A fruitful day, part one: "Building the life" (new song)

Yesterday (Friday) didn't start off very promising - there was a light drizzle that doesn't help the plants but gets me wet. Weather like this always semi-paralyses me: I had to make a conscious effort to do things and not sit back and wallow in the dismal scene. I can see that this is going to be a very long blog so I'm going to split it into three, so readers that are interested in one topic don't have to read about something completely different.

Friday mornings generally start with a conversation with the Occupational Psychologist; following our hour-long conversation I generally spend two or three hours working on our programs - either a new module has to be added to the management program or there is a bug to be fixed. Yesterday our conversation was short and the programming was even shorter: there were a few bugs in a routine that I wrote several years ago. The bugs were easy to fix, which makes me wonder how many other land-mines are waiting to be triggered. Obviously I don't aim to write code with bugs and I do test my code, but it happens that I don't test sufficiently. Anyway, by 9 am I had finished with the OP (as opposed to 12 am or later on most Fridays).

What to do next? I have been working on a song for the past few weeks; like most (if not all) new songs, I think that this one is good. Over the weeks I've been adding little bits and pieces; on Thursday I added a bridge section - until then there had only been three verses. Unfortunately the bridge didn't connect well to the instrumental part that came after and I experimented with several chords until I found something that worked ... except that this required that the instrumental be lowered by a tone. Not a problem. The instrumental itself causes a very subtle modulation at its end, going up by a semitone - so now the final verse was a semitone lower than the first verse. Yesterday I dropped the entire song by two semitones as the tune (deliberately simple after the spider-like melodies that I've been writing lately) was pitched too high. As a result, I'm not really sure what chords are being played towards the end, making it difficult should I need to add anything. But no: as far as I'm concerned, the music is finished.

On the other hand, there were no words, as usual. I had a few blithe phrases that would fit the opening lines but I had no idea what the song was to be about, and without knowing, I couldn't write anything. I should note here that a few weeks ago I read the autobiography of Janis Ian and felt encouraged/challenged to improve the level of my lyrics, so knowing what the song was to be about was important. Another book which I have just finished reading (for the second time) is 'What Alice forgot' by Liane Moriarty (I wrote about this here). I realised that I could write lyrics about the problems that Alice and Nick (her estranged husband) face; the following paragraph was the catalyst.

“I’d be at work, where people respected my opinions,” said Nick. “And then I’d come home and it was like I was the village idiot. I’d pack the dishwasher the wrong way. I’d pick the wrong clothes for the children. I stopped offering to help. It wasn’t worth the criticism.”

I know how he feels, although I'm not as bad as he is in the house (after all, I'm the cook). As I had the time yesterday, I started work on writing the lyrics to a song that is now called 'Building the life'. Once I had them complete, I tried singing them (this is where lowering the key of the song came in), and a few phrases were changed. There was still one line that I wasn't completely comfortable with: it didn't express the exact sentiment that I wanted, but whilst walking the dog this morning, the perfect line entered my head.

At work he's considered a star in the making
His word always carries weight
He's thought as an asset, delivering value
Embodying good as a trait
He understands
He recommends
His opinion is highly treasured by all

At 8 in the evening, he closes his laptop
And heads out into the night
His wife is not happy: he’s missed their son’s party
There’s nothing he can do right
He’s lost in thought
She’s practical
She is getting impatient with his failings

When she is down, he is up
When she is up, he is down
When she is happy, he cries
When she is smiling, he frowns

Where is the balance between these two people?
What compromise can be made?
They both acknowledge their failures as partners
But can their marriage be saved?
He contributes
She must accept
They together can build the life that they want

I can't stress enough that these lyrics are imagined! They are not about my wife and I even though the couplet "He’s lost in thought/She’s practical" is more about us than they are about Alice and Nick (so is the first verse).

On the technical side, I note once more how easy it can be to write lyrics once I know what I'm writing about; for example, the bridge section ('when she is down ...') came to me when I was on my way to my daughter's flat, not while I was sitting down and physically writing the words. In other words, once I'm in 'writing mode', the words can come quickly.