Interesting assignment - I found it fairly restrictive on the one hand (I REALLY tried my best to stick to the template, HONEST!) yet full of possibilities too....I've even managed to get a bit of honest-to-God imagery in there, which is unlike me! Tried not to give anything away in the first verse, but the second verse should give it away....
Song For The Lady.
A single strand of sunlight makes its way through the blinds
Plays upon a small box on a shelf in the alcove
Like a lightning flash my eyes are drawn to the light
I see your name it's burned into my retina,
As it's burned into my memories and my life
Like a lightning flash my eyes are drawn to the light
CHORUS
Like a lightning flash my eyes are drawn to the light
I close the blinds and suffocate the rays
They think I'm crazy I still count the days
And like a lightning flash my eyes are drawn to the light
Underneath the kitchen sink my shaver's in there somewhere,
And so's a box containing your collar and your lead
And those memories flood back into my head
I see you walking oh so proudly, your head up in the air
As I remember walking oh so proudly by your side
And those memories flood back into my head
CHORUS
Those memories flood back into my head
It's been eight years now since you've been gone
They say I'm a fool to keep hanging on
But those memories still flood back into my head....
A single strand of sunlight makes its way through the blinds,
Highlights a brass plate on a wooden box....
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Just in case you didn't get it.... Lady was the dog my then 7-y-o daughter brought back to our house one day. A stray that'd been hanging around for weeks and was half starved..."please, can we keep her, dad?" We did - and had ten great years with the most loving, loyal dog in the world.
Eight years, and I still miss that dog every single day.....she wasn't just Lady, or even A Lady, to me and my daughter - and even to Marilyn, who only knew her a couple of years - she was THE Lady!
:D :D :D
Vic
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Hi Vic,
Good start :D It's a nice tribute to your family pet. Those fond memories of loyalty and love stay with us for years :wink: I'm surprised I didn't remember you writing about The Lady for Y8W18 (write about a dog).....or did you and I missed it?
I'll be curious what this would sound like because the assignment instructions "breaks" one of the rules I read about where if you repeat a lyric, the melody should repeat as well....also where the repeated lines fall is not consistent....is it supposed to be a build up or pay-off "hook" melody line?
That being said, I think you followed the "Mad Lib" close enough to say you definitely did the assignment, but as a song, I don't see the connection between the metaphor and meaning/purpose of why the song was written......
Like a lightning flash my eyes are drawn to the light.....maybe if the emphasis was on the small box as a metaphor for death/shared life experiences/memories.........
.........correct me if I am wrong.....Does the box contain "The Lady's" ashes?........even if I am wrong, consider '"the box" being the focus of the metaphor rather than the simile of "lightning flash"....I know it's hard to get a metaphor in this assignment. I kept wanting to use similes as well. :roll:
take or leave what suits your purpose.......and HAPPY NEW YEAR in 2012!!! :mrgreen:
James
.........correct me if I am wrong.....Does the box contain "The Lady's" ashes?........
Aaargh.....therein lies a lesson on the value of constructive criticism! Yes, you are quite correct, but it's not exactly clear is it? I'll definitely have to work that in somehow. Thanks, James!
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Nice story about the dog Vic. :)
Yes, the box....The 'not giving it' away worked all too well for me. My imagination leapt ahead of you and I thought "Grandma's ashes!"... The vivid imaginery of devotion at the start all seemed to fit, but then I had to reconcile you taking the old girl out for walkies on a lead.... Unconventional, but still quite touching - maybe the old girl was losing the plot and prone to wandering onto the road, peeing on lamp-posts, etc and needed a loving but guiding hand. :?
Of course, the confusion was only first-time and temporary. Good that you had such a good relationship with the dog. We've been dog-less for a a few years, so maybe it's time we fixed that.
Good luck with the music.
Cheers,
Chris
