not because of the classic sounds produced through the little single note lines and percussive strumming.
Next step was making a drum beat. I played around with a few 808’s and different digital sounding drum sets but settled with real drums because of the energy created from it. I did, however, include an 808 clap/snare that lands on 2 & 4 throughout the track to enhance the snare. Because of the nature of there just being a regular drum set, bass guitar, guitars, basic pads, and vocals in this track, I didn’t feel any need to add any home-made swoosh effects or much else like in “Another Night Without You” or “You Got A Crushin’ Hold Of Me”.
After the beat and all of the music was complete, I just had to pull up my wordpad, my mic, and get to the vocals/lyrics.
A big topic right now for lyrics is about self-empowerment, not wanting toxic relationships, and the realization that we need to be able to find happiness within ourselves, so that’s what the lyrics are about. Check them out.
Lyrics
Verse
You gave me somethin’ to think about
Whether or not I can live without
The constant fear that hangs over me
Distorting all I hear and all that I see
Try not to let it weigh me down
I can always find another way around
Don’t need the things that you put on me
I’m good for me and I’m all that I need
Chorus
Without you, in my life, I got everything
Without you, in my life, I can finally bring
All the things that I am, to the world today
I just need to remember to say
Don’t need you baby, I don’t need you oh
Don’t need you baby, I don’t need you no
Don’t need you baby, I don’t need you oh
Don’t need you baby, I don’t need you no
Verse
And now I’m hearin’ that you’re the one
That said to everyone you were done
It cut me deep they believed the lies
But it helped me to realize
I can’t control anything they think
If I compare then I start to sink
Into a shell of what I can be
I’m good for me and I’m all that I need
Chorus
Without you, in my life, I got everything
Without you, in my life, I can finally bring
All the things that I am, to the world today
I just need to remember to say
Don’t need you baby, I don’t need you oh
Don’t need you baby, I don’t need you no
Don’t need you baby, I don’t need you oh
Don’t need you baby, I don’t need you no
Bridge
I get stuck in my head
And I tend to forget
Chorus
Without you, in my life, I got everything
Without you, in my life, I can finally bring
All the things that I am, to the world today
I just need to remember to say
Don’t need you baby, I don’t need you oh
Don’t need you baby, I don’t need you no
Don’t need you baby, I don’t need you oh
Don’t need you baby, I don’t need you no
Parting thoughts
You can just as easily use a chord progression and/or lyrical theme from somebody else’s music to make some of your own. It’s a fun process to go through and, like anything, the more you do it the better you get at it! So get writing your own tracks!
If you enjoy what I do and you’re looking for assistance on how to write your own music, how to release your own music, how to play guitar, how to do anything music related really, just contact me or email me and book some time with me to help you out.
I hope you had a great weekend and have a great week.
Thanks for your time, be kind to yourself, practice lots, and take care.
All the best,
– Matt