Feb 2022 fuc tin-pan-alley meta-song
I usually save my songs about songwriting for mid-February when I start scraping the bottom of the inspiration barrel, but even yesterday on Day One I felt the urge. This morning while making coffee I was contemplating the meta song, and one of my favorite dad jokes of all time when anything meta comes up is "I never meta ___ I didn't like" so this song just sort of wrote itself.
Writing about writing is a lazy way out
Describing what’s before your very eyes
No imagination
No spontaneous creation
No compelling element of surprise
Holding pen to paper
To write “holding pen to paper”
You see clearly what’s coming down the pike
Yes sometimes it feels wrong
To write a meta song
But I never meta song I didn’t like
What can you do when the well runs dry
Well you can always turn it into a metaphor
Make it unrequited love from the apple of your eye
It’s relatable because it’s been said before
Writing about writing is the auxiliary chute
Use it only in case of emergency
The only thing you get with it
Is that your creative deficit
Gets put on display for all the world to see
The paper is the pavement and you’ve scraped up your knees
But you always have to get back on the bike
So while sometimes it’s wrong
To write a meta song
I never meta a song I didn’t like
And it never takes too long
To write a meta song
So I’ve never meta song I didn’t like
@andygetch Mar 2022
Meta songs are about as relatable as it gets here :). Made me smile all the way through especially the outro 'it never takes too long.....'.
@coolparadiso Mar 2022
@tit4tat1 Got that lovely classic roll about. Another one you think you should know. The stops are perfect, ha i like auxiliary chute! Lovely song
@nancycunning Feb 2022
Wow, Carley - that is spectacular. It's hard to imagine you would ever get near the bottom of your barrel, if you can make something that lovely out of nothing.
@mandolinda Feb 2022
Very clever writing. Love the tin pan feel of this song.
@elesimo Feb 2022
I love the meta joke... I learned it from a friend who worked with metadata, and he had a t-shirt that said "I never metadata I didn't like".
Love the old school style of the vocals here, sounds like an old radio song. Really brilliant song, I love it!
@keithcuts Feb 2022
Ok this is actually brilliant. !!
Three syllable rhymes fir dayzzz
New fan
@keithcuts Feb 2022
So meta lol
You sound great
So enjoyable
@trashdaisy Feb 2022
i agree, you make it sound effortless
@angelinapowersuit Feb 2022
Wonderful, so clever, sweet melody, and it actually seems like it would have been hard to write. It flows so well though, does sound effortless. Perhaps you can do a follow up, "Singing about Singing?" Think I could learn a lot from you :-)
@berni1954 Feb 2022
Clever little number that really had me smiling. It has a real Broadway show feel about it. And great feel you get on that uke too.
@cleanshoes Feb 2022
The tin pan alley style is just perfect for a tune like this: clever, playful, and self-referential. I loved it!
@enzo Feb 2022
Wow! That’s great! How do make it all roll
off the toungue so effortlessly?
@jramonewi Feb 2022
This is exactly the kind of song I've missed not doing FAWM for the last few years. You rule, Carley. Do I hear an old-scratched-record plugin, or am I just imagining that because it sounds like an old phonograph tune? m/
@bradbrubaker Feb 2022
At first I was like, "Wow, this is a bit harsh," but then I realized it was in the "poking fun at oneself" sort of way. Perfect execution with the retro sound and songbird vocal performance.
@cabinmonster Feb 2022
Wonderfully clever! Love the lyrics and the sound. This is just soooo good. Well done!!
@davidtaro Feb 2022
Clever, clever, clever! Love the lo fi, slightly distorted treatment of the vocal (and I guess the uke too for that matter). It really sounds like it’s coming out of a gramophone in an East End pub during the Blitz (sorry, UK-centric comments there). I’d have overlaid some actual gramophone crackle, but that would have been too cheesy and obvious I suspect :) the way the melody jumps up on ‘pike’ is spot on for the genre too. Fun word play. Some great lines. Never too early to break out the meta songs…
@mhoff Feb 2022
Great lyrics. Very creative and sounds real nice.
@kenmattsson Feb 2022
This feels so homey, like I'm listening to it on the radio in the 40's. Your voice is great and the guitar is just the right amount. Bravo!
@metalfoot Feb 2022
Ok, that old timey chord structure and instantly hummable melody won me over and you sold me the "I've never meta song I didn't like" concept. FAWM over, you win.
@juoppis Feb 2022
Just beautiful. And yes, it's really easy to write about writing - I don't think I've heard that much of those on actual albums, still.
This one should anyway definitely on one, perhaps as the last hurrah.
@eas3637 Feb 2022
Magical! Your rhymes are so delightful and I love the slyness of the lyrics. Plus your recording captures the vintage vibe so perfectly. Love the "auxiliary chute!"
@makers8 Feb 2022
What a sweet little tune! Love on Holiday vibes. I couldn't stop imagining you on a little boat playing this song!
@dragondreams Feb 2022
I had to listen twice. This is sublime!
@richaaaay Feb 2022
That was PERFECT!
@unpronounceable Feb 2022
I love the feel w/ the choices you made on guitar sound and voice effect. Also love the term meta and how you play with it here. I love the rhyme 'get with it' with 'deficit'. Really well done on multiple levels.
@frey Feb 2022
This is just brilliantly written!! So many fun lines and really catchy on top of that
@wurzelfrau Feb 2022
oh I chuckled and enjoyed this one a lot, so well done!
@jtsteam Feb 2022
Meta can be fun, and I'm a sucker for a pun! Ooh, that rhymed. Anyway - fun song! And I love that comparison to the auxiliary chute :).