I'm doing the FAWM (February Album Writing Month) challenge, and here are my songs so far! It's a mixed bag. :)

"Midnight Somewhere" was the theme of a 1-hr songwriting challenge I did. I had it written and recorded in 15 min, just FYI. Haha.

FAWM Demos 2024 (ROUGH demos, right after writing!)

Written and recorded February 4, 2023 (please see notes after the lyrics for more information).

The Lark (Aube)

My clandestine love and I
In a fair wood near Béthune
We played all of Tuesday night
In the blue light of the moon
Till the dawn conquered the dark
And too soon we heard the lark 
I said, "My love, we have to go"
And he smiled and said, "Please, no…”

It is not nearly day
My lovely, dear, sweet heart
Let us not entertain
The cruel lies of that lark

Then he drew me in so near
And we cuddled without fear
He kissed me heartily thrice
I kissed him at least twice
His soft caress did not annoy
How we'd have loved to stretch our joy
That night to last at least an age
With no further need to say 

It is not nearly day
My lovely, dear, sweet heart
Let us not entertain
The cruel lies of that lark


This is a new poetic translation of a trouvère song (trouvères were Northern French songwriters and performers in the 12th and 13th centuries). It is uncredited, but believed to have been written by a woman. This particular type of song is called an "aube." Aubes are songs about clandestine love affairs during the night, during which the lovers dread the coming of dawn, when they must part as if nothing has happened.

Some pieces have surviving music - this one does not. My translation is not completely literal - I kept what I could, but I wanted to also follow the rhyme pattern and have a similar (or at least acceptable) number of syllables in each line. I used the original text along with a literal, line-by-line translation to craft my version. I got the text and literal translation from Songs of the Women Trouvères, edited and translated by Eglal Doss-Quinby, Joan Tasker Grimbert, Wendy Pfeffer, and Elizabeth Aubrey. 

Here is the original text (author unknown):

Entre moi et mon amin,
En un boix k'est leis Bethune,
Alainmes juwant mairdi 
Tout la nuit a la lune,
Tant k'il ajornait
Et ke l'alowe chantait
Ke dit: "Amins alons an."
Et il respont doucement:

Il n'est mie jours,
Saverouze au cors gent;
Si m'aït Amors,
L'alowette nos mant.

Adont se trait pres de mi,
Et je ne fu pas anfruine;
Bien trois fois me baixait il,
Ausi fix je lui plus d'une,
K'ainz ne m'anoiait.
Adonc vocexiens nous lai 
Ke celle neut durest sant,
Mais ke plus n'alest dixant:

Il n'est mie jours,
Saverouze au cors gent;
Si m'aït Amors,
L'alowette nos mant.

FAWM Demos 2024

The Lark

I wrote this during the FAWM (February Album Writing Month) challenge.

Lyrics:

Get Up, Lazy Human

My alarm rattles off and my kitty is thrilled
For he has a belly that screams to be filled
He's been so patient while I slept like the dead
So he'll march on my body and sit on my head

If that doesn't work he will poke his wet nose
Into my slumbering face, I suppose
He'll lick my cheek with his scratchy, wet tongue
And cry piteously that his day has begun

And his belly's still empty, oh no
So get up, lazy human, let's go

I try to get cuddles for ten minutes or more
Sometimes that works for five, then he's scratching the door
I try to ignore him, but he sounds so sad
And if I wait too long, pretty soon he'll get mad

He'll fight the injustice with licks on my nose
And bites on my glasses, assaults on my toes
He'll knock over my lamp when he must have results
For the world is not right till his belly is full

And his belly's still empty, oh no
So get up, lazy human, let's go

A more effective alarm clock has never been made
For you can't snooze a cat who wants breakfast today

'Cause his belly's still empty, oh no
So get up, lazy human
Get up, lazy human
Get up, lazy human, let's go

Get Up, Lazy Human (A Kitty Alarm Clock Song)

Midnight Somewhere (a song for my cat)

Written and recorded February 2, 2024

Wrong (An Ode to Three Exes)

We'd had quite the night - I had a story I could tell in old age
That was all I'd planned ‘til you appeared with pen and paper in hand
We weren't quite a fit but I feared you were my only chance
I tried to hold on to our heat, but by midwinter I admitted defeat

Thank you for your interest in me
For far too long I didn't believe
Such things were for me to receive
I was wrong
I loved you because you were there
Plenty reason for me to care
Broke my heart to end the affair
But we were wrong

We met on the range - I had borrowed gear, just arrows and bow
Unasked, you helped me shoot, and you loved my songs so I thought you were cute
I didn't see you for four years, but when we met again, it felt just like fate
But you were filled with so much spite by then, I could not overcome your dark with my light

Thank you for your interest in me
For far too long I didn't believe
Such things were for me to receive
I was wrong
I loved you because you were there
Plenty reason for me to care
Broke my heart to end the affair
But we were wrong

Our first chat lasted hours, late at night
The next day our first date closed down the restaurant
You were nerdy and sweet and you seemed to like me
It felt right but you lied, you lied the whole time

Still, thank you for your interest in me
For far too long I didn't believe
Such things were for me to receive
I was wrong
I loved you because you were there
Plenty reason for me to care
Broke my heart to end the affair
But we were wrong

A little slow, but now I know my worth

Wrong (An Ode to 3 Exes)

Written and recorded on February 1, 2024, in response to a challenge to write a song using primarily F major and A minor chords (I use a G major once, at the end of the bridge.

Portland

Four weeks and six days have passed since he left Madison
Feels like forever and yet yesterday
Four or five months yet till I can visit Portland
Time slips between us with the promise of someday

And it's fine, I will spare the time
There's no other face I'd rather see
This is life, right? But it's no sacrifice 
There's no other place I'd rather be right now
Than Portland

So anxious for summer - I'm so glad I will teach online
I'll spend a month there - another plane ride for my cat
Restaurants and theater - we'll do all of the things we love
Sweetest of all, time alone in his new flat

And it's fine - I will spare the time
There's no other face I'd rather see
This is life, right? But it's no sacrifice 
There's no other place I'd rather be right now
Than Portland

Some folk imply that I’m wasting my time
And they're trying to be kind
But they don’t see
		
That it's fine - I can spare the time
There's no other face I'd rather see
This is my life and mine to sacrifice
There's no other place I'd rather be right now
Than Portland

Sometimes I'm homesick for our weekends in Madison
Idyllic afternoon walks, good food, good love
The city's still beautiful, but no longer feels like home
A place isn't home though, home is who we love

So it's fine - I will spare the time
There's no other face I'd rather see
This is life, right? But it's no sacrifice 
There's no other place I'd rather be right now
Than Portland

Portland

a very silly song about my wonderful girlfriend. NSFW!

Peachy.m4a

Vultured Sky
Lyrics by Simon Wright, Music by Robin Lea Fritche


(Verse 1)
Standing by the castle ruins
Where once arrows rained down
Ghosts of the desecrated wander
Aimless, through this godless ground

(Verse 2)
Looking out on fields of grass
Soil fed by the slain as they fell
Children play, dogs chase their tails
Oblivious to the buried Hell

(Chorus)
Over the brow of the hill
Swords raised, kill or be killed
Breath streaming in the chill
Chests heaving, skulls cleaving
Lives leaving as blood is spilled

(Verse 3)
Now I see beyond the veil
Hear the thunder of horses’ hooves
Smell the sweat, the blood, the fear
War’s a bloody game waged by fools

(Verse 4)
Some merely boys dressed as men
Cannon fodder sent to die
No mum's lullabies that night
As they stare up at a vultured sky

(Chorus)
Over the brow of the hill
Swords raised, kill or be killed
Breath streaming in the chill
Chests heaving, skulls cleaving
Lives leaving as blood is spilled

(Verse 5)
Some merely boys dressed as men
Cannon fodder sent to die
No mum's lullabies that night
As they stare up at a vultured sky
They stared up at a vultured sky ….

(February 2024)

Vultured Sky

Lyrics:

Robot polycule
Robot polycule
All my friends are livin 
In a Robot polycule

Robot polycule
Robot polycule
All my friends are livin 
In a Robot polycule

Four, three, two, one

Don’t need no pod
Don’t need no bugs

Just need some power
And plenty of love!

Robot polycule!

Doesn’t matter where we are
I like my language models real real large

Robot polycule!

Four, three, two, one

Robot polycule
Robot polycule
All my friends are livin 
In a Robot polycule

Robot polycule
Robot polycule
All my friends are livin 
In a Robot polycule

Four, three, two, one

He’s a modem, she’s a toaster
They’re a router, humanity is over!

Robot polycule 

Turing complete
It’s official
i'm out with Waymo but I’m chatting up a missile

Robot polycule!

Four, three, two, one

Solo

Robot Polycule

2nd last FAWM track for '25, a song about running in circles and history repeating. I liked to think of this whole project as a big loop, full of references and callbacks and forwards, so as I wrapped up this thing it felt natural to make a song like this. Short, but (bitter)sweet, and maybe a wee bit political.

This has its Sister Track in a song from Memory Ln. called Cynical Kids:
https://soundcloud.com/brandon-brooks-746737217/cynical-kids

As well as referencing the "over and over" bit from the 2nd track on the same album as this, Folktale: https://soundcloud.com/brandon-brooks-746737217/folktale

Lyrics:

Like a broken record, baby,
I'm in a rhythm with the doldrums.
I found a way to take the same sad song
And sing it
Over and over and
Over and over.

Verse 1:
We sure as shit were never taught
How to shed our skin,
Fed lies in 
Novacaine and Sudafed.

Late bloomers to 
A world that already is
And always has been.

Forever bonded to
Potential beyond our reach,
Locking us down
With imposter syndrome in our heads.

Melatonin in the muscle
Beneath our skin,
Or something like it.

Pre-Chorus 1:
I never wanna repeat myself
But I gotta say...
Over again....
Like a broken record, baby.

Verse 2:
Commit to something that is
Bigger than just yourself,
But nothing bigger than the
Powers that wannabe.

Convince yourself that 
Things are better when they're unseen,
If they're unsightly.

Repeat the mantra that's
Been given since the fire was lit,
"Swallow the tail and
Follow who you're following",

Or open up and see
The world for what it is,
When it's burning brightly.

Pre-C 2:
I never wanna repeat myself,
But I gotta say;
These are the nights,
But those were the days...

Chorus:
Like a broken record, baby,
I'm in a rhythm with the doldrums.
I found a way to take the same sad song
And sing it
Over and over and
Over and over.

Like a broken record, baby,
I'm in a rhythm with a doldrums.

Ouroboros

This was written for the group writing prompt "Train Ride." I went dark with it. 

What's actually happening here? I will leave that to your own interpretation. We only know what the narrator knows.

I'm playing a Kala KA-CM-BE curly mango baritone ukulele.

The Last Train

Moonlight spills 
Through the window above 
Like silvery flashes 
Of a cold, distant love
The train track rhythm
Nearly lulls me to sleep
But I can't quite relax 
In a loneliness this deep 

Like so many, I'm huddled 
'Gainst the wall of the car 
We are used to the vibrations 
After traveling so far
We stop a couple times a day 
To relieve ourselves and stretch 
The landscape's grown more verdant
While I feel more like a wretch 

The guards are here for safety 
So we arrive unharmed
And likewise, that's the reason 
They are heavily armed
But I think...

This might be the last train
I ever ride 
I am paying close attention
As we cross the countryside 
They say our destination 
Will be a better place 
But I am savoring each moment 
Just in case
This is the last train

We left behind the devastation 
Grand cities, now debris 
This train was brought to save us
From an untouched community 
They've beds and food aplenty 
And work we can perform
We'll be there by tomorrow
We'll be safe and we'll be warm

They haven't told us all exactly 
Where we're going to stay
By now, we've left the country
I've seen no signs along the way
The others speak of hope
And dismiss my jangling nerves
I won't mind doing some work 
But still I wonder who I'll serve

I've heard the guards speaking 
In an unfamiliar tongue 
And I've noticed everyone in my train car
Is relatively young
And I think...

Cho:

I don't know what's going to happen 
It's too late to change my mind 
All I can do is watch and hope 
For happiness in what I find 
All the others are sleeping 
I alone stare at the moon 
Am I keeping watch or just paranoid
I think we'll find out soon 

Cho:



©2025 Robin Lea Fritche
16 Mar 25, 5:34 PM (CDT)

1st full song written entirely during #100DaysUke2025

The Last Train

The aptly named Research & Development is Reckless & Darlene's first foray into the recording studio.

Vultured Sky

RobinLeaF

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