The End of the Road- SAC WEEK for Matt Dusk

My oh My, this was the medicine I needed to kickstart my creativity into action.  Deadlines…..that’s what it was all about.  Giving us all a reason to get up and GO!                 This week, no I mean DAY, was a bit scary since I was so into writing and arranging the Christmas song, I forgot that Matt’s song was due today.  After a few digital bugs and head banging, I squeaked out the last of what I had left and chose “simpler” as the program wouldn’t let me edit anymore.  I think it was telling me that “I” was overloaded.

Now for Lilies Questionaire:

1. Melanie Magnifico

2 Hardest part or challenge is forcing the creativity to rise above within a time limit and feeling (unskilled) to present a professional product.  It would be interesting to have this challenge done using only acoustics such as one guitar, (maybe a bass guitar as well), or a piano, or accapella.  I wonder how that would sound.  More songwriters would be on an even ground with none of our fluff…hee hee.

3 I enjoyed co-writing since I’ve never done that, but also that I HAD to write and create.  The timeline was difficult with long distant co-writing.

4.I didn’t feel so alone knowing that all of us were in it as a group of songwriter’s across canada.  I felt the camaraderie.

5. I would do this again and would feel better prepared knowing how this works.

YOU ARE THE ONE FOR ME

V-1
YOU KNOW ME FROM THE INSIDE OUT,
I DON’T NEED WORDS TO KNOW IT’S TRUE
I’M RUNNING MY FINGERS THROUGH YOUR HAIR
A SIMPLE GESTURE OF MY LOVE FOR YOU
REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME I SAW YOU IN A CROWD OF 10,000
MY HEART DROPPED ONTO THE FLOOR
AND WHEN TWO SOULS MEET WITH A LOVE LIKE OURS
HEAVEN OPENS UP THE DOORS

CHORUS:

YOU ARE THE ONE FOR ME, AND I WAS MADE FOR YOU
GUIDED BY ANGELS, YOU FOUND MY SOUL
YES YOU ARE THE ONE FOR ME, AND I WAS MADE FOR YOU
GUIDED BY ANGELS I FOUND MY WAY HOME……..

V-2
I FEEL MY HEART POUNDING NEXT TO YOU,
IT’S THE DRUM BEAT OF OUR LIFE IN PERFECT TIME
ITS THESE MOMENTS THAT TAKE MY BREATH AWAY,
I WANT THESE MEMORIES TO BURN DEEP IN MY MIND
CAUSE I’VE BEEN CHASED BY THE GHOSTS OF MY PAST FOR FAR TOO LONG
BUT WHEN I MET YOU, IT WAS THEN THAT I KNEW I HAD A PLACE WHERE I BELONGED

CHORUS

YOU ARE THE ONE FOR ME, AND I WAS MADE FOR YOU
GUIDED BY ANGELS, YOU FOUND MY SOUL
YES YOU ARE THE ONE FOR ME, AND I WAS MADE FOR YOU
GUIDED BY ANGELS I FOUND MY HOME……..

BRIDGE

DON’T LET THE WORLD TAKE YOU AWAY
FROM WHAT YOU KNOW IS TRUE
NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO I ‘LL BE RIGHT HERE
IF YOU FIND THE ROAD YOU WALK UPON
GETS HARDER AND YOU FALL
I’LL JUST PICK YOU UP AND WHISPER IN YOUR EAR

CHORUS

(written March 2015, recorded and performed by Melanie Magnifico)

SAC Challenge Week 6- Christmas in March…..

Ah, Yes….The snow doth fall upon us…..each and everyone (in Brandon, Manitoba). WooHoo!  Well, this week I thought I could get away with an easy break and finish a song I had already started a few years ago.  But the technology wouldn’t allow me to upload the files from my tascam to the mac….EEEK!  So I took that as a sign and thought….hmmm I guess the universe wants a different song.  Then it happened!  There I was, depressed and sad and I began to write a sad and depressing Christmas song.  Something inside me said “Hey!  People need HOPE not tears.  Then my husband reminded me of the Christmas Story when the Germans and British army agreed to a cease fire and shared supplies with each other.  If you google “No Man’s Land”, you’ll see a few interesting stories about Christmas Eve of 1914.  I already had a chorus and first verse, but my husband’s idea stuck with me and I ended up changing the whole angle of the song.  The hardest part for me about writing a song that’s in my head is…..trying to get all those wonderful instruments into the computer and make them sound EXACTLY the way it is inside my head….Maybe someday they will invent a machine we can hook up to and record our thoughts? Until then, here is the song.

(WE ARE ALL) FOLLOWING STARS

PEOPLE LINE UP TO THE DOORS OF CHURCHES ON THIS DAY
CANDLELIGHTS ARE GLOWING, WHILE WE BOW OUR HEADS TO PRAY
WE’RE THANKFUL FOR THE FOOD AND ALL THE BLESSINGS WE RECIEVE
MAY KINDNESS FLOW INTO OUR HEARTS AND HELP US TO BELIEVE

(chorus) WE ARE ALL FOLLOWING STARS LIKE THE WISE MEN YEARS AGO
AND WE WANT, PEACE ON EARTH AND THE HOPES OF SOMETHING MORE
YES WE ARE, FOLLOWING STARS SINGING SONGS FROM DAYS GONE BY
BUT ON CHRISTMAS, WE LOOK FOR MIRACLES…..IN THE SKY

IN NO MAN’S LAND 1914 THE SOLDIERS GATHERED ROUND
BOTH SIDES WERE TRADING GOODS
AND SINGING SONGS ON HALLOWED GROUND
NO SHOTS WERE FIRED ON CHRISTMAS EVE,
THEY WENT SILENT THROUGH THE NIGHT
GAZING UPWARDS TO THE STARS
PRAYING FOR THE HEAVENS TO END THE FIGHT

WE ARE ALL FOLLOWING STARS LIKE THE WISE MEN YEARS AGO
AND WE WANT, PEACE ON EARTH AND THE HOPES OF SOMETHING MORE
YES WE ARE, FOLLOWING STARS SINGING SONGS FROM DAYS GONE BY
BUT ON CHRISTMAS, WE LOOK FOR MIRACLES…..IN THE SKY

(bridge)WE ARE HOLDING HANDS ACROSS THIS LAND
LIKE WE’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE
USING SATELLITES WE CAN SEND THE LIGHTS OF LOVE
TO END ALL WAR

CAUSE WE ARE ALL FOLLOWING STARS LIKE THE WISE MEN YEARS AGO
AND WE WANT, PEACE ON EARTH AND THE HOPES OF SOMETHING MORE
YES WE ARE, FOLLOWING STARS SINGING SONGS FROM DAYS GONE BY
BUT ON CHRISTMAS, WE LOOK FOR MIRACLES…..IN THE SKY

(repeat chorus)
written(03/15), performed and recorded by Melanie Magnifico

Week 5 Challenge-SAC

Well I must say, when things  get down to the last minute……ideas become clearer, new form takes place and here I am working under pressure to ensure I complete the task at hand.   This song started as one style and I decided to let my hair down and create something a little different.  Hopefully the idea came across well.  This has been an ongoing self assessment as a songwriter and person…..Well I’m still surviving!

Heres my song called : My Soul I Get To Keep

I’M GOING TO WAR WITH FALLEN ANGELS                                                                                       I HEAR THEM WHISPERING EVERY NIGHT

THEY’RE TRYING TO SHATTER ME INTO PIECES
THEN DRAG ME TO THE OTHER SIDE
TAKE MY CONFESSION AND FORGIVE ME
LET MY SINS WASH DOWN THE DRAIN
LEAD ME NOT INTO TEMPTATION CAUSE THE DEVIL
WANTS TO EASE MY PAIN

OH OH OH OH DEAR LORD, I KNOW YOUR LOVE RUNS DEEP
AND JUST FOR TONIGHT, MY SOUL I GET TO KEEP

WITH BROKEN BONES AND STAINED GLASS WINDOWS
ON HALLOWED GROUND AND IN YOUR HEART
FIGHTIN’ A BATTLE WITH MY BODY AND MY MIND
YOU KNOW IT’S TEARING ME APART
PLEASE SEND ME A GUARDIAN ANGEL ONE WHO CAN OFFER ME RELIEF
FROM THE PRESSURE THAT HAS PUSHED ME SO FAR DOWN
INTO THE DARKNESS OF THIS GRIEF

CHORUS

GIVE ME SOME WEAPONS FROM YOUR KINGDOM                                                                  SO I DON’T FEEL I’M ALL ALONE
PROTECTING ALL OF YOUR CHILDREN
WHILE I’M WALKING STREETS OF COBBLESTONE
LIFT UP THESE CHAINS UPON MY BODY
THAT HAVE BEEN WEIGHIN ME DOWN TO THE FLOOR
(THAT WEIGH ME DOWN RIGHT TO THE FLOOR)
I’M TRYIN’ TO RISE ABOVE THIS MISFORTUNE
WHILE THE DEVIL, KEEPS KNOCKIN’ AT MY DOOR

CHORUS

Week 4 SAC Challenge-Edgy Country Pop

This week’s challenge asked that if we hadn’t previously co-wrote with anyone, that we try it for this challenge.  I learned a lot about long distant co-writing.  First, it requires a lot of time synchronization for both parties.  That itself can be challenging and I wondered how all the other songwriter’s did this with groups of more than two?  It would have been more relaxing to co-write without a timeline and I’m sure my partner would have agreed as well since working and trying to co-write to match both schedules can be difficult.  What I found interesting is how Glenn came up with this “rap” idea to integrate into the song for the ‘edgy’ part of the challenge.  He started out with a very cool beat to follow and we went from there.  We tried google ‘hang-out’ but we ended up using the phone while we discussed the lyrics and storyline.  My initial idea was about a cowboy coming into the city and feeling lost on the dance floor(at a dance club) and Glenn was inspired by the title “Lost in the City” and redesigned it into what we completed. This new storyline became a story about and guy who’s lost in the city because his girlfriend isn’t with him.  They are separated due to both going back to university/college and they have challenges in their relationship from that as well.

I would like to collaborate again, but there are so many variables that would be considered and also the time frame.  With the pressure of  ‘One week’, two strangers, two schedules and long distance communication together it can be the challenge itself.  Glenn and I survived this despite those odds and we hope the song is acceptable to the standards as set out by the Challengers (Ron Irving) and coaches who vet the final creation (James and Debra).  What a great learning experience!

LOST IN THE CITY by Glenn Pattison and Melanie Magnifico

Yeah, Yeah, Lost in the city
V1: I’VE BEEN DRIVING AROUND ALL NIGHT,
LOST IN A CITY OF COLORED LIGHTS
THE STREETS ARE ALL LOOKING THE SAME,
IM TIRED OF LIVING THE FAST TRACK LANE
I DON’T KNOW WHERE I BELONG,
I’M LOOKIN FOR ANSWERS OF WHAT WENT WRONG
LOOKIN BACK AT WHAT I’VE DONE, YAH
I THINK IT’S TIME FOR ME TO MOVE ON…………
Yeah, Yeah, Lost in the city 2 X

V2: I DON’T KNOW WHICH WAY TO TURN,
LEFT OR RIGHT COULD GET ME BURNED
I GOT NO MAP TO LET ME KNOW,
HOW TO RISE UP FROM MY NEWEST LOW
IS THERE SOMETHING THAT I SHOULD DO,
TO STOP ME FROM LIVING THIS DEJA VU
NO I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’LL FIND,
YOU GOT ME GOIN OUT OF MY MIND
CH 2: Yeah Yeah, Yeah, Lost in the city 2 X
And the Summertime ain’t so bad, these roads are all I have
I’ve got nothing on my mind, wishing you were here tonight
Yeah, Yeah, Lost in the city 2 X

I KNOW THIS CITY LIKE THE BACK OF MY HAND
WITHOUT YOU IN IT IM A STONE COLD MAN
I CIRCLE THE STREETS AND I DON’T GIVE A DAMN
AND THEN I FIND MYSELF LOST A BROKEN MAN LOST IN THE CITY
And the Summertime ain’t so bad, these roads are all I have
I’ve got nothing on my mind, wishing you were here tonight
Yeah Yeah, Yeah, Lost in the city 2 X

IF WE’D TURN THE CLOCK BACK I ‘D BE AT HOME WITH YOU
INSTEAD OF MILES AWAY CAUSE WE’RE BACK IN SCHOOL
WE’RE BOTH CHASING DREAMS THAT COULD TEAR US APART
I WANNA PROVE MYSELF AND WIN YOU BACK IN MY HEART ……

MY PAST IS FORGIVEN THE FURTHER I DRIVE,
THERE’S HOPE FOR ME I’M LEARNIN HOW TO SURVIVE
I WANT TO CHANGE MY LIFE NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES TWICE
BEING LOST GIVES RISE TO LOVE AT A PRICE

Lost in the city 2X

Follow the link to this weeks submission: https://soundcloud.com/magnifonicproductions/lost-in-the-city

A Child Like Ad-Week #3 SAC Challenge

I sure learned a lot this week!  15 sec, 30 and 60 sec markers.  At first I came up with a singing rhyme, then discovered that the timing wouldn’t work for breaks in the commercial. I wasn’t happy with my first draft anyway.  Then I thought, OHHH…..a voice over would fit because the speaking is split up and would fit properly into the ‘seconds’ slots. I was so happy it fit and sounded pretty good so I posted the draft for further comments/suggestions….only to become awakened to the true intent, a childlike song structure.  So back to the drawing board again.  I’m not sure how many scraps of paper I re-wrote but the papers were piling up.  Finally, I remembered a nursery rhyme I wrote for my children when they were growing up….about swinging.  I then rushed back to the studio and began to incorporate this rhyme into the first portion of the commercial and it fit.  What I hear inside my mind to what comes out in production always appears on the short end….but I still feel blessed to be working through all those little glitches knowing that practise improves skill at each level I work at.  I also discovered something about myself….I love writing but I’m not sure about “pressure writing”.  Some days I can create things as they ‘appear’ to me and have a song completed quickly, but the minute I start forcing the creativity, I lose the first intent and get off track. The way I deal with it?  I start cleaning.  When I’m away from the project and cleaning, ideas start to flow and work themselves out somehow.  I can get back on track and move forward.  Just little breaks away from the project can bring better ideas to the surface. So here’s the latest challenge. https://soundcloud.com/magnifonicproductions/come-play-with-me

Hear are the lyrics I forgot to place below:

COME PLAY WITH ME

(Children Chanting)

SWINGING, SWINGING EVERYBODY’S SINGING

SWINGING, SWINGING EVERYBODY’S SINGING

SWINGING HIGH SWINGING LOW

CATCH THE WIND BETWEEN MY TOES
I LIKE TO PLAY PRETEND CAUSE NO ONE TELLS ME WHAT TO DO

I CAN BE AN ASTRONAUT OR PLAY WITH MONKEYS AT THE ZOO

I CAN BE LIKE SPIDERMAN CATCHING BAD GUYS ON TV

I LIKE TO PLAY PRETEND WON’T YOU COME AND PLAY WITH ME
(No room for this verse)
I LIKE TO PLAY PRETEND BECAUSE THERE ARE NO RULES

I CAN FLY AN AIRPLANE OR CATCH FISH IN SWIMMING POOL

I CAN PLAY WITH GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE

AND SWING FROM TREE TO TREE

I LIKE TO PLAY PRETEND WON’T YOU COME AND FOLLOW ME

Week #2 SAC Challenge

Holy world…..is all I can say.  Between searching my heart and soul for words to complete the lyrics to the Matt Dusk song, all the way to whipping together a stalker song, I survived!  (I am laughing while typing).  It is interesting what you find inside yourself when your given the opportunity to start and finish a project with “genre” only.  I do have an active imagination and believe that all of us in the challenge do as well, so I would think that all of us have to “FIND” the  story in our minds to create the songs we are challenged to write.  We are, after all, STORYTELLERS….with background music.

When we were first given this challenge and I googled the artists they listed, wow, I was a little shocked at the songs and messages that are ‘inferred’ in those songs.  Okay, yes there were some pretty suggestive songs in my teen years as well, but I’m not sure the lines are so ‘Blurred’  today as they were in the 70’s and 80’s music.                                                     Here’s how I came up with the newest song.  While I was working on the 1st challenge, a few words popped into my head which ended up being the first two lines of the 2nd challenge.  Sometimes it just takes a few words to open the gates of a song.  A lot of teenagers(and adults) live “online” and I’ve heard people talk about their “friends” even though many of them have never met each other in person.  Also, to make money in music, having people “like” your posts or Youtube videos as well as “share” them, is  the way of the tech world now, so the story unfolded this way as I began writing it.

Here are the lyrics to this newest challenge:

CONNECT WITH ME
I’LL HASHTAG YOUR NAME TO EVERY FACEBOOK FRIEND I GOT
I POSTED MY PIC WITH YOU NO ONE KNOWS IT’S PHOTOSHOP
ALL I WANT FROM YOU IS JUST TO CLICK MY FRIEND REQUEST
EVERYBODY’S ASKING ME WHEN YOU WILL CHECK MY YES

CAUSE YOU ARE MY INTERNET BABY
I SHARE EVERY SONG YOU POST FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE
YAH, YOU ARE MY INTERNET BABY
IVE GIVEN YOU A MILLION LIKES
SO PLEASE……CONNECT WITH ME

I SEND YOU A MESSAGE EVERYDAY RIGHT AFTER SCHOOL
NO RESPONSE IS ALL I GET, I’M LOOKIN LIKE A FOOL
ALL MY FB FRIENDS CAN SEE THAT YOUR MY BIGGEST VICE
YOU KNOW THAT EVERY DOWNLOAD OF YOUR SONG COMES WITH A PRICE

CAUSE YOU ARE MY INTERNET BABY
I SHARE EVERY SONG YOU POST FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE
YAH, YOU ARE MY INTERNET BABY
IVE GIVEN YOU A MILLION LIKES
SO PLEASE……CONNECT WITH ME

BRIDGE:                                                                                                                                                   MY WORDS ARE FLOATING FREE ON CLOUDS AND SATELLITE                                       ONE CLICK FROM YOU WILL GIVE ME                                                                    SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO EVERY NIGHT
CAUSE YOU ARE MY INTERNET BABY
I SHARE EVERY SONG YOU POST FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE
YAH, YOU ARE MY INTERNET BABY
IVE GIVEN YOU A MILLION LIKES
SO PLEASE……CONNECT WITH ME
SO I DECIDED THAT IT’S OVER AND I’M BREAKING UP WITH YOU
I FOUND MYSELF A REAL MAN, WHO LIKES EVERYTHING I DO
HE ADDED ME TO FACEBOOK THERE IS NOTHING MORE TO SAY
THE MUSIC THAT HE SENDS ME GETS 10,000 LIKES A DAY

AND NOW HE IS MY INTERNET BABY
I SHARE EVERY SONG HE SENDS FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE
YAH, HE IS MY INTERNET BABY
I’VE GIVEN HIM TEN MILLION LIKES
CAUSE HE……….CONNECTS WITH ME.

By Melanie Magnifico

Progress in the Matt Dusk Song Challenge

Since I’ve developed a habit of getting up early (btw 5:30-6:00 am), I find my mind goes foggy around 6-7 pm and cannot function as creatively…So, when I awoke on Valentines Day all bright and chipper, I was back at the Song and completed my structure with more self esteem than the previous versions I’d been working on.  I went from the idea of having an “upbeat” song and flipped over to the “downbeat”.  I’m not sure if Matt would like a “duet” but I definitely hear one in my newest version.

I am a little uneasy showing a song in the making, especially when I can hear the ‘whole’ of the song in my head versus presently the ‘pieces’ in demo form.  It’s like an artist showing the ‘draw’ version of the colourful painting they have in their mind’s eye.  (If that makes sense to anyone out there).

While I was in between editing the rhythm and piano structure, I took a break and read my email about the upcoming challenge….It was then that the new challenge entered my mind and words began to pop up for a new song.  I had to write them down and then “ignore” the new song in order to complete this first challenge.  Yes, it’s easy for me to become distracted and it took a lot of self-control not to let that interfere with the first song. Procrastination is my enemy.  All in all, I feel very blessed to be a part of this process.  I’m in my happy place!

(For those who saw the ‘Cheers’ episode years ago when Fraser helped Carla overcome her fear of flying and ended the show with that comment…..)