Music Memoir/The Memoirist/September Prompt
The Art of Songwriting
And you can’t always get what you want
Memory sometimes plays tricks on the mind, but once upon a time, I joined three musician friends for a casual evening of jamming to a very relaxed Norah Jones mellow type of vibe.
I wanted to go with reggae, but they kept going back to Norah’s super chill relaxing type of music.
Now, did I mention that the four of us like to collaborate and create original music now and then?
So, imagine me, feeling inspired with a lively reggae beat that had been floating in my head all week, jotting down some words onto a creased, stained envelope that I found in the bottom of my tote bag.
The words went something like this:
“Why worry / tomorrow might bring the rain
but then the sun will
shine again
drenched to the bone/ body and soul
confused and alone / nobody seems to care
neither do I / when the truth is a lie.”
Maybe the lyrics didn’t make much sense at the time, or maybe they made perfect sense to us, but it was fun playing around with an ultra-mellow genre for a change of pace. Me, with my reggae vibe, and them with their Norah Jones.
Somehow, I got outvoted that night.
Come on, who doesn’t love reggae style? I still don’t get it, but to each their own.
We did a quick rough-cut recording - their way.
I guess it’s true when Mick Jagger says, ‘you can’t always get what you want.’
I said that next time we would do the same song — reggae style.
And then Gangnam style after that.
I even remember color coding the chord changes, since I don’t write musical notation as well as they do. Heaven help me. (And them.)
Here’s a rough draft of the song, Norah Jones style. No biggie. No frills. Super relaxed. Nothing to write home about. Really mellow and simple.
Just my friends singing, playing guitar, having fun, relaxing, while I’m busy scribbling words onto ripped paper, having the best time of my life.
This piece was inspired by The Memoirist’s September Prompt: Music Memoir.
Thank you to The Memoirist and editor KiKi Walter for such a wonderful place to read, write and create on Medium. Here’s a link to this prompt:
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