"Landing Lights" (Lindsay) - CBSC #17

I probably won't finish this project before school starts, but I'm suddenly ok with that. Because I wrote this song tonight. The Casio PT-80, it seems, has struck again. That Bossa Nova beat, oh Lord, I just can't get enough.

I have a lot of material for Lindsay, so I didn't use much of it. Sometimes its not about writing about a memory with someone but the memory of how you feel with that person.

I feel like a better person around Lindsay. I also get waaaaaay more studying done. I could sing about a lot of things about Lindsay or write a song about memories we've made, but I didn't want to do that. I wanted something more and I wanted something simple.

This some kind of continues where "Jericho" left off. Everybody needs someone else. In this song I went with a theme of flight, so parachutes and aeroplanes. It's a stressful year for me, but Lindsay is one of those people that when I start talking about things that stress me out they actually don't stress me out anymore and I don't have anything to say. I like that version of me better.

"Smoke Machine" (Karl) - CBSC #16

Karl is UCM Treasurer. I am a worship leader with lots of big ideas. It's an unavoidable conflict of interest sometimes.

So this song is a list of all the things I've asked for and a focus on the one thing I really, really, really want

A new bass amp.

That thing is the bane of my existence. It weighs too much, it clunks, it shorts out. Even the thought makes me shudder in rage.
But today instead of filling with rage I picked up my trusty ukelele. That's right, it's back!

"Writing Songs is Easy!" (Janelle) - CBSC #15

It's been a strange few days. I've taken time off from songs to do grad school apps (which I haven't finished) and spent a lot of time eating, sleeping, and questioning the life decisions I've made. Oh, and there was Christmas. Sooooo much Christmas.

I knew I was going to bust out the Casio sometime. I had to on this one. Janelle declared her intention to have song by saying "I expect magic". Therefore, this started out under the weight of so many expectations that suddenly flew away when my trusty PT-80 kicked in with the "bossa nova" beat. Key of G.

Early Song Standings

I don't know if anyone reads this or if anyone cares, but it's helpful for me in keeping track of this whole song-venture. An adventure which started 16 days ago and now totals 14 songs. Now that it's Christmas I guess this is something of an ADVENTure. Ok that was so corny. But don't sweat me, I'm busy writing songs.

So here's the top songs, in terms of view counts:
10. 2-3 = Negative Fun! (Derek and Kris)
9. I Wish (Sabine)
8. Dancing Feet (Andrea)
7. Rambling Heart (Esther)
6. Daughter (Diane)
5. Bus Buddies (Justin)
4. Tall Grass (Caitlin)
3. Jericho (Michelle)
2. Let's Toss The Disc Around! (Steven)
1. Animal Suits (Thomas)

The results lean toward the early songs. I feel that the songs I've released in the last 3 days have been the best. "Crooked" has already racked up over 30 views in 3 days. Ok, it's not Antoine Dodson numbers, but it's good considering my first video ever still only has 80 and it's been up for like, four years.

"The Lake" (Jocelyn) - CBSC #14

This is my most personal song yet and when I write personal things they tend to come out really catchy. That's probably why this song is just 3 choruses loosely tied together.

The song refers to a night I had in Calgary back in May. I flew out there for a wedding and only a few days before my aunt had passed away. She lost a losing battle to a brain tumor. Although it was expected it was still hard and especially difficult because I wasn't home with my family.

The house I was staying at had a lake and Jocelyn and I sat on the dock while I cried through it. But now Jocelyn doesn't live near me and I don't see her as much. We used to be neighbors but now every time she's in town is an event. We never just sit and have "heart to hearts" and this song laments that loss.

"Nightingale" (Lauren) - CBSC #13

Merry Christmas Eve! Today is also my friend Lauren's birthday so I pushed her song ahead a day or two.

I've been working on this song for awhile. A couple months back I was really into old standards ("Wee Small Hours", "Dream a Little Dream", "What a Wonderful World") I loved the way the chords sounded on the guitar so I started working on this chord progression. It seemed right for Lauren.

I think the words are some of my most poetic yet but they're also quite simple. The song works for Lauren because she is very free spirited. I mean, she had dreads, you don't get more "free spirit" than that.

"Crooked" (Courtney)- CBSC #12

This is the 12th song on here but the first one I wrote of all of them. In fact, I wrote this song the same night I started the whole challenge, it was this song that gave me the idea.

I'd met with Courtney earlier in the week and we'd both shared a little bit of our story. It's interesting to hear everything that people go through before you even meet them. But then, afterward, I sort of chickened out. I started worrying that I was going to be a bad friend, that i was only going to be around for a few more months, and all sorts of little worries. So I wrote this song to fight back against that feeling.

I borrowed a line from Martin Luther: 'God can draw a straight line with a crooked stick." I liked the idea of it and I liked the idea of a song progressing from doubt to affirmation. Enjoy!

"Daughter" (Diane) - CBSC #11

This song has the most "story" so far so I'm going to post the lyrics after the story.

Last night I had the best intention to go to bed early. I signed off facebook and thought "hey why read the bible when you can sing it!" They say that John Lennon wrote "A Day In The Life" with a copy of the paper on his piano's music stand. I meant to open the bible and do something similar but before I could this little song popped out.

I love Diane dearly, but I'm not the only one. It makes me sad sometimes when she can't see how wonderful she is and how much God loves her. So I really felt that I "co-wrote" this song. Talking about God and singing about him on the internet is a scary idea because people are mean. But I thought Diane needed to hear it and other people did too.

Needless to say the sudden creative impulse I was blessed with left me awake until 3am when I had to leave my house at 8am. I also had an english final today so that accounts for (what I consider) a lackluster performance. But it's the words that count and I hope this song makes the final cut so someone else can sing it. In no way to I consider myself some sort of prophet or even a piano player. I'm just another pretender sometimes. I probably need this song as much as Diane or you and somebody, really, anyone. At first I was worried about being the "voice of God" thinking maybe this song challenge was over inflating my ego. But it's not, it's just a creative exercise and a nice helping of truth.

In the end I liked the juxtaposition of an imperfect recording and a perfect God. That, and I felt like my landlords were tired of it coming through the vent. It's a good song, but not 50 times in a row.



Lyrics:
You weren't there
When I spoke the planets into motion
When I filled up the oceans
And hovered over the mist

You weren't there
When Satan fell right out of Heaven
When I hurled the great Leviathan
When I was betrayed by a kiss

So don't tell me what I need to know
Don't tell me what I should know

Because I was there
Each time the world had left you crying
With it's cheating and it's lying
And all you needed was a dad

I was there
Every time you felt you
Unwanted and lonely
It always made me sad


So I'll tell you what you need to know


Don't be foolish
I don't know where you heard it
Don't know why you think you're not worth it
I've seen how you're made and you're perfect

I can make the waves stop
I can make a thunderstorm
I can take a some dry flesh
And stick it on dry bones

I can do anything
I can make old new
I can make anything
I chose to make you

You'll always be my little child
Always be my little girl
I'm always gonna hold you tight
But I can't make sure

That you'll never get hurt
That'll never cry
Just know if you do
I'll wipe the tears from your eyes

"I Wish" (Sabine) - CBSC #10

Disclaimer: I do not play the piano. I like to pretend I can, by looking serene and pushing that mysterious pedal thingy ever so often, BUT I do not play.

So here's a song I wrote on the piano. This is for Sabine. She is the outreach coordinator at UCM and like my job, that is super stressful. But she can do it because she has a big heart and a pretty smile. This song is meant to remind her of everything she brings to the table, how I've grown from knowing her, and remind her DO NOT PANIC. It's all gonna be ok.

"Rambling Heart" (Esther)- CBSC #9

I thought about quitting last night. This whole challenge. And music in general. It can never sustain itself, it's too high then too low.

I thought about what Esther might say that. She would probably just smile. She has a great smile. It's very reassuring.

Esther and I have started a holiday. It's like Thanksgiving, but instead you just have a Guiness and talk. It's Thanks-guiness.

Esther has a knack for pulling out my wit. When I'm around her I'm always at my funniest for some reason. It's probably her smile that does it. This song could have been quite silly. But I wanted to write a SONG, not a "song". Not something quite goofy. I've been feeling stressed the last couple days, like I can't relax. I can't sleep either.

So I wrote about the other way Esther makes me feel. She makes me feel reassured. She's the person I go to when it gets hard. Basically I go to her to drink beer and whine. That's really what this song is about but in saying that I probably ruined it's beauty.

It is a beautiful song. The best I've written this week.

"2-3= negative fun!" (Derek and Kris) -CBSC #8

Last night I realized that I was writing two very similar songs. Derek's song kept getting mixed up with my song for Kris. Therefore I merged them. I'm not sure if this is a rule breaking thing or not. But then again, I started the contest and made the rules. I am the rulemaker and I say what goes!

This song is all about stupid in jokes that aren't actually in jokes at all because they're either from youtube or The Simpsons. Particularly "Homie The Clown" which Derek, Kris and I have watched more than a few times this year.

One time Derek told me that when he feels stressed about school he types "Fat People Falling Down" into youtube and watches this 8-minute techno vid of well... fat people. And they fall down. Off bikes, out of trees, into puddles. That video is a good companion piece to this.


There have been so many time I've gone to their house and heard some sort of youtube in the back ground.
I worried this song might be too short. But I think it's so simple I can't even expand on it. Does life get better than sitting around watching TV? No. At least, not with Derek and Kris.

"Lazybones" (Alba)-CBSC #7

So I'm a week into it now. I'm starting to worry about a few things: 1. I will run out of ideas 2. people will lose interest.


This song was completely different than the one I started with. But there isn't much to say about it, it pretty much describes itself for you. It's one of my goofier songs. I'm trying to balance things with goofy and serious.

I'm trying to make sure people don't lose interest.

i like that the internet has turned everyone into e e cummings and there is no longer any need for punctuation or capitalization

"Jericho" (Michelle)- CBSC #6

This song is a biblical allusion for about 10 seconds and then turns into my own confession.

Early this year I thought I was the shizz. The difference is now I know if for sure. Ok, so there will be some humor. I thought I had it so figured out I would graciously show some younger students "how to live" the Karen way.

As it turned out, I needed people as much as they needed me. This song starts quite pompous, placing myself as Joshua and Michelle as a wall that needed breaking down. What happens by the end is that all the time I was "banging my drum" and telling her that I was going to bring down her walls, my own wall was damaged and came crumbling down.

This song is truth, pure and simple. I agonized over it for 6 days. I had the first half down and started to question it. So I pulled out my banjo and the second half poured out. Those are the best songs.

This song originally included a verse about French-speaking peas throwing slushies at my head. But I decided to keep it real instead.

"Bus Buddies" (Justin)- CBSC #5

This is the best song ever.

In fact this is more than just a song, this is a multimedia cavalcade of friendship that sprang from my pen at 2:30am when my dog wouldn't stop licking my face because of a thunderstorm.

I think it wasn't a thunder storm last night. It was a brain storm.

Enjoy the fruits of my nuttiness, as you can tell, I did.

"Dancing Feet" (Andrea)- CBSC #4

This song is for Andrea.

Writing a song for Andrea has been my most complicated venture yet. So I started at the end and I moved backwards. I thought of the one thing I wanted to say and framed it in another.

"There's such a lack of words to describe you"

It's true, I actually don't know what to say because there's been so much in our history. There's been breakfasts, dinners, teas, yelling, crying, laughing. But there hasn't been dancing, well, not much anyway. You see, Andrea has come out of her shell since I met her. I keep hearing from her roommates that when she went to Liberia this summer she discovered the art of dance. She has told me this as well but I have no evidence to support this claim.

What I do know is that Andrea seems happier lately. Not that she wasn't happy before, but it's a new happy. A more "full" happy, like there were dark clouds that dancing lifted from her.

I don't mention anyone by name in these songs. That's because I want them to be inspired by one and become universal. So, maybe, someday, Andrea's folk-rock anthem will inspire millions of shy 6th grade girls who are terrified of dancing. And their black clouds will lift too, when they put on their dancing shoes.



So far I have surpassed myself in this challenge. I am genuinely enjoying music. A few days ago, after the first song launched, I looked at my list and got discouraged. But so far, songs have just been falling out of my open mouth and open heart. I'm appreciative of all the feedback I'm getting and I look forward to posting more.

'Let's Toss the Disc Around!" (Steven) - CBSC #3

This song is about Ultimate Frisbee!

Probably one of my best experiences at UBC has been playing rec frisbee. I've been on the same team, The God Squad, since my first year. It's regrettable that I haven't played much this year. After writing this song it makes me miss it. After all, Ultimate is a pretty important sport for my family, that's how my sister met her husband.


Steven is a big time Ultimate player. Not only is he enthusiastic for the sport, but he's good too. He's also one of the smartest people I know. Originally I felt I had to write something really philosophical, possibly all in latin, but then I remembered that Steven gets a great deal of joy from playing ultimate and just "tossing the disc around".

Steven's enthusiasm is catching, this year we had our biggest turn out yet and had a huge team. We're in the playoffs, but they're next term. One year I was on the team we got t-shirts because we were the champs. This song is for the future and the by-gone days of a team with only 7 people wearing mismatched shirts, going all the way to the T-Shirt prize.

We also attend the same evening church service. Probably to make time for both frisbee and the Lord.

To capture this joy, I used a mandolin, because I find it's very jangly and fun. Similar to the sport of frisbee.

"Tall Grass" CBSC #2

This song is for Caitlin.

Caitlin is a very unique individual. Because of this I felt that regular instruments would not suffice for her song. So I dug out my thumb piano. It is an extremely fun instrument to play and for some reason, to me, it just sounded like Caitlin.

As far as the lyrics, I decided to go with a natural theme. I liked the idea of grass obscuring someone's view of the world. I like it because by the time I finished I realized that this song was about me. Caitlin and I have both had a very academicly challenging year and often when I would see her on campus we would be optimistic, but worn down. It's funny how things pile up on you like growing tall grass. So this song I decided would have a theme of hope in hopelessness. After all that's what friendships should do, give you a reason to carry on even when the grass is up above your head.

It's like a corn maze! It's better to navigate with friends!

The thumb piano, recording wise, was really lifeless sounding. It normally echoes much more. So I added some guitar to build up in the end. That's why the random switch in instrument. Enjoy!

"Animal Suits" (Thomas) -CBSC #1

This song is for my good friend Thomas.

Thomas and I have been friends since our first year of University. When it comes to UCM, Thomas and I have been tag teaming a lot of crazy things for the last four years. This year, he's the club president and I'm the worship coordinator. Being in an executive role, for me anyway, has always meant unlimited power and total control.

Thomas has a different view of that. That's not to say that Thomas isn't fun. For some reason when we're together we come up with some of the craziest ideas for UCM. In fact it was Thomas who brought in the gorilla suit.

The animal suit idea came true, but if it were up to me there would be smoke machines and children's choirs. Thomas makes sure that UCM is grounded in the real world and focuses on the community. But seriously, a smoke machine would enhance all that.

It's fitting that the first song is his because he is always supportive of my schemes. It's also fitting because he was the first to question how feasible this could be when I tagged close to 30 people.

This song is about team work and how amazing things can happen when two people have a common goal and limitless creativity.

The Christmas Break Songwriting Challenge

Recently I realized two things: 1.) I never make time for music and 2.) I love challenges.

So I harnessed my basic knowledge of the interwebz and put together a little social media experiment/challenge. I wrote a note on facebook, tagged a bunch of friends, and then waited. I told them that if they "declared their intention" I would write a song about them, record it on youtube and post it on their wall.

Ok that's fun, but I like competition. So, the videos with the top view count I will perform at a little "Evening with...." concert. Potentially that will be recorded but that would require, like, mics and stuff.

The youtube vids are demo quality. But the heart is there and the melody is with it. My in-computer mic buzzes and sometimes I'm not all the way rehearsed, but songs are songs and when you give someone a song it's special.

As a tie in, so I don't have to talk as much, I'm putting links on the videos here, to my blog. I'll post little stories and other info about the song so people can learn about the process.

It's Creative Voyeurism!

So begins the CBSC!

Boxes

Last night some of my friends and I had a "Music Appreciation Evening". What we do is each bring 3 songs and take turns going in a circle, playing our song, and talking about them. My friend Karl brought this one last night. It's called "Boxes" by Charlie Winston.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wNFn4pKoA0&feature=related

Who shall we propose to be ?
Who am I supposed to be ?
With these empty building blocks
I could make a thousand me's

I don't really wanna understand
Everything in my world
It spoils the fun for me
Come on darling you can take my hand
Blowing kisses in the wind
We'll fly away in our dreams
From the boxes they'll put us in
-----------------------
It's a really beautiful song. I've really been appreciating the last few days. I have been so surrounded with people, but it's also problematic. I'm finding that I don't really like being alone lately. For awhile, at the end of the year, all I wanted to do was curl up and sleep in the quiet. But now, a day away from leaving, I don't want anything but noise. I've become addicted to my iPod, but not because there's a song that I'm really into, I just like any sound. Direct into my ears so my thoughts can't go out of control when there's silence.

I feel like there are so many building blocks and a thousand me's.
There's always music pumping through me. Throbbing bass and pounding drums. It's like a reminder to my heart to keep on beating. So it keeps beating.

I've done a lot of changing at UBC. This week I was calling it "growing up", but I'm not sure I have. I've just changed over and over and over again. I think about all the different versions of "me" there has been. I've conquered old fears and made new ones. I've said goodbye to old friends and made new ones. I've been in and then out, up and then down, and I just want a place to land.

I just want to settle on one me out of the thousand