Changes
Many, many years ago as I sat in my student residence accommodation, I came across a sequence of picked chords that I really liked. For several months I had no idea what to do with them and then it clicked. I wrote a song that sounded like a heavy rock song. The lyrics were written in a jiffy and the song ‘Changes’ made its debut at a couple of ‘gigs. That was that. Of course, Changes was one of the first songs I tried to record for The Early Years. To be honest, it was a real challenge and I don’t think I did it real justice. Consequently, it is my least favorite song on the CD. Perhaps, one day, I will have another go because it really has potential.
Read More »Is it – Just Me – Listening?
Just me was another track where I found a nice chord progression and recorded it. I needed some kind of a bridge and change in tempo to make it work I thought and I came up with quite a heavy faster bridge that I thought worked. As is usual, the lyrics simply fell out towards the end… The vocals are triple tracked with one an octave lower and some harmonies. You never really tried No, it was just me You never really loved me No, it was just me You see Here I am now Sitting, looking out of my window And what do I see? I see a reflection of me Here I am again Sitting alone in my bedroom And what do I see? Another bloody reflection of
Read More »Was it – Something I Said?
Something I said Something you said Gave me pause for thought Something I read In mind Something in red Something we do – in bed Something I thought Never mind It’s all gone pear-shaped It’s all gone strange It’s all gone upside down I’m moving around I’m here, I’m here Now, I’m here Not everyday Can I say What I want to say Not every moment Note every second Not every minute of every day This one also started with the music. It started out set to be heavy metal but somehow morphed into a catchy rock song I guess. A combination of power chords and picked chords with a driving bass line punctuated by a tempo change and a sort of melodic lead guitar at certain points provided for
Read More »Life
This track started life (!) as a very melodic riff that I had been playing with for years. I overlaid a picked guitar sound and a slow bass line to get the sound I wanted. I asked my daughter Deni to add her voice to the backing vocals which is her and I going ‘oooo’. She had fun doing that and her voice adds sweetness to the song in my opinion. As usual, the last thing was to record the vocals and write the lyrics. Also as usual, the lyrics simply fell out as I listened to the track… Don’t despair Don’t give up It’s all we have And this is our life Life is passing me by But it’s too soon to say goodbye So much to do yet
Read More »Facists
Facists was the last song written for The Early Years. The song started with the introduction – picking out notes from a chord and adding in a harmony – and the main riff developed out of that. I had in other songs discovered that adding a sort of lead guitar riff in background added color to a song and I continued that theme with this song. I also played with a changed tempo during the song. The lyrics and topic came last and I chose to sing it in a lower – almost speaking voice with multiple overlays – some spoken to give it depth… It’s up in the air It’s hanging around Nothing we can do Nothing at all The world’s gone crazy The world’s gone mad
Read More »I Got My Eye On You
One of my favorite tracks is I Got My Eye On You. It’s very rocky with a real upbeat feel. The song developed from a guitar riff initially and I could not find a good bridge. I stumbled on the idea of a picked bridge to the song and it really seems to work for me and it makes the song quite different.Once the basic track was recorded, the lyrics dropped out of thin air just listening to it. I played around also with backing vocals on the track and discovered a great effect of singing with a backing of spoken words. It gives depth to the song…. a little lead guitar in the intro and hey presto – a rock song!
Read More »Waitin’ For You
Still back in the early 1980’s, I imagined waiting for a girl arriving on a train to write this one. Back then, the Hull to Birmingham train was a frequent trip for me and Sheffield and Doncaster changes quite usual….. Deni joined me on this one – such a sweet voice to round out the song. The riff is a two string riff that I came up with one day by chance and really liked….. Waitin’ For You was played at several ‘live’ performances at that time and people seemed to enjoy it.
Read More »She Is Still Out There – Somewhere…
It was 1979 and I was sitting in my 19th floor study bedroom on the campus of Aston University. I kind of liked the rock reggae riff I had just discovered on the guitar and I was still angry with a certain girl….. the result was ‘She’s Out There’. An angst ridden song about a failed relationship in an era when The Police were simply it. I played it live quite a few times back then and people loved it… When I sat down 30 years later to record a few songs, it was the first one I recorded and I had played it so often, my 9 year old daughter could sing it with me.
Read More »Gone Away
Gone Away is a rocker and one of my favorites…. I wrote the backing track first and just made up the lyrics as I started to work the melody. It isn’t about anyone or anything but simply seemed to fit….. I think we have all been there though.. You took ages to decide You must know your own mind You had ages to decide And what is it that I find? You’ve gone away You’ve left me cold again You’ve gone away today And left me cold again You told me nothing And left me alone again You said nothing And left me alone again So what do I do now? Thinking of breaking up with you But nothing that I can do Seems to be good enough for you
Read More »Talk, Talk
Talk, Talk is one of my favorite songs off of the album The Early Years. It came about when just playing with E and A chords on the guitar and it is essentially a two-chord song! The variations are around the two major chords. In common with pretty much all of my songs, the lyrics came after the track was completed and I looked to my poetry for inspiration. It has a vibe going that to me, harks back to some Electric Warrior T.Rex perhaps tho others have said it is more an 80’s sound…. whatever it is, I like it and I hope you do too? How fitting To see your name in print Fame always eluded you Now you are a household name A life lived in vain
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