This is the melody for the song I'm doing for assignment 5 of Pat Pattison's Coursera Songwriting class.

Wings Against The Sky

Singing against the accompaniment track.  I apologize for my voice; this is the allergy season, and my voice is so scratchy and warbly that I can hardly stand it.

Wings Against The Sky (singing and accompaniment)

For Pat Pattison's Coursera songwriting class
Lesson 6 assignment

Wings Against the Sky

High up on a mountain cliff
Deep within a stony rift
Lives the demon tribe.

We build houses stout and strong
Hide inside until the dawn
Safe from demon strike.

	Watch out for the demons.
	Children, run and hide.
	We all cringe in fear when we see
	Wings against the sky.

Tremors shook the earth one day.
Rockslide swept my house away
While I was inside.

Climbing bloodied from the wreck
There, above, another threat!
I stare up in fright.

	Watch out for the demons.
	Children, run and hide.
	We all cringe in fear when we see
	Wings against the sky.

List'ning to the rush of wings
Demons swooping, dark and grim
Is this how I'll die.

One drops toward me from the flock
Dark-haired boy lands like a hawk
Gifts me with a smile.

Bridge:
	"Can I help you?  Are you hurting?
	Let me take you far from danger
	Where there's shelter and a healer
	Can you trust a wing-ed stranger?"

Village built upon a cliff
There the wing-ed people live
Where there's room to fly.

All the wounded carried here
Winged boy whispers in my ear,
"Can our folk ally?" 

	Now they're friends, not demons
	We don't need to hide
	We all wave and cheer when we see
	Wings against the sky.
	Wings against the sky!



Wings Against The Sky (For assignment 6)

Star Glider

One verse of a song, stable verse, unstable chorus.  This is about aliens who swim in the atmosphere of a gas giant and learn to "fly" through space.

In the far distant past
Sail-folk swam through the skies
Catching krill where they massed,
Eating glittering flies.
Living safe, boring lives
In the deep atmosphere
Where all nourishment thrives
And there's little to fear.

     Star Glider, Star Skimmer,
     Star Sailor, Star Swimmer,
     Spread your fins to catch the light,
     Swim to a new world.
     Star Glider, the fabled,
     How did you learn to fly?
     Will I learn to fly?

Star Glider (for Lesson 4 Coursera Songwriting course)

Shades of the Dead
(This is the "rough draft" of the song)
(And speaking of rough, sorry about the voice!  Sinus infections suck)

For years I have known them, the shades of the dead--
An icy blue flicker, a gleam.
The chill of the grave in the heat of the day,
A storm of emotion--fear, passion, or hate--
The remnants of someone's last need.

I thought it a curse I must bear through my life
'Til a young woman's shade sought my help.
Betrayal and murder the tale that she wove;
More sanity, sense, comprehension she showed
Than all other shades with which I'd dealt.

She learned she could move from the place where she'd died
And seek through the city unseen.
Intelligence, passion, and humor she owned,
When her killers were found and she sank back to stone
I was desp'rate for what could have been.

For years I have known them, the shades of the dead--
An icy blue flicker, a gleam.
But the woman I love, and will never forget,
Had been dead for a year before ever we met.
Her presence will haunt all my dreams:
Knowing shades is a curse, so it seems.

Shades of the Dead (For Coursera Songwriting Lesson 5)

12-Bar Riff Blues for "Developing Your Musicianship" from Coursera, Week 6

12-bar Riff Blues (For Coursera Developing Your Musicianship Week 6)

Shades of the Dead
Final assignment (6) for Coursera Songwriting Class

For years I have known them, the shades of the dead--
An icy blue flicker, a gleam.
The chill of the grave in the heat of the day
A storm of emotion--fear, passion, or hate--
The remnants of someone's last need.

Ooh, ooh, ooh,
Shades of the Dead.

I thought seeing shades was no more than a curse
'Til a young woman's shade sought my help.
Betrayal and murder the tale that she wove;
More sanity, sense, and alertness she showed
Than all other shades I'd beheld.

Ooh, ooh, ooh,
Shades of the Dead.

Together we sought to unravel the crime.
As a colleague she soon proved her worth.
Such humor, perception, and wit she displayed,
But when we found her killers, she faded away.
I sobbed as I watched her disperse.

Ooh, ooh, ooh,
Shades of the Dead.

For years I have known them, the shades of the dead--
An icy blue flicker, a gleam.
But the woman I love, and will never forget,
Had been dead for a year before ever we met.
Her presence will haunt all my dreams:
Knowing shades *is* a curse, so it seems.

Catmagnet

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