The Talkin’ Headline Blues is a weekly series of recordings using unedited headlines from CNN.com written as a song. This week’s topic: Huge Unknowns.
Unknowns noted for fatal building info.
Why this soldier altered peace.
Who’ll fight huge accused prisoners?
Here’s the last thing I’ll do in 2013. It’s a rewrite of this tune from 2011. I’m not sure if I improved on the original version. I really enjoy that one. I actually didn’t think I’d be able to re-write it at all. At first I just played around with time signatures to change up the recording, but kept the words all the same.
That didn’t work.
I settled on this right here. I’m fine with it. I enjoy it. It uses repetition, which is something I’ve found to be useful when writing songs. I figure out a pattern of how words or phrases or ideas can repeat over and over and then I fit different words into that. It gets easy the more you do it.
This recording is a great example of that. I finally found a musical pattern that sounded good to me and then I crammed all the words from the first version into that. Some words dropped out when I cut out what I didn’t need, but I think I kept the idea of the song the same.
Except that I turned it around to you. It’s not about me anymore. It’s yours now.
I’m going to do that a lot more in 2014. This new song every week thing is going to change a little bit. Instead of me just vomiting out all the songs I can, I’m going to explain how I get each one. IN DEPTH. I’m going to create some sort of How-To manual of songwriting. Like, How-To write a song every single day. It’ll be fun. I think.
I haven’t totally got it all straightened out yet, but it’ll just be a little different. You may not even notice.
So that’s what’s coming soon.
Tantrum is a hard word to sing.
Chris Brown is also a hard word to sing.
Hey, did you notice this is the 99th version of this song? That means the next one I record is a SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE. Also, did you know it’s been almost exactly three whole years since I did the very first Talkin’ Headline Blues?
Reading that old post sure does take ya down memory lane, huh?
In other news, I’ll be performing on November 4 at the Hungry Brain. Yeah, seriously. Someone talked me into it. Check out the details here.
I haven’t played live (and I’ve barely played at all) since like March and not seriously since, like, oh, Summer 2012.
It’ll be INTERESTING.
It seems like maybe the show is free. It looks like it starts at 9pm. It’s on a Monday night at the Hungry Brain. I’m only playing two songs and I have no idea when that’ll happen. SO EASY TO MISS THIS.
There’s a lot going on in the news these days, no? I just read today, there’s this young woman whose recorded album of music went STRAIGHT TO NUMBER ONE. WOW! I better check that out, seeing as how I also record music.
And, I really like how there’s all this OUTRAGE all of a sudden about the Washington Professional Footballers team name the “Redskins.” I know there’s always been some degree of angst toward that team name, but it really RAMPED UP this Summer. And now, everyone seems to be calling for a change. Just in time for Thanksgiving, right? Hopefully the Redskins will change their name on that Thursday that we all sit down to grease our throats with turkey gullet in the name of…um…peace and harmony and prosperity?
I hope they change their team name to this.
Hmm…this did not come out of my mouth as smooth as intended. It did not roll off my lips and teeth like a talkin’ blues song usually does. It does not sound like the Columbia River.
My voice sounds beat up. Bruised. Hurt.
Really it’s just over-rested. Unused. Hurt.
But anyway, here are the tip-top very-best headlines for the week from CNN.com. They just never quit over there (down there?) in Atlanta, huh?
Keep churning them out, okay? Because it just keeps me giggling. And keeps me in practice.
Music Vomit 