Lars68 Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 Been traveling with work and had to spend a few night by myself in a hotel room. Fortunately I brought my little travel guitar and came home with a new song. Raising a young family seldom means enough free time to sit and write a song in such a short time period. I simply love the creative process, and get enormous satisfaction out of writing my simple songs. There is just something wonderful about finding that one word, phrase, or melody line you have been looking for. I'm not very good at it, but I love trying. This time around I set out to write a song about comforting a young child at bedtime, while at the same time worrying about what lies ahead, when the child is grown up and decides to follow his/her own path into the world. This one is in Swedish. It does not feel right to use English when I write something as close to home. As for the lyrics, this might very well be the best I've managed to put together. I did a rough, and not very poetic, translation below. All meaning is there, but none of the rhyme etc. Here is a recording: It's in one take, from start to finish, with vocals and guitar (Hummingbird) at once into the same mic (Myrtle). A touch of reverb and compression added, nothing else. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF BLUE Verse 1 Close your eyes, the most beautiful of blue Put your head down on the pillow and drift off to dreamers' land I caress your hair, no monsters will come tonight Sleep peacefully and go chase the pirates' treasure Chorus 1 You you you are my blood You you are my everything You you you are my blood You you you you are my everything Verse 2 Five cold winters, and four springs now since you came In ten more trips around the sun will you then still want me to sing you this song? Have we drawn all the maps you'll need when that day comes and you'll go search your four-leaf-clover? Chorus 2 Verse 3 I hope you'll find someone to walk like sunshine beside you when the darkness falls It's already been written. Your dream leads you from me But follow it to the end of the line and let no bastards steal it from you. Chorus 3 Repeat verse 1 first half Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 They just grow up and break your heart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars68 Posted September 4, 2018 Author Share Posted September 4, 2018 They just grow up and break your heart. Hope not... Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle fester Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 Lars, good stuff - glad it wasn't in English - because I had a real hard time following the lyrics, thought I was having another one of those flashbacks we've been promised. Anyways - my observation is it takes a few bars, but once you get into the song, it really gels... stops being a guitar being played and someone singing, and melds together into a song. Good job from my view. Rgds - billroy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars68 Posted September 4, 2018 Author Share Posted September 4, 2018 Lars, good stuff - glad it wasn't in English - because I had a real hard time following the lyrics, thought I was having another one of those flashbacks we've been promised. Anyways - my observation is it takes a few bars, but once you get into the song, it really gels... stops being a guitar being played and someone singing, and melds together into a song. Good job from my view. Rgds - billroy I appreciate that, thanks! The guitar playing might be a little too simplistic. If I ever get around to doing a multitrack recording of this song, I´ll see if I can come up with something a little more involved. By the way, I´m extremely happy with my Myrtle mic. Basically, I just throw it out in front of me and start playing. The Hummingbird sounds fine, I think, even though the mic is closer to my mouth than to my guitar. Very few sharp vocal esses on this recording too! Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldCowboy Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 Nice, indeed! There's a great tradition of good songs being written in hotel rooms, as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hall Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 Such places can at times be a sanctuary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 I enjoy songs written to ones children. Good job. I think my all time favorite is Tom T Hall’s ‘I Care’ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 I do not want to hear about it. I am in my late 60s with a young family - a 16-year old daughter and 8 year old son. Apparently my mid-life crisis was to settle down in one place and start a family. It is definitely a young man's game. Probably payback for all the crap I put my parents though coming of age in the 1960s. Gotta say being in a hotel would be a good time to write a song. I can never sleep the first night anyway and just end up out wandering around. My favorite "lullaby" though remains Richard Thompson's "The End of the Rainbow." Makes your take on it sound down right optimistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars68 Posted September 5, 2018 Author Share Posted September 5, 2018 I do not want to hear about it. I am in my late 60s with a young family - a 16-year old daughter and 8 year old son. Apparently my mid-life crisis was to settle down in one place and start a family. It is definitely a young man's game. Probably payback for all the crap I put my parents though coming of age in the 1960s. Gotta say being in a hotel would be a good time to write a song. I can never sleep the first night anyway and just end up out wandering around. My favorite "lullaby" though remains Richard Thompson's "The End of the Rainbow." Makes your take on it sound down right optimistic. Better late than never, hey! That RT song was depressing, even by my standards. Very, very good song, though. I guess my song is more about worrying about your childrens' future and the unknown that lies ahead. Buy hey, all you can do is to raise them the best you can, and then let them experience the world on their own, hoping they remember what you thaught them and to wear a helmet... By the way, here is my favorite lullaby style song. Katie Belle, by Townes van Zandt. Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly campbell Posted September 7, 2018 Share Posted September 7, 2018 Good Stuff Lars..thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 I like the lyrics, Lars. But, I don't think "bastard" fits the tone of the song (at least not as I read your English version). The lyrics are easy and gentle, then all of a sudden at the end it sounds angry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars68 Posted September 8, 2018 Author Share Posted September 8, 2018 I like the lyrics, Lars. But, I don't think "bastard" fits the tone of the song (at least not as I read your English version). The lyrics are easy and gentle, then all of a sudden at the end it sounds angry. Thanks for the comment, Larry. My intention was to sligthly change the tone of the song witth that word. Parents get angry when someone messes with their kids However, the translation is not great. The Swedish word is not quite as hard, but I didn´t find a better one than ”bastards”. ”Buggers” didn't feel right either... Suggestions? Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 Devils ? Theives ? Clowns? Trolls Pickpockets Dogs Wolves Gypsies Monsters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars68 Posted September 8, 2018 Author Share Posted September 8, 2018 Devils ? Theives ? Clowns? Trolls Pickpockets Dogs Wolves Gypsies Monsters Trolls, huh...nah, more suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 "Let no one steal it from you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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