SAC Challenge Post Week 2

Then I went to bed; then I got up, then I went to bed, then I got up, then I…
I finished my Week 2 song. In fact I feels like I just begun, but I have been starting this one for a while. We were to write a “mega-pop” hit that resonates with the teen female crowd. Many songwriters in the SAC 6-week Blog & Writing Challenge commented on how out-of-their element they felt with such a task for such an audience. I was surely among them. And at the same time, many of us knuckled under and spoke of doing research, trying to distill what may appeal to a younger generation—listening to Selena Gomez, etc. I listened too.

Gestalt learning presents “a-ha moments” that seemingly appear out-of-the-blue, kind of like how the segue from the last paragraph to this one seems completely out of context. The idea is that the unconscious mind is always at work, solving problems, designing solutions and writing songs,  when the conscious mind is otherwise preoccupied, (or in my case asleep). The chorus came to me in the middle of the night; I wish I could say I was more gracious, but I was not. I somewhat begrudging, somewhat relieved, got up and sang my chorus into my tape-recorder. Then, I went back to bed. Then I got up and sang another lyric into the tape-recorder; then I went to bed; then I got up and sang another more refined line into the tape-recorder, then I went to bed, then I…

My other big learning curve this week was coming to understand the decided difference between being a songwriter and being a singer-songwriter. Though I may never sing or record a song like the one I am writing in Week 2, I am beginning to appreciate the beauty of the process, the challenge of a far-away genre, and I stand by my song. And speaking of which, here are the lyrics:

The Message in Your Heart
Verse:
I try hard to delete your smile from me
But my phone recalls every grin you gave to me
And I know I must insist,
Cuz I’m much better than this, so

I touch your face, it feels flat on my fingers
The screen lets me hold you and to linger
On the boy that I once knew
But it’s just no way to see you, so

Chorus:
Don’t IM me
If you’ve got a message to send me
Do it with your heart
So TTYL
Unless you can tell (me)
The message in your heart

I dance alone with you by my side
Then another comes to take your place, good-bye
‘Cuz he’s as real as F2F
A 24-7 BF, so

Bridge
LMK you get my drift
Your profile is a counterfeit
Now a got a guy who can look me in the eye
And I’m not saying (to Chorus)

Words & Music: Scott Anthony Andrews