Hey everyone. There seems to be a lot of heavy hearts and existentialism leading into the new school year. Quite a few discussions with friends, family members, and students alike have all been related to our existence, how difficult things are, and how much harder they seem to be getting.
I decided to take those topics of discussion and write them into a happy sounding song and explain the process of writing.
How did I start this song?
This time around, I started out with a little melody that I played on my MIDI keyboard with the software instrument setting in Logic Pro X called “Delicate Bells.” After I had the melody down, I decided to find a chord progression that would fit it. The first step was figuring out what key it was in (it started in F major, but I dropped it to E major so it was easier to sing over). Then I went over quite a few options and landed with the one you’ll hear which ended up being the chord progression for the whole song. This makes this another good example of how you can make a lot of material out of small fragments.
I then added a drum beat I created to the song. This is repeated throughout the whole thing as well. I just used my MIDI keyboard to hammer it out using “Modern TR-707” in Logic Pro X.
The next step was writing lyrics. I was inspired by the various topics that were discussed with others over the past week.
A few topics of discussion were:
– Video marketing and music videos
– YouTube Shorts and TikTok
– How expensive it is to get polished content out there
– How expensive marketing is
– How expensive everything is
– Hopelessness that comes with the feeling of not being able to produce material for anything but monetary purposes
– Loneliness in an ever connected world
– Lots of talks on “what’s the point of it all?”
The darker lyrical content over top of the positive sounding music is a deliberate attempt to portray how we can seem happy on the outside but really be struggling within. The opening line “Is it possible?” is a question of hope and kind of sandwiches all of the verses by coming back again in the last line of the last verse. You can do similar things with your lyrics that you do with your music/melodies; repeat repeat repeat.
The chorus ended up being based on the opening melody. One fun part about writing lyrics to a melody instead of writing a melody to lyrics is the feeling of building a puzzle. I spoke about this a few posts back on the post about writing a 1-5-6-4 song.
The final chorus has some added harmonies in it. The way I wrote these was by taking the original melody I wrote, writing it out on staff paper, sitting at my piano, and writing out the best fitting harmony I could with appropriate chord tones to each given chord. This allowed me to get my fingers on my keyboard, get me singing in different registers, and combine it all to make a fuller sounding final chorus.
I decided to leave the last couple repetitions of the chorus as just the instruments, similar to the intro. I decided on this because of the heavy lyrical content. Just having the happy melody as a parting gift gives the listener a chance to decompress on their way out of the song.
Let’s look at the lyrics and listen to the song:
Lyrics
Is it possible
To make it anywhere
Without a video
Is it possible?
Attention spans have lapsed
Already too long
Can we just relax?
Sit back and hear the song?
Chorus
We can dream
All night
We can think
That it’s alright
If we dream
All day
Then our lives
Can slip away
Verse
All the things we do
Are they for the best?
All I see in you
Is there nothing left?
Long ago I knew
It would all be fine
Then I fell apart
Slowly in decline
Chorus
So I dream
All night
Hope to think
That it’s alright
Now I dream
All day
Watching my life
Slipping away
Verse
Can I get it back?
What I had before
Hope for all the world
Not yet out the door
Why can’t this just be
A place where we can grow
Where we’ll all be fine
Is it possible?
Chorus
So I dream
All night
Thinking that it
Will be alright
And I dream
All day
Hoping this pain
Will slip away
So I dream
All night
Thinking that it
Will be alright
And I dream
All day
Forcing this pain
To slip away
Listen here:
There you have it. After listening to it, it reminded me of this scene from Robin Hood: Men In Tights about “bad news in a good way.”
With that said, here is a list of all of the software instruments I used for this song:
- Classic Electric Piano – used this for the chords
- 80s Bitrate Synth – used this to add shimmer to the chords
- Delicate Bells – main melody
- Gentle Sine Bells – main melody but quieter to add colour
- Ethereal Bells – main melody but much quieter to add colour
- Modern TR-707 – drum beat
Parting words:
I’ve been struggling with major shoulder pain lately which has been preventing me from playing as much guitar as I’d like or am used to. I’ve noticed this impacting my mental health, so I’ve been spending a little bit more time writing music in different ways without my guitar. The discussions I’ve had with people has given me ample to write and think about. One continuing aspect is to remind myself – and you – to be kind to myself and to do what I can with what I have.
Feel free to contact me if you want to learn more about songwriting, how to overcome musical hurdles, how to work with a manageable and productive practice routine, or just want to learn more about music in general. I always do my best to get back to everyone that messages me and I always look forward to helping people on their musical journeys.
Thank you for your time, be kind to yourself and others, and have yourself a wonderful day.
All the best,
– Matt