Within the first week, we learnt several key elements of song writing. The key element that we need to keep in mind is the prosody of our song(1), which is how our lyrics and melody work together I found watching famous artists explain their process very helpful, as I can now integrate some of their advice into what I do to write and produce songs. Finneas’ use of unique sounds resonated with me (2). We then broke off into groups and wrote songs using random lyrics made up by the entire cohort. My group was made up of people who had varying degrees of songwriting knowledge. With the lyrics we were given, we originally decided on using the theme of a shopping centre. We then decided to make everyone create a lyrics using one of the words given to us. However, I personally found this made a very incoherent song with a confused story, so I decided to write a different song with a different story, inspired by the fallout currently occurring between Russia and Ukraine.
Lyrics:
Tangerine
War
Egg Timer
Paper
Internet
Bleeding window
Casserole
Theme: Shopping centre
Walking through the isles
Nothing looks sublimer
Seeing all these funny things
Like mixers, pans and egg timers
I’ve got armfuls of bananas,
But all I want is tangerine
A half off egg timer is the reminder that everything has changed
Not even mums casserole can heal this broken heart
But her recipes burns through my brain as I walk the isles of quicky mart
My phone won’t connect to the internet, now I’m aimlessly wondering
Bleeding windows, Wish I bought a Mac instead
Tangerine scented Pino clean
Disinfectant for my hospital dream
Newspaper print
Sitting on the shelves
The worlds at war again
I’m running out of time as I race through these halls
My song
Em, Bm, Am, G
Newspaper print
Sitting on the shelves
Worlds at war again
Get me through this hell
Our grandfathers fought just to fix this mess
Is anyone gonna help?
Cause word spreads fast on internet
Putting stories out that no one forgets
But somehow no one ever seems to give a crap
Is anyone gonna help?
(1) Rotumah, Grayson. “Creative Process/Introduction.” Workshop presented at the course Song Writing and Performance 1A, Hartley Building, University of Adelaide, February 28, 2022
(2) Pitchfork, “FINNEAS Explains How He Builds Songs For Billie Eilish | Critical Breakthroughs | Pitchfork” Apr 23, 2020
Songwriting Journal 