This weeks topic is a rough one for me. I don't remember much of the years between age 10 and 17, for more than the just the obvious reasons. Lol. So I kind of went with a world events theme. This is a rough draft and I don't have a title yet, but I have a power ballad in my head. Hey, it's about the eighties, It has to be a power ballad.
Cleaning the cobwebs
from the corners
of my mind
Throws me back
to simpler times
Of Saturday morning cartoons
in a middle class
working man's home
Now it just seems like a
visit to the Twilight Zone
Memories of school are
few and far between
Most end up as nightmares
Do you understand
what I mean?
Reagan was in office
we were on the brink
of nuclear war
so we just drank,
smoked, and swore
I saw a hero gunned down
in New York town
All we could do is stare
as "all you need is love"
filled the air
Then someone shot Reagan
and they shot the Pope
a plague descended upon us
and we watched
Challenger explode
So we spent our Friday nights
on old country roads
with a case of beer
and a bag of blow
Great verses! :mrgreen:
We must be around the same age, b/c your imagery triggered a lot of memories for me as well around that time.
Looks like you just need a chorus....maybe something simple like
Those were the days
Those were the days
God help us
Yes, those were the days
Thanks for sharing.
James
You do a great job evoke memories with simple and elegant lines. Nice work!
You might find, as you try singing it out, that you can benefit from dropping a word or two. For example, the "of" at the very start of the second stanza can easily be left off, which drops the listener right into the action.
And even though Vic's topic was about school (and remember all topics are meant to be good starting points - quite often a song will go where it wants to go), I'm not sure the use of "school" in your third stanza really works, since there are no other mentions of it at all in the song:
Memories of school are
few and far between
Most end up as nightmares
Do you understand
what I mean?
Since you set up the song well with "simpler times" in the first stanza, why not go with one of the following:
Memories of yesterdays are
few and far between
Most end up as nightmares
Do you understand
what I mean?
or
Memories of simpler days are
few and far between
Most end up as nightmares
Do you understand
what I mean?
Just a thought.
Can definitely hear the power ballad going here, but the natural pulse of the lyric also lends itself to a gritty blues-rock style.
Looking forward to more.
Peace
