It has been a productive trip so far. I have taken some great photos and written 3 songs so far. My idea is that once I am back to Singapore, I will select some of my most beloved pictures and post them in my website and let people vote for the best photo.
Back to my songwriting activity, on the Christmas eve I was with Cynthia in a very porsh Japanese restaurant in Jakarta (S$60 per head). After 3 glasses of Martini, I started writing the lyrics onto the napkin. Ever since I named my upcoming album as Eternally Thankful, an idea came up. Why don’t I write a title song called Eternally Thankful? And so I did. The first verse goes something like this.
Old man knocked at my door, asked me what I adore
All that glitters aren’t that all, be careful what you wish for
And I managed to finish writing the song by Christmas day.
My brother-in-law, Eric, commented that most of my songs are in minor key, which is true. I then asked him how to write major key songs and he showed me a few chords. I said to myself, why not give it a try? I have fun with it. Eric jammed with me on his keyboard with just the first 3 lines of the song. Fun.
Writing a major key song is kind of tough because I am not that used to it. Although Eric and his fiance Julia commented that the song, titled Sunflower has a bit of a dark side here and there, I am indeed very much happy with the result. I am the dark man. What can I do? Extract of the lyrics below.
Sunflower that’s what you’ve become
Sunflower we’ve had so much fun
Sunflower you don’t have a face
Sunflower do you know my face?
Next day, Eric showed me some interesting chords progression with the verses in minor keys and the chorus switches to major keys. Woah, that blew my mind away! And within minutes, the structure of the song was out.
Perhaps it was under the high effect (had some wine and port) and most likely because of the regularity of the song, the end result to me sounds like a trance song with a lot of interesting repeating melody that kind of stick into your head if you know what I mean. Song title is The Words You Said and the bridge of the song as follows.
You are the charm of my life, honey in my cup of tea
I want to spend my life with the concept of you
You are not making easier for me, getting lovlier each day
And I run, I run, I fall into your embrace.
Eric asked me if I could send him a recorded version of the songs and he is keen to take it to his friends who are in the music industry. Hmmmm. That could be interesting.