SECOND TIME AROUND

Having achieved a real sense of achievement from the first workshops I attended with HTWS, I enrolled in a second sprint. I was reborn as a Llama!

TO KILL OR DIE FOR

This is one of my favourite prompts: it was called ‘Permission to Steal’. For clarity, the only thing taken as inspiration! We were tasked with choosing one of our favourite songs, and after analysing the structure, the vibe, the chord progressions, etc., we created something of our own. I took inspiration from Never Tear Us Apart by INXS – one of the most glorious love songs of the 1980s / ever.

After completing my demo, I was genuinely happy with the song. It was the first track I uploaded to Soundcloud.

I KNOW YOU

This song is dedicated to fear. Writing to an emotion is an interesting prompt – write as if that emotion is another person: talk to it, tell it how you feel, tell it how it makes you feel.

As much as I liked this brief, the song will likely become a parts-song. Although I was disappointed in the end result, the whole point of the workshops is not to write the perfect song but to build discipline and learn new techniques. If I do in the future use elements of this track, I’ll reference them but it’s likely that this song will never be heard of again ….

OPEN YOUR EYES

I don’t actually remember what the topic of Prompt 3 but I wrote this about unrequited love from the perspective of a fatalist! This song has promise – I’m happy with the demo but it will be re-recorded. I am very happy with the lyrics.

SEE HOW THEY RUN

Prompt 4 was all about the bridge. Typically, a bridge will follow a chorus and provide contrast to the rest of the composition. There’s often a change of key and bridges provide a bit of variety from the verse, chorus, verse, chorus etc. Bridges can build tension and create additional layers – lyrically, bridges are often where you’ll find a twist in the story!

This song has legs (pun intended) and once a better-quality recording is ready, I’ll upload to Soundcloud but here are the lyrics.

PRODUCTION IMPROVEMENTS REQUIRED

One thing that has become very clear during the second workshop is that my production skills need to improve! This is something I’ll be working on in 2025!

[28.12.24 / CT]