'Which Way to Happy?'

[Greeny]

More of an 'album track', but here's another one written and played by me (vocals, guitars, bass). All done on the BR except some sound additions in Audacity. It's about misery and redemption...

Which Way to Happy?

I had nothing left to lose
So I asked a clown with big red shoes
Tell me the inside scoop –
Which way to happy?

I saw a blackbird on a wall
It sang but couldn't talk at all
Or even point with it's wing
The way to happy

They say it's just a state of mind
But I'm struggling to find it
I need a flashing neon sign
Telling me to try it

I think it's off the beaten path
Or hidden in a basement
animal or mineral or just a hollow statement

which way to happy?

I met a girl with a watering can
Who told me that she liked Japan
And made the flowers bloom
In shades of happy

I knew that I was getting near
When I felt her whisper in my ear
Put your hand on my heart
'Cause here lies happy...

Chorus etc

[OsCKilO]

Poet..

Composer. .

True artist!

This is great tim.

Another one played through the phone speakers, that managed to fill the room with sound!

Great song!

Peace

T (osckilo)

[Geir]

Great lyrics !
Great song !
Great Performance !
Still can't believe your creativity !! Really amazing how you just pull one great song after another out of your sleeve (or MBR or whatever .. .)) All with your unmistakable signature!

Geir

[Bluesberry]

Really great stuff.  Very peppy sounding with a bit of a darker theme underneath.  And then the redemption comes, very good.

[SdC]

Yeah great! At first glance a bit Tom Petty-ish, but with some surprising and original twists and turns.

[lg]

Another good one Tim, tell me, how do you do it?
No, seriously, do you first come up with the lyrics, and then put them to music?
Or vice-versa? Or does the whole song just come to you at once?
I am really curious because I want to write some more songs...
Anyway, Bravo Mr. Green!
Another one for my mp3 player!

LG

[launched]

do you first come up with the lyrics, and then put them to music?

I was wondering the same thing.


Great tune - great playing!

Mark

[holdempok]

Ahhhhh Mr Tim Green. Bravo Man.

[Greeny]

Another good one Tim, tell me, how do you do it?
No, seriously, do you first come up with the lyrics, and then put them to music?
Or vice-versa? Or does the whole song just come to you at once?

The songs all happen in different ways - sometimes it's a lyrical idea (usually for the chorus) that sparks the music, but usually it's a new chord progression that I gradually turn into a verse or chorus, then build the rest of the song around that. I have a bit of a formula for my songs that needs three parts - verse, bridge, chorus - but I do play around with the order a bit. Very occasionally I have a completed lyric (sometimes from an abandoned previous version of a song) that I'll set to music.

Here's the number one inspiration for me though...

Song titles and subjects.

I'm constantly running through good song titles in my head. If I can get a good song title, it will inspire a song and set the theme / style / focus almost by itself. And the titles I come up with are invariably a reflection of how I'm feeling or something that is important to me at that time, and the rest of the words just seem to flow from that.

What else...

Oh yeah: 41 years of devouring every type of music imaginable, so that I know (almost by osmosis) where a song should go next and what sounds good.

I have a lyrical advantage having written a lot of poetry and stories and novels etc over the years, so I love playing with words and the way they sound together. That helps a lot too!

Sorry - that's a wordy answer.

Just go for it. If your song is honest (i.e. not contrived) and it means something to you, you can't really go wrong.

And when it comes to honesty, I marvel at how oldrottenhead never pulls any punches with his words. He writes in the most real, most truthful way possible. All the beauty and pain of life in a single lyric. There's a lot of good lessons to be learned from the way he writes (although the speed he does them at is sheer alchemy...!).

[Greeny]

Ahhhhh Mr Tim Green. Bravo Man.

Where have you been?! Making some music I hope!!!! Hope everything is good with you.