A box containing a microphone was delivered to my door today And as this is a site about words songs and images - and with nothing better to do - I decided to take a photograph of the box and post it on here I may also have chosen to take the photograph because it reminded me of those little beds one used to make for little dolls Or the reminiscing followed the taking of photograph Either way I then found myself (well I have not done that yet) writing some daft words about the box
I might have stopped It would have been something of a relief to stop I have notebooks full of unstoppable words But it isn't easy as is evidenced in the full notebooks
Exactly why I would choose to take the photograph is beyond me just now although I expect the real reason is likely to become apparent - and at a time when I wish it hadn't - become apparent that is And with hadn't and apparent rhyming and appearing in the same sentence, and fearing they might be a trigger to write more daft words, I am moving on quickly to the image below
And below in the smallest text available to me on this site are the previously mentioned daft words
If I had a dolly I might put it in this box Close the lid To keep it there Keep it 'til the rocks
Of the earth Got melted And socks lost the ribs That rub against your toes When your shoes don't fit
If I had a dolly I might make this her bed Sew a little pillow For underneath her head
Leave the lid open See her sleeping in there Sleeping like a baby With soft flimsy hair
If I had nothing To put inside the box I'd be glad to have had Such a lovely box
I might choose to close the lid Store it on a shelf And keep it for always All to myself
And there it was before the next morning had arrived. Of course the dolly is little me. And all little me's always need a safe and cozy bed to sleep in And there you have it There's always a reason - and that's as much of this one as I intend to provide
Also of interest; it is a reaffirmation that the lyrics I write often tell me what I know before I know it myself
In the post THE FOOT THUMPING FIFTH I refer to my latest attempt at song making but do not mention the title. I declare now that it is called GO ON THEN (GOT for short) It has been mastered as an acoustic only track and that might prove to be the only professional treatment it receives. But a few minutes before writing this post I realized how foolish I had been. And as a consequence of that foolishness I had been denying the track what it has been calling out for It was a piano that gave the song a tune and it is a piano that the song requires to satisfy its innermost needs Why describe myself as foolish? Alas, because I have been ignoring my own words and my own instincts while setting off down a path that, however I walked it, could only take me further from the desired outcome i.e words and sounds joined together in a mutually complementing relationship So, GOT IT for GOT is the title of this post because I had suddenly got it that the song GO ON THEN, was eager to be out there but only if it could be accompanied by a piano And in a note to myself I have concluded that sometimes one has to get lost to have any hope of being found
Having identified myself closely with a blackbird in the last verse of the song BAD GIRL BLUES I was glad to find the photograph below earlier today. Glad because I thought it would be a replacement for the image of the miserable looking man I had used for the song LA BONNE FEE on Bandcamp The blackbird in this photograph may or may not be miserable - and who knows what the non arrival of the good fairy might represent for a bird on a rock - but I think it is a better image than the previous one. The pleasure at finding it may diminish. I will say no more and let the image have its say
On Tuesday, or it might have been Wednesday, I received an email from WOS (Women of Substance Radio) at www.wosradio.com
with much of the following message 'We would like to add the following song to
our regular rotation: Like The Sea Rolling In Your song is due to debut on the online
radio station the week of June 22 so watch for an email from
womenofsubstanceradio@gmail.com in a few days with more details. Your song will also be included on an
upcoming episode of our new #1 Podcast on iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/women-of-substance/id939201604?mt=2' For anyone who has not heard this
interesting track (with the interesting aspects coming from Jennifer Clark's
arrangement*) it can be listened to on Bandcamp at
https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/track/like-the-sea-rolling-in
This track has now been visited 100 times
on Bandcamp although all visitors have not chosen to listen through until the
end * For a reminder of Jennifer Clark's work and interests please visit www.jenclarkmusic.com
Words I did not intend to write - and entitled OUT TO THE WILDS OF HAIDA GWAII - appeared several days ago and I have recorded them. They came out in a oner except for two words which were moved sideways and on to a different line. I was also not intending to get them worked on but it seems likely they will be getting dressed up a bit before going out and about on here and/or elsewhere And they are being followed, or preceded (it is not known at the time of writing) by my latest attempt at making a song. My enthusiasm for it may be misguided - and I am no stranger to being so - but there have been moments of acute delight in the making of it. I am a realist when it comes to delight but I will be hanging on to this lot for a while The main pleasure came from having acquired part of the tune very soon after completing the words. And it refused to go away. I did ask friends if it sounded like one they had heard before but they said no. I was of course not convinced. And as not being convinced is a feature of the song it seemed appropriate not to be - convinced. Others may hear and declare that there are similarities with . . . but for me it is long past that stage. And here is another interesting part of the story - well it is for me. I got the tune from a piano. The first time for a very long time I have used a piano - or might one say that a piano used me. The last time it happened was for the song LIKE A SWEET WARM LIGHT. So, after hearing the tune in my head for several days, I downloaded a keyboard app and played it over and over while sitting in bed. In between the bed episodes I returned to the piano to make sure the piano was comfortable with the tune I had arrived at. I was uncertain about whether or not to record it. I began to consider singing it without any guitar accompaniment. I made no effort to find guitar chords for it. And then, as happens, the right moment arrived and I found myself switching on my recording equipment and singing it unaccompanied, all the way through. My guitar was alongside me and I reached for it and used it for another take. I tried two more of a similar kind. By the fifth take I was increasing the tempo and thumping my foot on a wooden box I keep beside my equipment. The sixth take was similar to the fifth but I forgot the tune at one point and when listening to the six takes later it was only the foot thumping fifth that I felt might work And that is the track which will be getting dressed up for being on line, hopefully, sometime soon. And it is the track which has provided the title for this post.
For a better idea of what this post is about you will need to read the text below the photograph of Jennifer Clark, the most recent contributor to my material
It may have been mentioned elsewhere on this site that I used a cassette tape for my first ever attempt at putting some of my songs together and getting them out there. And I called it SONGS IN NEED OF TREATMENT And when I first felt motivated and brave enough to contact the CaVa recording studios in Glasgow www.cavasound.com and meet with the owner (and with Brian McNeill who was working there at the time) my pitch to them was coloured by that title It went something like this. What could you do if I were dead and gone and someone I had known came to you with loads of my recorded tracks and asked you to tidy them up and make them sound more likely to get listened to? At the same time as I was asking that question an acquaintance told me about John Saich and Mags Russell of Wild Biscuit Music www.wildbiscuit.com
And anyone who has been interested in the songs which did subsequently receive some treatment will be familiar with what CaVa, Brian McNeill and Wild Biscuit brought to the table Recently another person has become involved in providing the treatment some of my material needs. And I found her on line during one of the times the main protagonists (mentioned above) were not available. Below are some of the words I wrote about her last week. more information on her interests and work can be accessed on her web site at www.jenclarkmusic.com And as the most recent contributor to my songs I am choosing to give her photograph a place at the top of this page The
delights of working with Jennifer Clark are many. Apart from her expertise as a musician and her sensitivity and skill as
arranger she has the kind of human qualities which would serve her well in any
profession.
In
her recent work for me as arranger and producer (and this has involved playing,
mixing, mastering and editing) she has shown herself to be immensely patient,
flexible and even - as in my own case - tolerant and open to incoherently
expressed ideas and requests Jennifer welcomes enquiries
about her professional music services, including arrangement, production and
composition, and can be contacted at jen@jenclarkmusic.com
The image which is presently alongside it is a cropped black and white version of the one below. I found this recently in a pile of old sketches and paintings. I do not know who this miserable looking person is but I can say with some certainty that this is not a self portrait If and when I can find something more suitable I will replace it - on Bandcamp and here