Once Again (LITLR) - AndyR Original

[AndyR]

Another Songwriting Demo for FAWM 2022

Song number 9.

I decided it was time I wrote a song that wasn't so hard to sing and play!

Once Again

Words & Music AndyR
--------------------------------
Every day
You keep asking why
Maybe you should wonder how
Concentrate on when
I could give you
All the reasons why
But you'll not get there any faster
You won't ever know

How all you want
And all you need
Is in your grasp
Just not guaranteed
You have to make the bag to put it in
Your constant where's my stuff is wearing thin

Once again
If all you ask is why
All you'll ever do is sit and sigh

Every day
When others reach so high
I hear that you have time to grumble
Time for telling tales
Well I could show you
How they learn to fly
But you don't seem to want to hear it
All you have is why

And what they want
And what they need
It's all there is
And that's guaranteed
So where's your bag to take this magic home
It doesn't seem you even want to know

So once again
If all you ask is why
All you'll ever do is sit and sigh

All you want
And all you need
Is in your grasp
Just not guaranteed
So where's your bag to take this magic home
It doesn't seem you even want to know

Once again
If all you ask is why
All you'll ever do is sit and sigh

Copyright (C) 2022 A A J Russe. All Rights Reserved.

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[Groundy]

Nice one, Andy, well done.... Alex

[StephenM]

it's amazing how some people (you) can take 3 chords and some vocals and lyrics and make it sound like no other song I have ever heard before...
another great song... I am into the lyrics... it's cool that you can come up with such good melody lines so fast... oh wait... I think there are some more chords in there and that bridge...nice.

[Hook]

Wow brother, great fucking song! And performed so well man, what a fabulous listen and recording. Love the passion and the power in your vocal . Are you writing the lyrics at the same time or do you have a stock?
Rock on!

[AndyR]

Aww many thanks guys

Wow brother, great fucking song! And performed so well man, what a fabulous listen and recording. Love the passion and the power in your vocal . Are you writing the lyrics at the same time or do you have a stock?

These are getting written all at once.
I do have some old notebooks, I haven't opened them yet!

For today's (and it's looking positive) I'm using a little guitar signature I've been playing for YEARS.
Yesterday, during this, I started playing it and decided "OK... TOMORROW is the day it finally gets used... I hope I get a decent thing to say..." (and I have, I hope!)

I kind of start looking for an idea at the start of the working day, maybe filling some bits in during coffee.
Then, when I finish work, I prevaricate a bit.
Today I did some hoovering, the olympics is on...
... and I came on here to write this!
But I seem to be able to push the idea through, lyrically, in an hour or so.
Today, I'm short of some music too, usually I have all the sections by this time of day.
Not today, though... that's why I put the guitar down and came on here for a bit.

it's amazing how some people (you) can take 3 chords and some vocals and lyrics and make it sound like no other song I have ever heard before...
another great song... I am into the lyrics... it's cool that you can come up with such good melody lines so fast... oh wait... I think there are some more chords in there and that bridge...nice.

One of the things that got me going again last year was discovering Taylor Swift is more than I thought she was. Very much more. I am a HUGE fan of her stuff now (in fact, she's the "you" in the one I'm writing today)

Anyway, I was playing along to one of the albums, and I turned to my wife and said "every single one of these songs uses the same chords!!! - but they all sound completely different... I know it's possible... but how does she do it?!?!?!"

So I went digging into how she did things, pulling the songs apart... and I watched videos of her live, big production and unplugged, song-writing sessions, turning up at fans engagement parties and playing, etc, etc...

I started to get the idea how she does it. She doesn't worry about it, she's just "writing a song".
That's kind of what I do, it's what we all do, but there's a slightly different mindset - and I've got it back now (I had it when I was 16!!)

A few weeks back I was reading threads on here about being stuck, and people feeling they were in a rut using the same old chords, etc...
Right at that moment I was "BUT THAT'S ALL THERE IS ANYWAY! And I LOVE it "

I used to hate that all I had was G, C(9!) and D, with maybe some Em(7) and Am chucked in... and if I want to get down and dirty an F here and there.

Post 90s or whenever, I'd wouldn't go NEAR what I call The Wonderwall chords because everyone would say "that's wonderwall".

But the problem was I was thinking about the chords as the important part of the song, the start of the process in getting the song.
They ARE important, and can help establishing melodies.
But if you write chords first, to get a mood, after a while you've used all the moods up and you're in a rut.

Switch, in your mind, to "I'm just writing a song, words and melodies".
You still use the chords the same way (to start stuff off), but they become less important and stifling in your mind.
Then you'll use the wonderwall chords nearly all the time and no-one will notice!!

It is, of course, more than that. And I've got guitar riffs coming out of my ears too...
It's just that, for these 14 songs in February, I decided at the start that I am not going to attempt any arranging.
I'm also unlikely to write a riff-based song these couple of weeks - because I just won't be able to play and sing it live on the demo...

I decided, I'll stick to the basics, and the basics for me is "a song is Lyrics and a Melody Line", nothing else.
(I know other people have a different definition of a song - and that's cool - but my definition is Lyric and Melody)

If, when I present it like that, it feels boring or lacking, then I will attempt to ignore that feeling and post it anyway.

This one is the first that feels lacking to me, I love bits of it, very much, but it's not as good, as a song, as I was hoping.... but then you guys like it. Ummm... ok, I'll believe you guys then!

This is what I wrote on the PreSonus Sphere forums, this is what I really think of this one in an objective "is it good enough yet?" kind of way:
Not sure about the song... I feel it's kind of a "workman-like" song for me. I love bits of it, but lyrically, though it's clever enough, it doesn't move me... I think it's because it's a rant/moan sort of song... Also, the chorus/refrain, although accurate/true and makes sense, isn't as strong as I'd have liked... There might be a rewrite in the chorus area if I ever go for this one for more than this demo... Oh well, 9 down

The bold bit is the reason I've copied it here. Sometimes you write songs that... well... they don't move you the songwriter.
I usually keep those to myself - cos I got plenty that do move me.
But I can't afford to throw any away at the moment, because I need 14 new ones in February...

So I post it... and wow, I get praise like that from you guys!
YO! I'd still want to make it better if I could, but actually, it's good enough ... many thanks .