Banging My Head Against The Wall

Run And Hide

This song was written for the challenge "Write a song in a minor key". THe opening line was borrowed from internet humour I read years ago, which intern inspired the development of the story in the lyrics.

Kinda Funny

Lyrics inspired by stream of consciousness writing. It's about activities we've each been involved in over a long period and coming to the realisation it's not working.

Spinning Wheel

The idea for this song came as I was writing another, so I had to quickly develop the idea for both without losing either. It is encouragement to avoid negativity.

Down Down Down

Written in 2001, it's taken me 22 years to record this song. My 2023 addition are the lyrics to the bridge, with the usual arrangement embellishments occurring during recording, such as the bridge staccato piano and bass, and the 'hmmms' in the outro.
The song is about reflective, melancholy episodes, but while assuring the listener "don't worry about me". There's a slight turn of phrase in the final verse, acknowledging the positive effect that others can have.

While My Coffee Goes Cold

NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE

BLACK RIVER

Just One Thing

I gave myself a challenge to write a song using an upwards or downwards line with semitone steps. I obliquely fulfilled this in the pre-chorus in the rising bass line.

The title for the song was the first thing, accompanied by the melody - it came to me in the bathroom, so I quickly got it down, knowing these ideas have the habit of disappearing unless recorded. I finished the chorus quickly, then through a series of iterative steps, ended up with the verse chords, melody and lyrics.

It bothered me however, that the theme of the verses (hardship) and chorus (aspiration) were at odds. In the end, I left the awkward contrast.

Instrument-wise, I played all guitars, bass, keys and all vocals.

Sign up today - Songwriter original

This was another song in response to a challenge to write a song containing a foreign language phrase - albeit I slightly misunderstood the assignment. The song theme arose out of my challenge with arthritis in my fingers, something as a guitarist is in front of mind for me. Mid-way through writing, I took delivery of a keyboard controller and was reminded of the struggles from my younger years when learning guitar and the frustration that my fingers would not move quick enough to make a chord change without losing time. For the lyrics, I translated 'move you little fingers now' to French as it contained a similar number of syllables to fit into the existing meter.

When editing the video, this theme was added to with the plethora of online tutorials that make claims about 'this one thing' as a silver bullet solution.

Musically, I played all instruments other than drums, including my elementary keyboard skills.

Come on - songwriter original

Written in 2016, this is a song about breaking free from something I'd done for 40 years (work). If I recall correctly, the music came first, but the lyrics quickly after and relatively pain-free, which is not always the case for me.
All guitars, bass and vocals are mine, with drums generated by Band-In-A-Box. The bass line in the first two bars of the chorus is reminiscent of animal noises, which was intended.

Antelope

I wrote this song in December 2023 and recorded January 2024. It is the result of a songwriting challenge to write a song in 3:4 (waltz) time. As mostly occurs, the music came first. I use Band In A Box to give me a backing to work with, so I decided on A minor (actually key G major, where the Am becomes part of a ii - V - I progression), plugged in a few chords, then chose a 3:4 style to work with. There was a style named Mariachi Waltz or something like that, and I was immediately taken by the trumpets, leading me to write the chord progression and the intro melody, which also became the verse melody. 
As I often do, I wanted the song to 'jump' to something fresh for the chorus, and ended up moving to C major. I replaced the bass and guitars with my own work, but drums and trumpets are midi.
In regards to the lyrics, the style sounded Mexican so I looked for a city in Mexico and came across Puerto Marques just 10 km south of Acapulco. A quick Wikepedia search revealed that Puerto Marques is known for its pottery, so the title 'The Potter of Puerto Marques' was there straight away, along with the idea that the person was a 'potter of the mind' with unwholesome motives. A week later, I decided the lyrics needed a more sinister turn, and that's where I ended up. 
I considered adding an acoustic guitar lead to it, but decided after a few recording attempts that I was falling into too trodden paths and should let the trumpets do the talking.

The Potter of Puerto Marques

This is my response to the songwriting challenge to have a chorus with a repeating lyric line. For someone whose mantra is 'The words are just the vehicle for the music', I found this quite challenging - I couldn't come up with an idea despite hearing plenty of songs with a repeating lyric. So in the end, I produced 'I don't wanna ...' and contrived the verse lyrics to feed into three scenarios, thus becoming just the 'vehicle for the music'.
Musically, I played bass, all guitars and all vocals - only the drums are generated. For the electric guitar, I have never used tremolo effect before but had toyed with the idea.
So far as the video goes, the (dare I say) dance routine came to me one night while trying to get to sleep, so I set out to have three of me dancing to the chorus.

I don't wanna

This song is my response to the challenge to write a song with a long single note section of the melody, which could be repeated in the song. The verse chord progression was inspired by 'Keep an eye on summer' by the Beach Boys. I think it was both of these things that gave me a sense of something galactic - and the single note of the melody and the intro made the word 'singularity' pop in my head - I had to look it up! I was then aided by Co-Pilot to provide suggestions of phrases I could use based on the song theme 'The singularity of love'. These were then word-smithed to make sense and fit the meter of the song.
Instrument-wise, the piano (faintly on the LHS) and drums were auto generated by Band-In-A-Box. All guitars, vocals and the synth are my doing.

The Singularity of Love

My records show I wrote the verses and chorus to this song back in 2013 - even recorded and uploaded to Soundcloud. However I felt the verses and choruses went on and needed to be broken up by a bridge/middle 8, which I wrote in 2023. I quite like the haunting backing in the bridge - many of us are haunted by our past.

As usual, this is all mine except for the drums - which I cannot play.

It's a little bit strange

We are the sum of our experiences, and these human artefacts accumulate to shape us - at least that's the implication of this song. Of course, this ignores how our genetics also shape us. The lyrics culminate in the notion 'The artefact is me'.

The song originated in March 2016, and from my records, I believe I added the music for a bridge in 2018. The words for the bridge were added in 2024 along with a rewording from the second person to the first person. I toyed with the idea of adding words to the chorus, but decided to leave it as it is for something different.

Musically, the melody refrain was there from the beginning. On this recording, the drums, piano and organ are from Band-In-A-Box, while all guitars, bass and vocals are mine.

Artefacts

This one's been patiently waiting since 2005, and only existed in midi form for 17 years. So I've finally recorded it after a few false starts and a key change. I can't say I'm overwhelmed with the outcome. Is it too slow? The pace is pedestrian so I guess it suits the topic. Are the words too negative? I've had a go at making them more positive, with mixed results.

Musically, the chugging guitars go throughout, other than the bridge. There's a nod to reggae in the solo and final verse. All guitars are mine; as well as bass and vocals. Drums and organ are not. The organ is reminiscent of 'Better be home soon' and supports the isolationist outlook.

I walk a lonely road

I've mentioned before that my starting position with lyrics is that they are a vehicle for the music (otherwise go read poetry). A variant of that is that my lyric writing will take quirky travels in the songwriting. The full song including the solo was created in 2005 with the title 'No it don't'. I believe the song was lyricless until 2016 which is when I first have records of completed lyrics. However, I realised the title and chorus tag 'No it don't' was poor English (No it doesn't) so changed it at the last minute to 'No it won't' (make sense to me).
This recording is slightly faster than first written. I play all instruments excluding drums, and of course the vocals are mine as well.

No it won't

Written pre-2004 and originally 'You can't (be my baby)', replaced with new lyrics to become 'The lost sock' in 2024 and finally recorded in March 2025.

The lost sock

Written way back in April 2001, this song has sat dormant patiently awaiting my attention. Recently, I chose to use it as a project in which the accompaniment, recording and mixing was completely done in Band-in-a-Box. The flute solo is a special highlight for me, and one could never have imagined a cowbell could be so problematic.

Love's a danger

One of my very oldies - my records are unclear, but the verse melody and chords were written somewhere in 1981 - 82. I ditched the original lyrics because they were 'naff' - obviously meaningful to me at the time, but now upon reflection, trivial in the scheme of things. However, this song evoked a sentimental melancholy when I rediscovered it, so I have chosen to use this theme (looking back on my past) to inform the new lyrics. Besides the words, the section containing the title is new, as is the arrangement.

Lyrically, the title ('March from early November') assumes a lifetime is expressed in calendar months, and I wrote 'looking back on March' (late teens/early twenties) from my current position in early November (my sixties). 

The first verse dwells on some clumsy things I have said over the years that still make me cringe. 'Left it at the railway station' refers to these as unresolved matters. The verse ends with 'choose another line' - referring to a new railway line, but also wanting to avoid putting my foot in my mouth. 

The second verse deals with finding a balance between passions and loves that are sometimes competing for time and attention. In my own life, I was writing songs and playing music in my early years, and I could have allowed this to occupy my time, but I chose to focus on family, work and financial security and push musical interests to one side ('I thought the hill was too hard to climb, so I settled for a lesser view; truth be told my time was running short'). Now in my later years, I have the joy of returning to music ('I rediscovered climbing gear I used to know') while having the joy of family around me and seeing their own lives unfold, but at the cost of my health that impacts on my ability to 'climb'. However, I wouldn't have it any other way. 

This feeds into the third verse/chorus where I express the joy that relationships bring, despite pain, loss and hardships.

Musically, I play bass, guitars and sing, and programmed the strings. The drums and piano have been auto-generated.

March from early November

Somewhere

I have now added a chorus to the song to replace the instrumental motif.

Artefacts (with a chorus)

I've been a guitarist since the age of 15 and writing songs since then, albeit more prolifically since 2000. I prefer strong melodies and to borrow chords to move outside of the diatonic. Usually, the song mix contains my vocals, guitars and sometimes bass, with drums, keys and other instruments auto-generated. The tracks uploaded in my Soundcloud are attempts to 'illustrate' the idea and sound I imagined when writing the songs. At best, the quality of recordings are demo quality. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!

Andrew of the antipodes

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