Word

This is one of those songs that came after many false starts and unproductive sessions. Sometimes trying to find the right idea – musically or lyrically – is like casting a fishing line. The first few throws may amount to nothing, but finally, you feel tug and you have something to reel in. What I finally reeled in is a song about a subject that, as an artist, I frequently find on my mind. Lyrics are after the break as usual.

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March 30

Summertime Rain

Lyrically speaking, Summertime Rain is an odd song for me. Instead of trying to tell a story, when I wrote this, I was trying to tell a particular feeling. If you mix feelings of expectation, uncertainty, mortality, and happiness, you will have the feeling I was trying to capture. Musically, I was going for something that’s kind of funk and kind of calm at the same time. This is a song that is easy for me to see imagine as a video. Maybe someday . . .

Lyrics are after the break.

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March 10

Robots and Aliens

I started this song aiming for something calmer than the others I’ve posted so far, so before I laid down a single note, I set a slow tempo.Â Proving that music is never simple, this song ended up being relatively energetic anyway. Once I realized what was happening, I made no effort to change it because it seemed the song was trying to go someplace in particular. My task was to figure out where. Well, here’s that someplace. As usual, lyrics after the break.

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February 25

The Life of a Mouse

I guess it’s normal for me to come up with music first, then start writing words that seem to fit it. Life of a Mouse started that way. A few lines in, the idea for the final song started forming and I ended up rewriting the lines that had come before the idea. File this one under angry hip-hop. Read on for lyrics.

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February 12

Really Sad Love Song

Valentine’s day is coming up, so I figuredÂ I’d do a song about love. Really Sad Love Song is about an artist who realises that many of the best songs aren’t about happy love. The music is made up of some of my favorite musical elements – a deep, smooth bassline, lots of keys, and a back-to-basics type hip-hop beat. Click read more for the lyrics.

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February 4

Monster

To come up with the music for Monster, I just added and removed instruments, notes, and parts until I came up with the basis of something I liked. At that point, I had to listen to it a bunch of times before lyrics started coming to me. I didn’t know what the song was about until the first verse started forming in my head.Â Hit the read more link to read the lyrics.

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Category: Nothing Expected - Volume 1 | 2 Comments