First a quick view of the evolution of my ‘Dream Rescuer’ album’s cover art. I forgot I still had these sample shots. Above, one of the source photos; below the final cover.
Anyhow, to the point. If you take the acoustic route, then verse words transfer reasonably easily into song, especially so the ballad. The song I wrote a good while ago now, ‘Busking in Berlin’ is an example of a simple verse being turned into song without too many revisions and adaptions to the original text. This song sits on one of my old SoundCloud pages for no other reason than it’s in an acoustic ‘demo’ format. I hope you enjoy;
BUSKING IN BERLIN
Storm clouds on the horizon
No red sky tonight
The wind blows away the magic
Of a starry, starry night
Melissa cries for Candy
Candy dreams of John
John is suicidal
On how it all went wrong
Larry plays the old guitar
Kate the mandolin
And Finn plays the accordion
They’re busking in Berlin
It’s a game of names and fortunes
A game played out in time
A game of life that ends in death
A mountain we must climb
And John’s looking out for Sally
Candy’s dreaming on
Melissa took an overdose
She does not belong here
Larry plays the old guitar
Kate the mandolin
And Finn plays the accordion
They’re busking in Berlin
Candy is the blinkered one
John has the broken heart
Larry’s getting on with life
Melissa fell apart – she fell apart, she fell apart
Finn, she won a battle
Kate, she lost a war
Candy is still dreaming of
What are we fighting for?
Storm clouds on the horizon
No red sky tonight
The wind blows away the magic
Of a starry, starry night
Larry plays the old guitar
Kate the mandolin
And Finn plays the accordion
They’re busking in Berlin, they’re busking in Berlin
Below, Derek the Owl. He’s here for no good reason other than he’s a mate.
Lastly, a number from the maestro. Paul McCartney’s song ‘Blackbird’ revealing the sublime quality of his simple, no frills approach to acoustic ballad song writing. His trick? Basically the same as everyone else; he lets the voice carry the melody – only he does it better. I’m betting Derek would have fancied being a blackbird, then he could have claimed this one as his own.
‘Busking in Berlin’ – Copyright © 2016 Zoolon Audio. All rights reserved. Unauthorized copying, reproduction, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting prohibited.
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Great track, thank you 🙂
Thank you Lana.
Wonderfully stripped down track. Lord Zoo. I dunno about Derek but I love this!
Thank you Shey. I’m guessing it’s like book writing. Sometimes I go back to a piece and simply want to take it out of demo mode and re-record it before it gets lost. All art genres I like that?
What have the wrong thing with you?hey zoolon!! I feel in this world-everybody is busking.
Gone with you*
Keep knocking Zoolon a door will open.
Thanks Chris. I appreciate that.
This is the sort of song that needs the bare-strings approach, and I’m glad you kept it simple, George. Your voice makes me think of hearing you on a wooden folding chair, guitar singing beneath your voice, as your feathered mates listen from a bench nearby. There’d be a bit of a breeze with the scent of fresh bread from the bakery–the cashier’s thrown a handful of three-day old crumbs out for your friends before setting aside a morning bun for you. With marmalade, perhaps?
Thanks. I’m not good with marmalade. A croissant with strawberry jam maybe; hot chocolate definitely – calories the only issue.
A pox on calories! Says the person who greedily eats pumpkin pie with whipped cream for breakfast… 😉
I know the lyrics, I think you have already shared some bits and pieces of this poem. I love it.
Derek the owl is gorgeous.
I’ve always liked Derek. The owls arrive in Folkestone every Thursday and Saturday – on market days – big, little owls. You con’t help but like them.
Oh they are so cute. A handler told me that they are very passionate and loving. They claim their handler as a mate, sort of, and can be very jealous, ask for attention and all this sort of things 🙂
The guys with the owls turn up every Thursday and Saturday (both market days) collecting donations for their cause. Generally I never carry cash, yet on those days I do! Owls are right up there with dogs as to my favourite things.
Do they let you hold them? You are so lucky to see the owls that often.
Here is a baby owl for you 🙂
https://inesemjphotography.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/140clan.jpg
They do let you get to know the owls. I’m addicted. I may even take a break from work and check them out again tomorrow.
Perfect creations of the Nature.