I attended the Songwriting course. It was fascinating - thank you Laura. If anyone is thinking of doing this on catchup (or perhaps another of the School of Songs [SoS] courses live) I can very highly recommend it.
I’m (of course) a fan and also a beginning, hobbyist songwriter. That’s how I entered the course - I’ve been playing guitar for a while.
Lecture 1 was intimidating even before Laura had begun as the hosts had given us 20 minutes to write and record a ‘song’/Verse and upload it to the SoS database. We didn’t have to of course, but I wanted to ‘get the full experience’, so I did.
****
“From the Paintings” - based on one of the Hopper paintings.
They make her feel like a child
Been traipsing through their thoughts for a while
The last nights not forgotten,
Something said, little and often,
I’m not sure this will go another mile.
****
Not amazing but I was proud of myself for doing *something*.
The lecture (on Naive Songwriting) was very illuminating. My other half watched a rerun of the video (and the rest of the course) and was also captivated. Laura has such an easy, conversational, charming delivery and the topics/stories were always a treat.
At the end of the first week I’d completed my homework to write a more complete song (well a verse and a chorus in my case) upload a performance of it *and* attend a ‘song share’ where we would be put into groups (I had a group of 4) to check out and give feedback on one another's pieces. I was (of course) with experienced songwriters, so it was super-intimidating and seriously testing my anxiety levels. But again, I did it. Proud of my actions, if not my ‘art’. They were very kind.
Here it is:
****
Next Move - based on another one of the Hopper paintings.
[Verse]
A rattle of china opens the scene
Detail a-side she’s almost serene
With gaze cast to mirror,
A new notion fills her
[Pre-Chorus]
And this thought signals the change,
She now knows the next move in this game
[Chorus]
And Oooh, how it soothes her.
Oooh, it re-news her.
[Outro]
Oooh, ooh.
****
So, here I am being my childlike narcissist. Trying not to care what you may make of this (an experiment).
My adult introversion will not allow me to share the recordings. That’s far too nauseating a prospect (No!).
Horribly, I was hit with a bereavement during the rest of the course and whilst I continued to attend (and it lifted me so - thank you again, Laura) I was not in a place to write and attempt to perform.
However, I do resolve to get back to it - I can access the materials anytime.
I’ll get there soonish, I hope. I have a very cool Fender Lead II that is calling to me. And I know I can do better. Naive narcissist me just needs to give it another go.
Thanks once again for all these essays. Are we coming to the end of the Tarot series now? Or did I misunderstand one of your previous messages?
I had a similar experience in the songwriting course, too. Thank you for sharing. I only finished the first two songs and completely crumbled, psychologically, on the third.
Laura, thank you so much for another incredible piece of writing! As I was reading this, I felt inspired to write a poem about the painting Room in Brooklyn-- it's truly incredible how art produces art in a mutualistic cycle of collective human genius.
I love the leaps you make in these essays Laura! I would be so excited to buy a pretty illustrated hardback collection for all my friends, I hope you plan to publish something like that!?!
The first time I saw you was at the 9:30 club— you told everyone about your midnight DC ramble for a bottle of water :) You were wearing a long red dress and white sneakers. So fun to see the tale reappear here. 🪩💡⛅️
I've often felt envious of this sort of charismatic person. They can be very alluring. In the uk we tend to like to pull them down a peg or two, in the US they often seem to be lauded. Women are told we mustn't be full of ourselves, but particularly as a English woman on the shy side, the idea of being full of one's self as opposed to emptied out feels like a radical act. What else are we supposed to be full of anyhow? Or are we supposed to have given all that we have to others in a kind of polite obsequious fawning? I would like to be more full of myself, brave enough to be unbothered by being witnessed in all my eccentricity.
Beautiful post, I love the descriptiveness of your experiences, and the idea of the tasks set in your class. This is something I will definitely have a go at, thank you!
I found the Edward hopper practice really interesting.
There’s a song by the weakerthans called ‘Sun in an empty room’ inspired by that hopper painting, and the feelings transmitted by the arrangement and structure as well as the imagery in the lyrics are profound.
John k Samson also used an art installation as part of the inspiration for ‘heart of the continent’ among other imagery, the ‘crumpled dark’ references.
He does this kind of thing often and I feel like he’s one of the most original and underrated songwriters.
It's worth reading about the artist Josephine Nivison, featured in the top painting, her ambitions and the relationship to Hopper. Especially in relation to narcissism.
I love your writing and would read a book of yours.
Well, here goes nothing…
I attended the Songwriting course. It was fascinating - thank you Laura. If anyone is thinking of doing this on catchup (or perhaps another of the School of Songs [SoS] courses live) I can very highly recommend it.
I’m (of course) a fan and also a beginning, hobbyist songwriter. That’s how I entered the course - I’ve been playing guitar for a while.
Lecture 1 was intimidating even before Laura had begun as the hosts had given us 20 minutes to write and record a ‘song’/Verse and upload it to the SoS database. We didn’t have to of course, but I wanted to ‘get the full experience’, so I did.
****
“From the Paintings” - based on one of the Hopper paintings.
They make her feel like a child
Been traipsing through their thoughts for a while
The last nights not forgotten,
Something said, little and often,
I’m not sure this will go another mile.
****
Not amazing but I was proud of myself for doing *something*.
The lecture (on Naive Songwriting) was very illuminating. My other half watched a rerun of the video (and the rest of the course) and was also captivated. Laura has such an easy, conversational, charming delivery and the topics/stories were always a treat.
At the end of the first week I’d completed my homework to write a more complete song (well a verse and a chorus in my case) upload a performance of it *and* attend a ‘song share’ where we would be put into groups (I had a group of 4) to check out and give feedback on one another's pieces. I was (of course) with experienced songwriters, so it was super-intimidating and seriously testing my anxiety levels. But again, I did it. Proud of my actions, if not my ‘art’. They were very kind.
Here it is:
****
Next Move - based on another one of the Hopper paintings.
[Verse]
A rattle of china opens the scene
Detail a-side she’s almost serene
With gaze cast to mirror,
A new notion fills her
[Pre-Chorus]
And this thought signals the change,
She now knows the next move in this game
[Chorus]
And Oooh, how it soothes her.
Oooh, it re-news her.
[Outro]
Oooh, ooh.
****
So, here I am being my childlike narcissist. Trying not to care what you may make of this (an experiment).
My adult introversion will not allow me to share the recordings. That’s far too nauseating a prospect (No!).
Horribly, I was hit with a bereavement during the rest of the course and whilst I continued to attend (and it lifted me so - thank you again, Laura) I was not in a place to write and attempt to perform.
However, I do resolve to get back to it - I can access the materials anytime.
I’ll get there soonish, I hope. I have a very cool Fender Lead II that is calling to me. And I know I can do better. Naive narcissist me just needs to give it another go.
Thanks once again for all these essays. Are we coming to the end of the Tarot series now? Or did I misunderstand one of your previous messages?
I had a similar experience in the songwriting course, too. Thank you for sharing. I only finished the first two songs and completely crumbled, psychologically, on the third.
Laura, thank you so much for another incredible piece of writing! As I was reading this, I felt inspired to write a poem about the painting Room in Brooklyn-- it's truly incredible how art produces art in a mutualistic cycle of collective human genius.
I love the leaps you make in these essays Laura! I would be so excited to buy a pretty illustrated hardback collection for all my friends, I hope you plan to publish something like that!?!
The first time I saw you was at the 9:30 club— you told everyone about your midnight DC ramble for a bottle of water :) You were wearing a long red dress and white sneakers. So fun to see the tale reappear here. 🪩💡⛅️
I've often felt envious of this sort of charismatic person. They can be very alluring. In the uk we tend to like to pull them down a peg or two, in the US they often seem to be lauded. Women are told we mustn't be full of ourselves, but particularly as a English woman on the shy side, the idea of being full of one's self as opposed to emptied out feels like a radical act. What else are we supposed to be full of anyhow? Or are we supposed to have given all that we have to others in a kind of polite obsequious fawning? I would like to be more full of myself, brave enough to be unbothered by being witnessed in all my eccentricity.
This is fantastic. Captivating from start to finish as usual. A true de light .
Coming back to this to share the poem I wrote with all you lovely humans:
rippling blue beyond my window,
what is it you see?
that sends your silken fabric over
land and sea to me?
cast a quadrilateral
on the carpet of my room,
take me to the suburb where
you've rented out the moon;
to a world in which
my street exists
but looks as if a dream
where everything is as it seems
and straining at the seams
Thank you, Laura. Your writing always paints a vivid picture with every detail. Superb! 🙌🏼
Really interesting one, thank you Laura
Beautiful post, I love the descriptiveness of your experiences, and the idea of the tasks set in your class. This is something I will definitely have a go at, thank you!
I found the Edward hopper practice really interesting.
There’s a song by the weakerthans called ‘Sun in an empty room’ inspired by that hopper painting, and the feelings transmitted by the arrangement and structure as well as the imagery in the lyrics are profound.
John k Samson also used an art installation as part of the inspiration for ‘heart of the continent’ among other imagery, the ‘crumpled dark’ references.
He does this kind of thing often and I feel like he’s one of the most original and underrated songwriters.
It's worth reading about the artist Josephine Nivison, featured in the top painting, her ambitions and the relationship to Hopper. Especially in relation to narcissism.
https://www.fembio.org/english/biography.php/woman/biography/josephine-nivison-hopper/
Quaker meeting:
https://youtube.com/shorts/vQ63A6WSoLo?si=p33wkKB1rlnBdyJ8
Fantastic writing