Writing songs since 2017 but now second time on FAWM. Still learning, so any tips would be appreciated! I love singer-songwriters like Dar Williams, Brandi Carlisle, Nick Drake and Elliott Smith, but I also love rock, bluegrass, and songs sung by Fred Astaire in those great black and white movies!! I have been playing ukulele for about 8 years now, can noodle on the keyboard, and have a guitar in the corner wondering when I'm going to learn to play it.
I made the 14 songs last year, and hope to stretch myself again this year. I have really learned a lot about songwriting since the last FAWM, and hope to get at least a couple of really good songs from this round. I appreciate the support and comments from the FAWM community in pushing me to do my best work!!!
#1 | I Hate Punxatawny Phil |
15 Feb 2022 |
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#2 | Too Much Baggage |
12 Feb 2022 |
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#3 | Almighty Ukulele |
15 Feb 2022 |
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#4 | Time to Do Some Cleaning |
20 Feb 2022 |
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#5 | Southbound Train |
11 Feb 2022 |
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#6 | Body and Soul |
9 Feb 2022 |
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#7 | Take Away |
18 Feb 2022 |
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#8 | Come Away With Me |
5 Feb 2022 |
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#9 | No One Told Me About You |
13 Feb 2022 |
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#10 | Photographs |
15 Feb 2022 |
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#11 | I Married an IT Guy |
12 Feb 2022 |
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#12 | Cubic Zirconium |
7 Feb 2022 |
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#13 | Down |
11 Feb 2022 |
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#14 | Frozen Lake |
7 Feb 2022 |
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#15 | The New Normal Sucks |
12 Feb 2022 |
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#16 | History Lesson |
4 Feb 2022 |
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#17 | I Did Not Mean to Write This Song |
8 Feb 2022 |
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#18 | Dancing In The Storm |
9 Feb 2022 |
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#19 | Illuminate |
5 Feb 2022 |
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#20 | It's Only Business |
7 Feb 2022 |
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#21 | A Series of Highly Unfortunate Events |
12 Feb 2022 |
Thanks for the listen to Clean! I'm glad you got a laugh out of it :)
Thank you for listening and for the kind words on two of my pieces. I appreciate them.
My pleasure Liz - you have some fantastic songs up! I hope I find time to hit more of them before the time is up. All best!
Thank you Liz for your kind comments and support. She is a nerdy girl was fun to create and I had a collaboration on it which I posted later. I'll listen to your song. Interested to hear your take on the challenge.
Thanks a lot for listening. I'm happy you enjoyed "How are you". We're not done yet, great things will happen in some months :)
I've been thinking about giving 50/90 a whirl too. I won't be trying to actually complete the challenge; there's just no way in hell that would ever happen. But like you, I'm looking to keep up with other songwriters in the interFAWM, something I've been woefully poor at doing before now.
Thanks for commenting on "These Feet", I highly recommend walking over the Brooklyn bridge when you're back in town. A series of highly unfortunate events was the best song about not writing a song that I have ever heard by the way! A FAWM classic!
Thanks for the comment on 'Lost and Found'!
It does mean the end of that series but no doubt I'll find other fun things to write about. :)
Thanks for the kind comments on Saturday 9th. Glad you enjoyed it
Definitely. Collaborations are the best. I stumbled into them and everything else I found. I still can’t quite believe all the different corners there are to explore.
Yeah, I mean, there are little snippets about stuff like einsteinium but not nearly enough to work into full songs; how I handled everything 97 up is how I had always intended to handle them.
You might like this version as well by Bill White
https://soundcloud.com/davidharrington/the-dust-of-a-broken-dream-bill-white
I really only did 34 songs. The rest were collabs ;)
But yeah, I did sleep. I worked full time. I spent time with my wife and kids. But I also crammed as much creativity and music making into about 2 hours a day as I possibly could. LOL
(Having a fast workflow is very helpful during FAWM!)
February Sunshine Love was *hard* to sing but it was so worth it at the end!
I probably do need another toy! Right after I get another plant tho xD
Interesting comments, Liz. Instruments like violin, viola, and cello have a very vocal-like quality to be expressive.
Thanks for your thoughtfulness.
Hi thanks for commenting on my track ‘winter’ yes it’s a screen recording of what I was doing in real-time
Thanks for the listen and comment on 'A Wish For You', yes its a shame when the world is as it is and that we feel we need to write songs about it.
Hey Liz! Glad you enjoyed Flick It! and GOT it!! I was trying to do something sexy without going too much over the line.
Thanks!
I'm sure there are many songs out there with that title.
Kinda fun to think about listening to all the different ways that could go...
Great comment, Liz. Thanks so much!
I'm still going to give it a go on lyrics to Mind Rolling, just to see where it takes me.
Please hit me up when you uploaded the electric uke tune. I love listening to uncommon instruments. But after listening to 100 uke songs I cannot stand happy singer songwriter vibes anymore.
Liz, Here are the link I was telling you about for the Virtual FAWM Over Reception: https://fawm.org/forums/topic/12805/.
Also, check out the #tit4tat thread at https://fawm.org/forums/topic/12775/
Thanks a lot for your comments on "She's contemplating" and "Hollywood Queen". Both songs are a completely different style of lyrics than I usually write. I'm glad you enjoyed!
Thank you!! :)
Well thanks so much for the kind words! I mean I don't have a LOT of chemicals around here, I'm just very into and excited about FAWM this year. My schedule has never been as conducive as it has this year so I'm capitalizing as much as I can!
Thank you for your kind words! Try the iPad if you have it! Just another tool in the kit :)
Thanks for the comment on Too many donuts. Full disclosure , I have about 25 ukes in the room adjacent to my office. I am a music teacher.
Write a song in an hour, eh? I'm sure I could. Just find a repeatable phrase with a nice rhythm. Then, repeat it.
Sooo....TWELVE songs thus far! Well, you are consideration for a gold medal.
Fun fact: both Kelly and I are published poets many years ago (not pay-to-publish either) so we spur each other on to lyrical heights!
Also, I will be creating a website for my Periodic Table songs when they are complete!
Totally honoured that you'd riff off me for that :D
Thanks so much for your comment on “Decluttering My Heart”!
My recipe for skirmishes: have mics and guitars plugged in before the skirmish starts, write lyrics in 15 minutes, making sure to be extra vague so everyone thinks it's deep philosophy. Do one take of everything, ignore the bad parts, reverb until they're buried :D
Thanks for the listen and comment on 'The Perfect Take'!
Thanks for your kind comments on "We Don't Have a Clue" and "Be There for Me"
Thanks for the comment on the collab with Tammy, 'We Don't Have a Clue'!
Thanks for your kind words on “I’ll Return for Thee”!
Liz Thanks for your thoughtful comments on my song "Walk Don't Run". I like your song "Photographs". It's reality therapy. As my Mom said "Getting old ain't for sissies"
Have you ever listened to a worm really close?
You posted 3 songs in 20 minutes. Damn!
Thank you for your comments about I’ll Stay. When I wrote those lyrics I didn’t try to leave out details, but wanted to make it more universal and relatable. When I listened to @metalfoot’s recording I realized it was a complete mystery. Strangely enough, when I went back to check the file I discovered it has disappeared.
No, it didn't kill him immediately. And it was a nasty horrible way to die, basically having a small-scale nuclear reactor going off inside your body.
Thanks so much for enjoying my road rage hunger ballad! I like your tunes, so I'ma watchlist you. Hope you're eating something yummy and that ya have a real nice day!
Thanks for commenting, Liz. My "Watch Out" song for the One-Note challenge did allow me to have some with the piano. But I'm reminded that this is a songwriters forum. On the other hand, I have heard some instrumental songs. I might try me one of them this month, too.
Thanks again for helping to get me started here.
Thanks for the listen and comment on 'Molly Bloom'!
I would like to thank you very much for your lovely comment on "Je me souviens"! I was very happy to read it!
Hi Liz! Thanks for your comment on my song Plant My Feet! :)
Thanks for the comment on my White Bread song. I appreciate that you appreciate the whimsy. :-)
Thanks Liz, for your comments on my "1st February Song"!
My, how you have jumped out ahead of the game. Good for you! I'll be doing another on Sunday, and I hope to crank one out a couple of days in a row.
Thanks for the kind comment on I value you.
So glad you enjoyed the skirmish :) There are usually quite a few during the month, and I do one the same time every Wednesday in February :)
Thanks for the kind words and for listening to our song
Thanks for the listen and comment on my 'Groundhog Day' song!
Man, Dar Williams. I've been absolutely stuck on "I'll Meet You Here" recently.
I'm looking forward to hearing new songs from you, Liz. Thanks for your help and camaraderie in helping me set up.
Can't wait til hear your new stuff. I'm excited to get started, though a bit trepidatious!
Liz, first challenge posted on the forums! https://fawm.org/forums/topic/12419/
Hooray! She's back! Can't wait to hear your music!
Ahhh. I can tell you from putting the guitar down in my teens to picking the guitar back up after 30 years that I must have retained some of the subconscious muscle memory because some things came back quickly. Still not easy and I totally get the challenges of schedule and priorities. :)
Hi Liz, hope that you have a great FAWM! Also here's a ukelele to guitar playing hint. One that play's ukelele is halfway there to learning to play guitar. Guitar strings 1-4 have the same relative tuning as a uke, except that the fourth string on a uke is an octave higher. The open string notes on a ukelele are the same as guitar on the fifth fret. So the chord shapes are similar, just for different chords. Example, a ukelele G chord is the same fingering as a guitar D chord.
Hope you have a great FAWM!
Happy FAWM 2022!
Happy FAWM!