I just finished a new song called "Halo Made of Tin" and thought it would be fun to talk through the process as a good example of how to write a song. Not often are the ideas and steps fresh in one's mind. So here we go…..
After listening to a couple of great traditional bluegrass performers, words like angels, mountains, bells, whiskey and devils were fresh in my head. As were classic tunes - complete with fiddle, dobro and mandolin. I sent Gordie off to explore and dove in. I heard "One more dance across the floor"… yuk, one more chance, one more drink, one more kiss…you get the picture. Then out popped "silver tongue". Really overdone but worth reworking.
As soon as I got silver tongue, I heard...."has left me cold like ice in my veins". Often when you are at this stage in a song, you really don't have any idea what the song is about. In this case, I thought it might be about a preacher who was a conman. So I started writing everything about that…good book, Bible, sins, angels, preaching, praying, but the words didn't seem real. And I didn't believe at this point that anyone would care about it.
So I thought maybe it was about Bush. But who would really care about him either? We all have opinions about that. But just in case, I wrote about him for a while. Mask, using God's name, secrets, backroom stuff. And that didn't resonate either. I kept at this process for about two hours until I realized the song was about a guy who could make women care about him, only to leave at the first sign of commitment. We've all seen those, but it was the challenge of making that fresh that made the song so exciting.
Here are the words…
Halo Made of Tin copyright 2005 Jane Eamon
Your silver tongue has left me cold like ice in my veins
All those lies of love you told have marked me like a stain
I know I fell, only happened once but you somehow drew me in
A smiling angel with dirty wings and a halo made of tin.
You read to me a list of all the sins you don't commit
Behind your back you hid the book of the ones you won't admit
Got caught up in your let me help you find your comfort spin
Didn't see you were an angel with a halo made of tin
How many times have you used this line
I'm just misunderstood
I bought the patter, took the bait
Like a fish, ya hooked me good
Now I've got my armour on; your lies can't penetrate
I look at you with blinders off; see the mask behind the face
You're nothing but a cheap and tawdry two bit seraphim
A smiling angel with dirty wings and a halo made of tin
Until next month, KEEP WRITING!!!
"Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it."
~Dr, Laurence J. Peter
Jane Eamon is a prolific performing songwriter in the Okanagan Valley. Veteran of many songwriting workshops, she's currently one of the hosts of the popular Songwriters in the Round series in Kelowna. Email her at: info@janeandgord.com.
Visit her website: www.janeandgord.com