In my ongoing online songwriting retreat I was challenged to write a song by picking up an instrument which I hadn’t used before. I had a go yesterday, and it was a fun struggle. The instrument of choice was a mini-steel drum I bought on a whim a while ago. Sounds a bit like a xylophone.
I had hardly touched it until this attempt. Apart from the guitar the only instruments I’ve really glanced at over the last 40 years, and then only briefly, are a piano keyboard and a harmonica. At some point I think I would like to learn to play both a little bit. But yesterday was about experimenting with music from a different kind of soundscape.
The particular instrument definitely influenced the way the song emerged. And the kind of song that emerged. It took a while, but I’m quite happy with the direction things are moving at the moment considering the learning curve.
And though it’s not a finished song at all, here is the lyric so far. You can probably see how my meditation practice and general outlook is starting to haunt my lyrics. Inevitably, I imagine.
These are the days of our lives (never to return)
This is where we will decide (what we’re gonna learn)
Every breath we’ll ever breathe (never to return)
This is what we have achieved (and it’s)
Just A Moment In Time
Just a Moment In Time
Just a Moment In Time
Just a Moment in Time