Here you have the CNN.com headlines from last week. How many of them do you remember? How many of them are we all still talking about? White youth running wild? Yes. The Catholic Pope saying it ain’t so bad to be gay? No.
Well, okay. Baseball suspensions are VERY IMPORTANT.
Well, I tried a new melody for this version. It’s different. It’s borderline talkin’ blues, I’d say. Not sure on which side. But I think it adds to the hilarious headlines that people working for CNN.com actually wrote.
Or maybe robots write those?
But then who tells the robots what to write? And if no one tells them, how do they know what our events are? How is it that they’re so aware of our needs and desires that they know exactly what will evoke an emotion in us? Hmm….
I, for one, am getting on the side of these robots.
I wrote this one-liner on Saturday. Or Sunday. Whichever day I thought was the 20th on that day since I thought today was the 21st.
So I wrote it, then I added the “Hey hey!” and “Hey ho!” parts tonight. Feel free to join in on those sections. It’s fun! Shout it! Strain your throat. I did.
By the way: It surely is a hard thing to try and write and record one song every day, even if that song is only one line with a few words. It’s doubly hard when your throat seizes up due to allergies. Apologies to everyone this had any effect on.
Now, I tried and tried and tried to add several different harmony parts. But I have so little clue on how to add harmony parts.
Then I attempted some drums and a tambourine and even a small children’s xylophone. I thought that was a little much, though. It didn’t work anyhow.
So, I just duplicated the main guitar and vocal track a bunch of times, applied several canned effects, adjusted the volume settings, and wham-oh!
I realize it’s a little bit behind-the-times. A little bit, say, somewhere around 2007 or 1998 or 1987 or 1971 or 1952 or 1536. But, this is folk music that I’m doing. This is a folk song that I’m building one line at a time.
If you call what you do a folk song then you can do whatever you want. I’ve learned that over the years. It’s in the folk music manual.
Look it up.
When it comes right down to it, though, I just really like this line or this verse or how these words go together. The music is way less important.
It is in three-quarter time, though. And everything is better at that speed. Try it. Then you’ll understand.
Note: If you have more than the 2 minutes it takes to listen through the whole song once, I suggest listening at least twice. Once through speakers (computer, or otherwise) and then a second time through headphones. It’s different.
Okay. Here’s the second song of the one-song-that’s-only-one-line-every-one-day thing that I’m attempting.
One!
I recorded the harp first for this one. That melody was in my head. I had no One Line. So I laid it down (or is it layed it down?) as they say.
Then I put in some guitar. This was tricky because I did not play the harmonica at an even tempo or an even time signature. Go figure. (This is why I use a harp rack most times. I don’t know where that is, though.)
They I added two tracks of vocals after coming up with a line of words. Might not seem like much now. Just want, though, until I put together all the different one line parts. Then it’ll seem like, well, a longer nothing.
But I’m entertained at the moment. Try not to stare with your mouth open.
(Please listen close on the vocal track. Do you hear that? That’s either my voice going because I’m out of practice, or because I’m coming down with a head cold. Your pick.)
Remember these? Where I grab headlines from CNN.com and make them into a talkin’ blues song?
Haven’t done one since…last October!? So, I figured it’s time to start them up again. Here’s why:
I can only pay attention to the news and events of the day, week, or month like this:
- Pick one small segment of news…like SPORTS or CELEBRITIES or POLITICS and really read up on everything to do with that topic each and every day. Lately, I’ve decided that SPORTS is the most entertaining to me and I read articles at this place.
- Attempt to take in ALL the news and only really take in the brief summaries heard or headlines read. This gets me in situations where I’ll be at a party or talking to someone and I’ll try to follow along with a current event conversation and I’ll just be lost. Also, I think this means I’m getting old.
- Don’t listen to ANY news at all. This is similar to number 2, and a little more relaxing, in a way, but I start to lose a grip on reality.
How do you listen to the news? Any other ways that you can suggest to me?
Maybe you can start listening to the news as a song, huh? I’ll keep on doing these if you keep on listening (and probably I’ll keep doing them even if you don’t, because…I don’t know who you are and because, like I said last night in my post about songwriting, the more you do it, the easier it gets and the more songs you get).
Music Vomit 