Behold, the key change in the last verse of Girls on the Beach.
Eb Cm7 Fm7 Bb7 As the sun dips out of sight E C#7 F#m7 Am6 Couples on the beach at night
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The mind of Brian
April 20, 2009 – 9:24 pm
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February is album writing month
March 1, 2009 – 10:51 pm
In another life, I wrote these songs
July 18, 2008 – 11:36 pm
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So I’m digging through the scores of songs I’ve written, re-learning old favorites, building a new set to play out live.
And I have a terrible memory for stuff. I feel the chord changes, and know these songs cold on some subliminal level, but the fingerings become a mystery to me after six months or so. After four years, or ten years, forget about it. Unless I left accurate tablature, I can never play these songs exactly the same again.
But I can try. And as I play through things tonight, I’m amazed at the little things I learn that I actually created. It’s like the goldfish, who comes around the corner in his fish bowl, every single time, and says “Hey, look guys, cool castle!”
Some of these old songs, songs that have never been released, are amazing. Yeesh, why didn’t “Accomplishing, Believing” make the album cut for First Words. And the bridge to “Great Mistake” makes my hair stand on end.
Oh well… maybe on the next album.
Finish everything
December 5, 2007 – 7:16 am
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Recently, I gave advice to someone who has been writing songs for years, but who has never been able to “make a record.”
Mr. Lennon was asked once to give advice to aspiring songwriters. His #1 piece of advice? “Finish everything. Don’t dwell on things.”
Go through your list of songs, and be brutal. Set aside anything that’s lost its magic for you. You’ll find some songs which had great potential, which you sadly have overworked while you learned to produce/record/mix. They’ve served you well, but they’re never going to be finished. So let them be.
A friend urged me to do that once, and spun it so nicely. “That stuff will be in your early years box set, “he said, “when you’re a star and have finished your 10th major release.”
Chin up though: whatever you set aside was not wasted work. It’s helped you to learn how to write and engineer, entertained you, and inspired you to keep writing… Remember, you can’t waste time writing. Whatever you create, good or bad, is all part of the process.
-G