Welcome, you are listening to Every Song. A series where I play songs I’ve written throughout the years and share the stories behind them.
In the last couple of episodes, I have shared some songs that were written to completion in my youth. But, of course, there are songs of mine that are just sitting here unfinished. Songs I don’t quite know what to do with, really. Some of them I’m not sure if I like and ought to throw away and some of which, I’m just waiting to find the right burst of inspiration to be able to finish.
I’m going to play three of them today. These first two songs only have a couple of verses and a chorus in them —not really quite sure where to go from there or if I should add anymore to it.
Here is one of them. This song is titled Shadow Avenue from 2005.
050609 Shadow Avenue
I drove past the old avenue that I used to live atOh the memories are really getting back to me nowThe stop sign’s gold but the priest says that it’s yellowIt’s turned real cold, I’m growing oldI’m growing old
This is my shadow avenueIt will give you scars inside of youIt won’t shut up like a screaming tattooThis is my shadow avenue
I walked past the old avenue that I used to work atAll of the memories are really getting back to me nowThe money was yellow but the boss says that it’s goldIt’s turned real cold, I’m growing olderGrowing older
This is my shadow avenueWhere the wedding bells are always ringingAnd the choir won’t stop singingIt won’t shut up like a screaming tattooThis is my shadow avenue
I began writing Shadow Avenue on the 9th of June 2005. I stopped working on it for the last 10 or so years and I’m just about this close to giving up on it, honestly.
Shadow Avenue is supposed to be about the absolute purgatorial entrapment of suburbia. I was initially driven to write this after watching Green Day’s music video for Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
The mixture of the visuals and the lyricism in that song, spoke to my angsty, ambitious 13-year-old self at the time, wanting to experience more from life than just school and being stuck in a strict home, not allowed to do anything. Not allowed to grow.
Similarly, this next song is also about wanting to break free and letting oneself grow - no matter what anyone says. It is called Grounded, written on the 20th of July 2006.
060720 Grounded
You’re levelled with the sunBy the rate you're going right nowIt’s your blessings that sums upWhat you make of your lifeThere’s a scary little crow at the end of the tableNow you’re pushing meTo the limit of what I’m able to do
I can flyThough I don’t own a pair of wingsI can paint the skyIn accordance with the mood I’m inI can have everything I wantWithout even wanting moreI can do it, but I won’tCause I’m grounded to the floor
That very little smile you fakeWill take the name of your gameEvery night you sway my wayYou manage to get me to stayThere’s a blinding neon lightAt the end of my streetAnd now you’re pushing me, you’re pushing meTo the limit of what I’m able be
Alright, let’s get into the last song of the day. At the time of writing this one, I was listening to a lot of RnB and was inspired by the romanticism and phrasing of RnB vocals. Notably, you’ll hear in the second verse here, a few lines that have a bit of a quicker and punchier rhythm to it than I usually put in my vocal melodies. I was in part exercising vocally arranging it in the style of 3LW or Mariah Carey.
So, of course, it sounds a little bit silly and unnatural coming from me - but it was worth the exercise, I thought. I do this RnB/lyrics and vocal phrasing-writing exercise in a few more of my other songs that I will play in the future. For now, here is a song I wrote it on the 30th of January 2007 just for fun, called Save Me.
070130 Save Me
I can stay still for hoursJust thinking about lifeI can lay awake for hoursJust staring at the ceiling all nightI can do whatever I wantJust as long as I’ve got somewhere to landJust as long as I’ve got you to fall back on toWhen I’m losing my gripI know you’d understand
Oh baby babyYou’re the one to turn toWhen everything falls apartOh you have made meInto what I am todayI’m crawling out of the darkOh I am fadingI’m fading awayI’m fading to blackSo please come save meSave meI’m falling in love
I can’t stay still while Im sleepingWhile I’m dreaming, dreaming about youCause I will be kicking and screamingMy wildest dreams will come trueSo what are you waiting forI’m on my knees just begging for moreI’m hanging on to you by a threadBut it’s gonna breakCause of the weightOf my burdens pushing me down
Thank you for listening to Episode 3 of Every Song. Until next time.
