I don’t know if you had a chance to listen to the songwriters podcast I shared with you last week concerning Steve Harley. One thing he said, amongst other gems was, ‘Being a musician is really tough’, and I can concur, it sometimes is.
That’s not a complaint, mind. Any job can be tough, but I personally find being self employed tougher in many ways than when I had a more normal working week. Regular hours and the ability to switch off at weekends have their advantages. In fact I don’t ever really totally switch off these days, so opportunities like a good day out in the fresh air are a welcome change of pace, even if they are still made partially in 'work mode'.
Last Sunday was such a day, and my wife and I went for a walk. Ironically, she has proposed on a number of occasions that I should write a walking blog as it’s something we try to do often, but I suspect this is not what she envisaged.
Our destination is Thorney Island near Emsworth. The island itself is Ministry of Defence property, but a public footpath does skirt three sides of the shoreline. Or at least it should do. Inconveniently, we discover that part of the footpath is closed, and to get to the best bit, which is the southernmost point of the island, will require a detour. Never mind.
I thought this was a music blog?
Fair point. I’ll get on with it. One thing I know I’m not very good at when it comes to thinking about songwriting is real world observation. Most song ideas I have are a bit, I dunno, ‘insular’ maybe. They tend to be born of my imagination whilst sitting on the floor in the spare bedroom, when obviously, there is a great big, wide world of inspiration out there just waiting to be tapped.
Today then I’m going to take photos of our walk (as I nearly always do anyway), but this time, I’m going to try and think about them in terms of songs. What they make me think about and what I can associate with them, in the hope of shaking something loose in the old brainbox. It might not work. Often new things take time to get used to, you just have to give them a chance.
So you can come along and share some thought process, or you can just have a look at the view today, it’s entirely up to you.
#1 Boats and Bridges
Just between you and me, I’m not sure this boat is totally watertight. When they say it’s a ‘bag for life’ I don’t think they mean it’ll save your life if you duct tape it to the bottom of your dinghy...
Boats and the sea have always had a romantic and often tragic relationship with songwriting. Sea shanties are pretty much a genre in themselves, great for storytelling. I don’t feel like much of a storyteller though… I can only think of one song I’ve written that one could really consider to be a story, and even then, I wouldn’t say there’s too much of a plot. Maybe I could use the sea and the water as a metaphor or inspiration for something else? That seems a pretty well worn path, but let’s look up some related words and see if I like the sound of anything….
Lagoon
(good word, kinda funny when you think about it, creatures live in black ones)
Tidepool
(good word again, feels difficult to sing though…)
Shoreline
(better, easy to rhyme, the place where two things meet, fight? collide?)
Seaspray
(a form of alliteration, that can work well, refreshing, cutting)
Driftwood
(aside from Travis, I suspect this might be overused)
Superocean
(that feels difficult to use, but I like the fact that I can’t actually provide a definition for it, it feels open to interpretation, and sounds exciting, powerful)
Brackish
(the hard ‘K’ makes it sound edgy, aggressive…. interesting, lots of negative synonyms)
Tides
(again a popular choice, probably lots of metaphors…ebbs, flows, movement, elemental)
There are hundreds… So I could choose something and go looking for associated language. Build up a list of related, interesting words that I could use for lyrics. I’d obviously still need to think about how the song progresses, or what the message is, otherwise it might just end up sounding like a list of, well… related, interesting words. Would such a list still constitute a song?
Bridges are another well worn topic. You can build them, burn them, cross them, hide under them… even bungee jump from them. I’m writing this now with the news on in the background, relaying pictures from Baltimore where a Singaporean freighter has collided with and destroyed a road bridge. What’s the story behind that I wonder?
#2 Remains
Most of the shoreline here appears to be the remains of a battleground where no building survived. I’m sure much of it is simply rubble that’s been dumped to prevent coastal erosion but some remains are obviously from in situ structures that have lost their battle with time and have slipped into the sea. What was their function? They were important, essential, but time rendered them obsolete, unmaintainable… unfashionable? People sometimes undergo that same kind of transformation.
This brick has a story. It was once a part of something bigger, but now all its edges are rounded, distorted, weathered to the point of being unrecognisable. It’s unique now, but it was once indistinguishable from thousands just like it. Hey. Teacher. Leave those kids alone!
#3 On The Beach
As you work your way around to the south of the island and Longmere Point, the concrete, rubble and twisted metal gives way to beautiful white sand dunes and deserted beaches. This part of the island is only accessible to the public after a few hours of walking and so there’s never more than maybe half a dozen people around.
It’s a particularly stark contrast in the summer, when on a sunny Saturday afternoon you can stand totally alone on this beach, whilst watching the hordes of holiday makers at East Head just half a mile or so away. They’re close enough you can just hear them. The kids screaming, the jet-skis… they’re clearly in sight, but oblivious to you. This little corner of the island is an oasis hiding in plain sight, at the centre of the harbour.
That’s a memory of a previous year, but memories can be powerful things. How certain places made you feel once, doesn’t mean you’ll feel the same when you go back there. Often returning to a place you remember in a positive light proves a disappointment in some way. Maybe it’s an accurate assessment, maybe it’s rose tinted glasses, but this time, it’s just different, perhaps better. I went looking for the opportunity for some peace and quiet, and some time to think, and I found a good place.
Will anything I’ve seen or thought about kick start me into a new song? I have no idea. Time will tell I suppose, but it was a nice walk regardless. If the weather looks good this weekend, I suggest you do the same.
Cole Porter and other composers of his era used to write what is known as "list songs", so he is worth checking out if you're contemplating writing something using word association. The beat poets - Roger McGough, et al - used to write poems on just about every subject under the sun (even a packet of cornflakes, as I recall). So you could write a list-song about anything you see on your rambles...