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First song for 2015? Don't Play Don't Win Don't Lose


nat whilk II

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trying to kickstart the first new song for this year.....initial sketch

jazzy not-jazz, like Moondance, similar bpm and swing feel

 

verse 1

you don't play

you don't win

you don't lose

 

if you're in, or if you're not

that's what you've

gotta choose

 

' cause once you're in

it's only win

or lose

 

 

verse 2

you don't jump

you don't sink

you don't swim

 

while you stand on the side

you can't run

you can't hide

 

all the other kids are

already in

and looking at you!

 

short instrmntl break

 

 

2nd section, longer phrases with a bluesier feel

oh....oh....oh.... my shame

oh...oh....oh.... my sorrow

oh....oh....oh....my sweet forgiving Lord

 

you see I up and quit the game

and tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

I will wish with all my heart that I jumped off that g..d...diving board

 

 

from here I've got to develop the idea....one pair of verses needs to cover the situation where you can't choose not to play the game, as it's life itself and you're already in the game before you realize it.

 

any legs here?

 

nat whilk ii

 

 

 

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Yeh - it definitely has legs as an idea in V1, but it fragments in V2 - so V2 needs some tightening.

In V1 you have developed a single idea and progressed it through the verse in the abstract.

In V2 the listener is then hit with concrete concepts that don't make for cohesive method established in V1 .

 

In the 2nd section, I get 'shame' and 'sorrow' but then 'sweet forgiving Lord' appears and I don't know why it's there.

 

Unsure about the Macbeth reference and unsure about the diving board line.

 

The song title and V1 take me somewhere, but all the swimming pool stuff doesn't.

 

I hope this is of some use.

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Yeh - it definitely has legs as an idea in V1, but it fragments in V2 - so V2 needs some tightening.

In V1 you have developed a single idea and progressed it through the verse in the abstract.

In V2 the listener is then hit with concrete concepts that don't make for cohesive method established in V1 .

 

In the 2nd section, I get 'shame' and 'sorrow' but then 'sweet forgiving Lord' appears and I don't know why it's there.

 

Unsure about the Macbeth reference and unsure about the diving board line.

 

The song title and V1 take me somewhere, but all the swimming pool stuff doesn't.

 

I hope this is of some use.

 

 

I wonder what I can do to clarify the swimming pool bit - to my mind it's all about getting up the nerve to be a player, in the game, take the risks, don't just stand on the sidelines.

 

The kid who won't jump in is starting to feel the fear and shame of chickening out - which is carried into the 2nd section. "Sweet forgiving Lord" is present to the mind of any person with a certain religious background who is dealing with choices and failure and guilt regardless of context - I can understand that not clicking with everyone, but it's so true to traditional and my personal experience that I'll probably keep it. And besides, "Lord" rhymes with "board"smiley-happy and there's the ironical hopefully amusing mismatch of invoking the Lord followed by "that g..d diving board".

 

But so much for explanations which I wouldn't have to make if it came across better - any suggestions how I can clarify all this in the lyric?

 

nat whilk ii

 

 

 

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trying to kickstart the first new song for this year.....initial sketch

jazzy not-jazz, like Moondance, similar bpm and swing feel

 

verse 1

you don't play

you don't win

you don't lose

 

if you're in, or if you're not

that's what you've

gotta choose

 

' cause once you're in

it's only win

or lose

 

 

verse 2

you don't jump

you don't sink

you don't swim

 

while you stand on the side

you can't run

you can't hide

 

xxx

xxx

xxx

 

short instrmntl break

 

 

2nd section, longer phrases with a bluesier feel

oh....oh....oh.... my shame

oh...oh....oh.... my sorrow

oh....oh....oh....my sweet forgiving Lord

 

you see I up and quit the game

and tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

I will wish with all my heart that xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

I've deleted the lines that I think need to be less concrete

Everything that is left works metaphorically without introducing a pool, the kids in the water, and a diving board.

 

So I'm suggesting you sustain the metaphorical approach.

If you want some kind of concrete overview, then maybe write it into a Bridge

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trying to kickstart the first new song for this year.....initial sketch

jazzy not-jazz, like Moondance, similar bpm and swing feel

 

verse 1

you don't play

you don't win

you don't lose

 

if you're in, or if you're not

that's what you've

gotta choose

 

' cause once you're in

it's only win

or lose

 

 

verse 2

you don't jump

you don't sink

you don't swim

 

while you stand on the side

you can't run

you can't hide

 

all the other kids are

already in

and looking at you!

 

short instrmntl break

 

 

2nd section, longer phrases with a bluesier feel

oh....oh....oh.... my shame

oh...oh....oh.... my sorrow

oh....oh....oh....my sweet forgiving Lord

 

you see I up and quit the game

and tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

I will wish with all my heart that I jumped off that g..d...diving board

 

 

from here I've got to develop the idea....one pair of verses needs to cover the situation where you can't choose not to play the game, as it's life itself and you're already in the game before you realize it.

 

any legs here?

 

nat whilk ii

 

 

 

I think it's definitely got legs.

 

I think I like it as is, lyrically speaking. But I'll wait to see if what you add works.

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I'm in a muddle for the time being on this tune - I've got two different ideas for the instrumental side, and I'm still mulling over OGP's advice about keeping the lyrics in abstract mode during the verses, maybe going "concrete" in a bridge....that's an interesting idea regarding organizing lyrics between these (or other) modes, abstract or concrete.

 

If a lyric tells a story, the requirements of storytelling tend to dictate the voice, the structure. With a more abstract, "advisey" sort of lyric, yes, I can see, some other organizing principle is needed.

 

mull mull mull mull....

 

nat whilk ii

 

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The order seemed IDK ...I see it this way...does this help?

 

 

verse 1

you don't play...........................................................you don't win

you don't win............................................................you don't play

you don't lose...........................................................you don't lose

 

if you're in, or if you're not

that's what you've

gotta choose

 

' cause once you're in

it's only win

or lose

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

all the other kids are........................all the others are

already in

and looking at you!

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

you can't choose not to play the game, ................somehow make this fit what you were searching for.

as it's life itself and you're already in

the game before you realize it.

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Maybe post it with a rough accompaniment?

 

 

Will do. Have to decide which way I'm going to go with the accompaniment first...and now it's occurring to me that I need to make sure this song doesn't remind anyone of "know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em" at all costs....smiley-happy

 

nat whilk ii

 

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I need to make sure this song doesn't remind anyone of "know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em" at all costs....

 

nat whilk ii

 

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

Oh ... wait ... yes there is...

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