PUTTING A SIMPLE VERSE TO SONG

dream rescuer2

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.

album-cover-300px

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.

derek owl

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.

Advertisements

18 Comments

Leave a Comment

    1. 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?

      Reply

  6. 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?

    Reply

    1. 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.

      Reply

      1. 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 🙂

        Reply

        1. 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.

Leave a Reply