Experiments in Stereo Pt 2

Good evening all. I wanted to circle back on this to give people incentive to play along with me and experiment with songwriting. While there were two Brave and Hearty Souls who joined in on my little bit of play last week, I would really like to give others an opportunity to jump in and show the world they lyrical writing chops.

The idea was to give you a rough idea of the sound and see what you might come up with if you were the lyricist for a band without actually having heard the song. In this case, I asked folks to think like Andrew Eldritch from Sisters of Mercy, bored in some dark nightclub wishing you hadn’t used up all of your amphetamine while the night was so young. He had a some new catchy lyrics that he wanted to write, but no music to write them to. Well, maybe it was not exactly that, but you get the idea…

The song I have largely completed is in that flavor and style. Upbeat “goth” at 130 bpm. And I need lyrics. The only firm part I insist upon in the title and the chorus must contain the words “Living With the Ghost of You”. I’ll settle for “The Ghost of You”, if someone wants to quibble, but otherwise the subject matter and words are largely in someone else’s control. And then, you get to hear me butcher them with my singing (unless you happen to be a Very Good Singer and want to figure out how to join in this game by recording and singing this song for me [hint hint]).

I thought it was a fun challenge and still want to give others the opportunity to put in their ideas.

But first, let me point out our two participants thus far, Sandy MissParker and Chris Nelson.

Sandy submitted a bit of lyrics that include the following lines:

One day we may meet again
I won’t hold my breath
Please release my soul to spend
Miles away from death

Chorus
Living with the ghost of you
Praying to the host in blue
Carrying the torch of true
Living with the ghost of you

Her full submission can be viewed in her original comment.

Chris decided he wasn’t above giving a few ideas too, and part of his offering includes the following:

You held my heart
Like a sacrifice
You followed me down
In my paradise

Chorus
Show me something that is new
Well I’ve been living with the ghost of you
Bare my flesh I’ll stand askew
‘Cos I’ve been living with the ghost of you

His full submission can be read in the original comment.

While the basic structure of the song is currently: instrumental intro/verse/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/verse/chorus variations to fade… I am not stuck on that structure and I can modify as needed if the future lyricist has broader ideas. My only thought is to keep it to less than five minutes in total length.

And while two possible sets of lyrics are already difficult to choose between (do I hear an impending vote post before I record?), as added incentive to see some more submissions, I’m including a very small snippet of the song here.

What you are listening to is a verse section fading in to a full verse at full volume, followed by a single chorus section. The end is a return to the verse section to fade. Time stamps for each section are (roughly)

Fade to verse: 0:00 to 0:04

Verse: 0:04 to 0:19

Chorus: 0:19 to 0:34

Verse to fade: 0:34 to 0:41

I wonder if Chris or Sandy will revise their submissions (or pull them completely to avoid being associated with this song). Will Michele or Bob jump in, as they suggested they might? Will you give it a whirl and live out your life-long fantasy of being a lyricist for a not-famous-at-all-one-person-band?

What’s the worst that could happen? Embarrassment? Heck, I’m the one not-singing-very-well! I think I steal the show for embarrassments. Use my contact form if you want to throw in an idea, but want to remain anonymous as the lyrical “ghost” writer.

I’m hoping to record vocals in a few weeks while everyone is out of the house unless someone else wants to take a stab at singing (I have ideas on how to make that happen remotely, never you fear!). Spit and polish and maybe the final piece will be ready before or by Independence Day.

Are you up to the challenge.

Submit ideas below or via the contact form.

And, for goodness sake, have fun with this idea.