A semester in review: Self Reflection and the Two Concerts

I think I’d like to start with my semester reflection, as I think it will set up my reviews.

Another (extremely) successful semester of songwriting! I’m really proud of how much further I’ve come, and I’m amazed by the high level of quality output from my classmates (and professors), to which I owe a lot of my inspiration. I think just being able to be in a community of songwriters who dissect and reconstruct music from so many different angles has been both eye opening, and frankly a lot of fun.

To focus more specifically on the work I’ve done, I’ve ranked my songs from 1 (favorite) to 10 (not-as-much-favorite)

1: Wild Thing (is this still the title Julie?) Even though it’s still a bit of a work in progress, I am really happy with what Julie and I were able to do with this one. Julie has a mastery of melody, and I think more in harmonies, so we were really able to compliment each other well

2: They Took The Kids Away: Inspired by the movie ‘The Hurt Locker’, I think this has my strongest lyrics of the semester, and I’m pretty happy with the chord progression I came up with. This is probably my only song that has a single harmonic section (The song is made up of the same long progression 5 times, at different intensity levels), which makes it unique for me.

3: Astral Companion: Ben’s rather constrictive demands on the lyrics of this song made me beat my head against the wall a few times this week, but I’m really happy with what I ended up with. Being forced to approach the lyrics from a different direction was a great learning experience, and I’m happy with what I managed to accomplish. My favorite part about the music of this song is probably my use of multiple key changes.

4: The Best Laid Plans: Upon reflection, I’m not sure how well I incorporated ideas from R.E.M.’s perfect circle into this song, but I’m still pretty happy with the result. I’m having a little trouble coming up with an arrangement of sections that I’m happy with, but I’m happy of how each section came out.

5: Stays the Same: This song was written over a long period. The opening guitar riff is something I came up with almost 6 months ago, and most of the sections were written (at least) weeks apart from one another, with all the lyrics coming at the end. Despite the fact that it’s a bit of a frankensong, I feel like all the pieces fit together pretty well.

6: Red for the Wedding: Based (loosely) on the Robber-Bridegroom, this is the only piece for this class I wrote on piano. If I was a more fluid player, I would like to have a more interesting bassline going on, as I think it would add to the song. I kind of like the verse/chorus progression I came up with, but I’m not as pleased about the bridge-outro thing. I would probably leave it as a short song, or come up with a different ending.

7: Bridge Week: I had difficulty writing the Bridge for Parker’s song ‘People We’ll Never Know’ because I felt like his lyrics told a great, complete, concise story that was plain spoken but had a lot of depth. I felt like the sections I came up with were sort of ‘tacked on’. I think if I had to redo this assignment I would have tried to come up with a bridge that took the song in a new direction, since its already pretty self contained.

8: When Doves Cry: I like what I did with this song…for the first minute and a half. I feel like the arrangement I came up with was too repetitive. I think to make this song work well on an acoustic guitar I would have to take more liberties with the harmonic structure.

9: Waiting: The song I wrote over the summer. For some reason this song hasn’t aged well for me, even when its ‘age’ is only a matter of months. However, there are some lyrical ideas and a couple guitar gestures that I might try to rework into something I’m happier with.

10: Found My Way/Dissonance: This song (whose melody was based off David Gilmour guitar melodies) I saw more as an exercise than a real song. Though I learned a couple cool melodic ‘tricks’, I will probably scrap this song on the basis that its too unoriginal. However, the lyrics might be salvageable.

Wow I just talked about myself a lot. Anyway moving onto my thoughts of the shows:

First of all, it was cool how unique each show was. The first one definitely had more of an intimate coffee-house vibe to it, while the second was definitely a little more…rockin. I also want to stress how much I enjoyed all of the material this semester, so the keep in mind the criticisms I make are very minor.

Josh: I really enjoyed Faster from the Sun, especially the way Rosalind’s and your voices blended. All Ye Shackled Men was a very cool number (and a lot of fun to be a part of). Let’s all Walk with our Hands in our Pockets, despite its brevity, really captured your humor and unique poignancy. I also loved your version of O Holy Night. I wasn’t as crazy about Dawn’s Broken Crutch, which in my opinion became a tad repetitive and I was disappointed by your ‘surpise song’, though this is mainly because I thought the song you were supposed to play was absolutely brilliant. I hope you reconsider your thoughs on it.

Roman: I really loved Tribute, St. George, and Hotline (again). I think Tribute has a lot of emotion in it, and its really effective the way you turn around the meaning of the song towards the end. St. George has a lot of really cool guitar patterns and a great melody. Hotline is great because it has a very unique pacing for you that still fits in your style. I wasn’t as crazy about Rocking Chair as I was about these three because I feel like a lot of the concepts you use in Rocking Chair are better used in the songs above.

Jonathan: You wrote some great, totally-not-epic songs this semester. Getting to play on Neverland was a lot of fun (and a bit of a challenge…that’s the most chords I’ve had to learn at once in a long time). I really loved Fjord, the collaboration with Parker. Your two styles came together in a really cool way. I also thought your Bridge for Ben’s song was fantastic, another great meeting of styles. Jenny and the Ghost is also a very cool song, but (all sarcasm aside) it is epic. I recommend you embrace it.

Ben: I really love the arrangements for Pink Pills and Pestle/Coathanger, they help to accentuate what is already a couple of great songs. I also feel like your subversive lyrical style really fit these two songs well. I’ll Roll Back to You is also a fantastic song, made even stronger by Jonathan’s bridge. This song was definitely caught in my head for a while. As a child of the 90’s, it was fun to hear your very different interpretation of All the Small Things. I didn’t quite love Citalopram as much as your other material, and while Shamus (or Seamus?) Taylor was a fun song, I feel like both you and Rosalind had stronger material this semester.

Julie: Like I said before, I’m so happy with how our song turned out! Your vocal strength really helped to strengthen the guitar part I came up with. Worry Away had an awesome arrangement, and it managed to stay ‘chill’ (sorry I couldn’t think of a better word) while staying interesting, which is a difficult line to walk. I also thought Sally was a really cool song. I wasn’t as crazy about Me and You, I wished it had a little more rhythmic diversity to it, and I felt like it paled in comparison to all your other great work.

Parker: Like I said in Jonathan’s section, I really love Fjord. Valley Bridge is also a great song with great narrative and imagery. I was blown away with your playing on Arizona, not to mention your witty lyrics. Easy Going Easy Gone was catchy and a lot of fun, but like most pop songs I find myself liking it less with each listen. A little cheesy synth goes a long way.

Rosalind: My Madness is probably my favorite song of yours this semester. The chord progression during the chorus is just too cool, and Julie’s bridge added extra flair to an already great piece. I also loved the lyrical imagery and delicate arrangement of Grow, and the dark and ominous affect of He, which is not your usual style but I thought you pulled it off really well. For Shamus Taylor, like I said before, I think both you and Ben have generated better material this semester. I also really like the individual parts of Fish and Lobster, but I feel like this could be an even stronger song if it were arranged differently.