Tag Archives: rewrite

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Rewritten Song: On down the road (version 2)

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On down the road (version 2)

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.

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Rewritten Song: I’m bound (version 2)

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I'm bound (version 2)

This new version of this old song from late-December 2011 is a little bit more honest, I think. Instead of putting it all on someone else, like the first version does, this new one sort of takes some ownership.

Sort of.

The narrator is still kind of a jerk because he’s unwilling to change. Still saying, “Well, this is how I am, and you’re going to have to accept me like that, cause I’m not going to try and be different.”

It’s a good thing I don’t write songs about myself. It’s a good thing. Yep. Sure is. This song is definitely not about me.

#MAJORBIGTIMEJERK

Also, I stole the melody from Johnny Cash’s tune “Let the Train Blow the Whistle.” It just happened to pop into my head while I was re-writing this one and it worked out pretty well. That’s an easy trick if you get stuck at songwriting. Just steal what someone else already did. NO ONE WILL KNOW.

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Rewritten Song: Honey, Hear Me True (version 2)

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Honey Hear Me True (version 2)

This right here. This song. This recording I did in my cold cold cold kitchen. It’s 58 degrees in here. This one is a re-do of a song from 2 years ago. This song, in fact. If you go and read about that first version, you’ll see that I thought I wasn’t done with it yet. That it needed work. That I would, in fact, keep working on it. I did not. I quit it. Until a couple days ago.

For the new version. The one you have here. The one you are listening to and reading about. This one. This new version is based on Ramblin’ Jack Elliott’s version of “The Roving Gambler.” Go listen to it. If you don’t. If you think you just do not have time. Well. Then. Okay. But I think you should, for what it’s worth.

So, I rewrote my song like that song. It’s a version of a version of a version into infinity. This version has some of the same words as the original version of mine. Only a few. It also has some of the same words as “The Roving Gambler.” That’s okay. It’s folk music. Or, it’s music. You’re allowed to take and steal and use and call your own. It’s okay. Trust me. I have an industry card. It says that on the back. I flip it over and look all the time.

Okay. No get to bed with your lover. Or your lonesome self. It’ll be okay. Alright? I mean. I’m telling myself it’ll be okay. See? It’ll be okay. Hear those pigeon calls?

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Rewritten Song: What did I ever ask you for? (version 2)

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What did I ever ask you for? (version 2)

Well, here’s the second version of this song (originally written and recorded in December 2011). I used the Carter Family’s version of “Wouldn’t Mind Dying” as the melody. And I rearranged the words a bit. I like this one better, but it’s still a little too sentimental, I think.