How To Write A Song

“If you write it on guitar
Place your guitar upon your knee
If you write it on piano
Don’t do that”

- Harry Nilsson, the Sandman album

The impulse to create and share music is so strong among people I know that it leads me to believe that there are only two kinds of folks out there, those who are songwriters and those who wish they were songwriters. So universal is this desire that even techies and the science types, busy as they are with their isosceles triangles and hieroglyphs in Greek, are not oblivious to its sway. I suppose it was by way of popular demand that a respectable science magazine once had an entire section devoted to music and the art of song writing. This article is about one techie’s attempt at reducing that theory to practice by attempting to actually write a song.

Start with the Title

Starting with the title helps to crystallize that vague idea you may have for a song and make it more concrete. The subject matter could be about anything, but it helps to choose one that your listeners actually care about. Songs about love, faith and redemption are universals that reflect the human condition and you’re more likely to connect emotionally with your listeners if you choose one of these as your subject rather than say the history of whale hunting, which only Newfoundlanders may find thrilling.

Like many of my peers, given a choice I would like to write a simple, uncomplicated love song. But most regrettably, what comes to my mind as I write this is not love, but a certain speech given by a Native American hero, Chief Joseph (Hmm… the brain certainly works in mysterious ways!).

The reason why that speech is so clearly etched in my memory is because of the poignancy of Chief Joseph’s words and the simple truths they proclaim which touches the heart. As speeches go I rank it among the most eloquent given in history. The text of his speech can be found by clicking here.

So with nothing else to go on with, I’ll commit the very sin I had warned against and choose a parochial subject, an arcane piece of Americana for my song. I’ll call it “From Where the Sun Now Stands” after the famous words uttered by Chief Joseph.

Use a Template

A blank slate is an impediment to creativity. The conflict between the freedom we cherish and the reality of having to live and work in a world full of restrictions, creates that creative tension which is responsible for many of the marvellous inventions that the human mind has wrought. We see examples of this truth everywhere we look. From the laws that govern human conduct and act as social glue, to the behaviour of the minutest atoms and molecules in nature, where constraints imposed on the freedom of the constituent parts leads to the emergence of a spectacular range of attributes, and a multitude of hues and colours. I think I now have a better appreciation of Baha’u’llah’s words in the Kitab-i-Aqdas when he says “Think not that We have revealed unto you a mere code of laws. Nay, rather, We have unsealed the choice Wine with the fingers of might and power.”

But I digress, this is an article about songwriting, not a discourse on philosophy.

The upshot is this, if you want to create a song fast, use a template. It will get your creative juices flowing in no time. The standard format for a song is verse/chorus. A typical song will have three verses arranged as Verse1/Chorus, Verse 2/Chorus, and Verse 3/Bridge/Chorus. This is the structure we will use for our song. Other variations are possible and you may want to google the lyrics of your favourite songs to find out how they are structured.

Make it Rhyme

How are we doing so far? We’ve decided on the title, so we’ll use that to fashion a storyline. Then we’ll use a rhyming dictionary to convert our story into a prose that rhymes. Again other alternative arrangements are possible. Try listening to some of the songs on the charts for examples.

If you haven’t read Chief Joseph’s speech, I would like to suggest that you do so now. I used that speech and a short biography of Chief Joseph I had read on the web to inspire the following verse and chorus:

Provisional title: From Where the Sun Now Stands

Verse 1:
Thirty days were all we had
To leave our homes or face attack
Down snow capped mountains to Idaho
General Howard’s orders were we had to go

But mounting troubles lay ahead
Our young men wanted the settlers dead
For stealing horses and kayaks
And to put a stop to their sneak attacks

Chorus:
From where the sun now stands until forever
While our voices start to tear
Our people will endure

From where the sun now stands until forever
This truth our hearts hold dear
That freedom is forever

The lyrics sound a bit contrived, but at this stage we should not be too concerned about that. We should instead strive to maintain the momentum we have generated and move on to crafting the next most important element of our song: the melody. The words can always be changed later.

Get it to Sing

Now that we have some words to work with, how do we create the melody? We can start by playing a sequence of chords to find one that matches the mood evoked by our lyrics. As usual, I’ll rely on my old three chord trick on the mixolydian scale (chords I, IV, V). I play around with these chords to get a feeling for the song. Hmm…that sounds pretty boring. But I know just what will perk it up - a minor chord (VI) thrown in for gratis. So that’s it, these are the chords we’ll use: I, IV, V and VI. We will play these chords in a loop and read our lyrics aloud, and let our brains suggest a tune.

I do just this, and find a melody that I think will be acceptable. It is important at this stage to write down or record whatever melody that suggests itself. It is so easy otherwise to forget that fleeting tune that crept into your head. As a result that inspiring flight of notes you stumbled upon might be lost forever.

Here is an excerpt from a recording, warts and all, that I made after following the steps I had mentioned [Caution: there are off-key notes in my singing which I haven’t gotten around to correcting, so turn down that volume while listening. You don’t want to scare the neighbours, or yourself!]

When I listen to the way the chorus resolves itself in the final line, the original title for the song doesn’t sound compelling anymore. So I’ll change it to “Freedom is Forever”. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself doing this to your own song. 'Tis the way these things work.

So What’s Next

Write the rest of the lyrics and modify the words and music as appropriate until you achieve a result that you like. During this critical process, you may find yourself throwing up your hands in frustration and deciding that the song you are crafting is not worth the effort, that it is intractable and totally misguided. Relax, this is normal.

Having gone through this exercise in songwriting for the purpose of writing this article, I've come to a conclusion of which I’m pretty much confident: I shouldn’t be thinking of quitting my daytime job anytime soon. But the experience sure was fun!

I hope you’ve found this article to be useful and mildly amusing. If it was neither then perhaps you’re a songwriter! If that's the case I proffer my profound apologies, and as atonement leave you with another Harry Nilsson quote. I started this article with a quote from him, and it seems appropriate to it end with another: "I get nervous when they start shooting piano players"

On a Wing and a Prayer

It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon in DC. A light breeze ruffles through my hair as my dad looks on disapprovingly. “Get a hair cut!” he says. I respond with a sigh. “I know, I know”.

We were walking down the National Mall and I was itching to go to the Air and Space Museum. The rest of the family didn’t share my enthusiasm for all things winged, and so they continued towards the Lincoln Memorial while I walked in for a look. I wanted to visit the museum not because of the aircraft exhibits, but the flight simulator.

I first heard of the simulator a few weeks previously at a birthday party. My nephew’s friend whom I had met was so excited about his experience in the museum's simulated F-4 Phantom Jet, that I couldn't wait to experience it myself. Apparently the simulator was of the full motion variety. Real enough that those with heart trouble, or back and neck injuries were warned to stay away from.

So it was with eager steps that I walked past the exhibit displaying the famous Apollo 11 Command Module and entered the queue at the West end of the building. It didn't take me long to realize that this was kids' zone and I was only one of a smattering number of adults there. All of us were eager and excited. I paid for the ticket and waited for my turn.

Before entering the simulator we were asked to empty our pockets and place the contents in a locker. This was serious stuff. You don’t want things falling off your pocket and turning into untethered projectile when you’re flying upside down.

I get strapped into my seat. The cab door is closed. It’s dark save for the simulated display in front of me. I’m on an aircraft carrier, somewhere off the coast of Vietnam. I hear the rumble of the engines and soon the take-off roll begins 3..2..1.. Full throttle...stick pulled back...and I’m off the carrier deck into the blue yonder.

I rapidly gain altitude and notice a bogey at my 2 O’ Clock. I maneuver into position behind and below the aircraft and press the missile launch button. There is a swooshing sound and a missile leaps past me, hitting the target spot-on. That was easy I thought. Bogey’s gone! Replaced by a smoking wreckage that traces a Pynchon arc on its way down.

Although there are many more enemy aircraft in the air, I soon stop going after them. Something’s wrong, dead WRONG! It just doesn’t feel right. The plane doesn’t feel right!

I return to straight and level flight and ignore all enemy fire. Stick now pushed to the left, the plane obligingly enters a left banking turn. Whoa! I start sliding immediately in my seat and get pushed hard against the left-hand side of the cab. This is not what I would've expected in a real aircraft!

If you’re flying by the seat-of-the-pants in a real airplane and you are in a turn, as long as you are using the rudder correctly, you will not slide in your seat. Your posterior stays put (that’s why it’s called seat-of-the-pants flying I suppose). Even if the rudder is not used, which is the case in this simulator since rudder pedals are not installed, as soon as the banking angle is established and the ailerons returned to their neutral position with respect to the airflow, you will not experience the sideways forces that will cause you to slide and get pushed to one side of the aircraft.

So as you would have guessed, the experience in the simulator left me a little underwhelmed. While I didn’t expect the ride to replicate the kinesthetic sensations one would experience in a million dollar hardware mounted on a Stewart platform, even within the limitations of the F-4 simulator, better coding would have increased the kinesthetic realism. And writing such code is not exactly rocket science. Any high school kid could do it with suitable mentoring.

Kinesthetic realism is indispensable if you want to teach someone to fly by the seat-of-the-pants, a skill that is essential in the making of a good pilot. There is a memorable scene from Pearl Harbor, the movie, in which Ben Affleck faces the prospect of failing his eye exam and getting his flight status revoked. He has just been accepted to fight the war on the side of the British against the Germans. Now only a jumble of letters on the wall stand in the way between him and his dreams of flying for the RAF in the Battle of Britain.

He struggles with the letters on the chart. Gets them wrong, mixes them up. The nurse says she’s sorry, but given his performance she can’t possibly pass him because it’s the requirement of the Army and Navy that all their pilots have 20/20 vision.

But his eyes are fine he argues; its alphabets that bother him. She looks at him and innocently suggests that perhaps he should go back to school, do a few more extra years and then try again next time when he’s ready.

No, he’s not dumb, he says. He’s had schooling and he’s passed all the necessary exams. Just look at his file. Look at his scores in math and spatial reasoning. Ain't that something! It’s just letters that appear visually all pear-shaped and reversed to him, a condition we call dyslexia but which wasn't widely known then.

Next, in what must be the most eloquent defence of flying by the seat-of-the-pants that I’ve heard, Ben Affleck proceeds to plead with the nurse that “You don’t dog fight with manuals. You don’t fly with gauges. It’s all about feeling, and speed...and letting that plane become like a part of your body. The manual says that the guy who is a slow reader can’t be a good pilot, but that file you’re holding says I’m the best pilot in the room. Ma’am, please...don’t take my wings.”

I liked Pearl Harbor, a delightful blend of historical fact, fiction and Hollywood storytelling. And what an amazingly gorgeous song by Faith Hill. Who can forget that line in the chorus when she sings “In my dreams I always see you soar above the sky”. Boy, I wish I could write songs like that. I’m reminded of Abdu'l-Baha’s words that “a wondrous melody is wings for the spirit”. I found this to be certainly true of that song. It lifts my spirits and puts an extra spring in my step whenever I hear it.

Songs can have great emotional power and they can change our world by changing the way we think and talk about ourselves. It was through a song that the phrase ‘on a wing and a prayer’ first entered the cultural lexicon. Released in 1943, the song which was titled "Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer" was about a damaged plane trying, against all odds, to make it back to base during World War II. It will always remind me of hope and the resiliency of the human spirit in the face of adversity.

It's Electric

THE last couple of weeks have been rather gruelling. An oppressive blanket of heat has descended over my quaint little town. Though there has been talk of rain, and rumours of rain, not a drop has been seen in ages and the weather has been hot, hot, hot.

I tend to take the heat in my stride but recently I have been visited by a rather curious affliction. Whenever I touch anything metallic I tend to get zapped by a jolt of static electricity discharge. This seems to happen to me all the time whenever I’m at work or on my way to and from work. I walk to my office and as I reach out to pull the door handle ZAP! I get a jolt of electric current. The same thing happens when I walk to the car and try to open the door. I’m zapped again. Ouch! You may think that this zapping action would mean that both the car and I will now be at the same electric potential and so there would be no more zaps. But no. Half an hour later as I get down and close the door I’m zapped yet again.

All kinds of objects give me the jolt. My filing cabinet, and other paraphernalia in my office. I'm lucky my guitar hasn’t zapped me yet! No one else around me seems to suffer from this problem. I can understand electrostatic discharge (ESD) being a problem in cold dry climates. But here in hot humid Malaysia???

I’ve been reading much about human ESD lately and have come across all kinds of unusual stories. There is one about this couple, a guy and girl who both suffer from unusually high static electricity buildups in their bodies. Apparently every time they smooch, they receive quite a jolt of electricity. Now, that must have been something! Talk about sparks in a relationship! So perhaps there is something positive to be had from all of these - I've just got to remember to carry that electroscope the next time I'm on the party circuit :-)