Jake Bugg - Two Fingers

Two fingers is a song by Jake Bugg that was released on the 7th September 2012. The song falls under the Neo-Folk genre, a genre of music I had never heard of before so I decided to research it some more. Neo-Folk is a form of experimental music that emerged from post-industrial music circles. "A majority of artists within the Neofolk genre focus on archaic, cultural and literary references. Local traditions and indigenous beliefs tend to be portrayed heavily as well as esoteric and historical topics." (Neofolk, 2017) The experimental sound in this song is very interesting and I will be using some aspects of it in my own composition. For example, Jake uses the guitar as a percussive instruments at times by muting the strings and hitting the guitar, I would like to introduce some aspects of this into my song, perhaps in between the chorus and the verse to break the song up and to give it more texture.

(JakeBuggVevo, 2013)

Musically the song is relatively simple and mainly features one guitar. In the song are only three chords used throughout: E, A and B. This is relatively unusual for a song as most have at least four, the choice of having only three chords traces back to the fact that its a Neo-Folk song. By only using three chords it also makes the song more catchy and easier to sing a long to. The lyrics in this song are more motivational than story telling, therefore, it is only the musical aspects of this song that inspire me. In my own composition I will definitely be using the guitar as a percussive instrument and I will be trying my best to make the song catchy and easy to listen to, just like Two Fingers.

Final Lyrics

I finally managed to finish the lyrics for the song. I believe they tell the story I wanted to tell is apparent in the lyrics and it communicates a Folk pop genre like I wanted. My final lyrics are: 

VERSE 1: 

When I was younger I was taught

If I blew a bubble it would burst

If I climbed a tree it would fall down 

If I meet a stranger I should frown 

When I was 8 I broke my arm

On the monkey bars at the Killy Arms 

Then I turned 10 and my best friend 

Packed up and moved to Manchester

CHORUS 1:

And oh those days are gone 

Those easy days

Laughing at the park with all my friends

Wishing that the day will never end

And oh those days are gone 

Those easy days 

And now they've changed 

VERSE 2: 

When I was older about 16

I met a boy who was tall and lean 

He made me laugh and he made me smile

Now all thats left are these photographs 

Then I left school age 18

Ventured off to university 

Drank a lot and ate crap food

Writing songs puts me in a shitty mood

CHORUS 2:

And oh those days are gone 

Those easy days 

Drinking at the park with all my friends 

Wishing that the night would never end 

And oh those days are gone

Those easy days

And now they've changed 

MIDDLE 8 

La la la etc... 

VERSE 1 (SLOW)

CHORUS 1 TO END 

In this song I sing about the things I earlier mentioned in the timeline I made. I believe I tell a clear story throughout and show a clear journey through life. This is shown by having two different choruses where I sing about two different topics. In the first chorus I am young and I sing about playing in the park with my friends, this then transitions to the second chorus where I sing about drinking in the park with my friends. The different choruses help to clearly show a passage of time and assist in telling my chosen story. 

Change Of Chords

My initial chord progression that I discussed in an earlier post; C, G, F and Em, will now no longer work with my new idea and lyrics. The old chords didn't sound very happy and upbeat in the way I was playing them so I decided it would be best to have a fresh start and the create a new chord progression. As I had decided to play the song with guitar, an instrument I'm not overly confident in playing, I believed it would be best to stick to chords that I am confident in playing. I then realised I needed to come up with a strumming/ finger picking pattern. 

After playing around with different chords I finally decided upon a new chord progression: D, A, Em,  G. I believed that these were chords I could play confidently on guitar and that they had the desired sound I wanted. With the right strumming pattern I believe that they could sound just like a pop/ folk song. While I was playing the guitar I stumbled upon a strumming pattern which came naturally to me: down, down, up, up, down, up. This lively strumming pattern helped to create the happy, upbeat sound I was striving to achieve.

Start Of Lyric Writing

After doing some research into how to write lyrics I became inspired and decided to make a start. I knew that I wanted to write about my life so far but I also knew that writing about my whole life was unrealistic so I made a timeline of important things that have happened to me so far, from here I would choose what would work well in a song and what would be interesting for an audience to listen to. I decided to write about general things you are taught about as a child and to then write about, breaking my arm, my best friend moving to manchester, an ex boyfriend and moving to university. I believe that these things are quite relatable for an audience, therefore, they are more likely to enjoy the song.

I began writing and after my first session I had came up with part of a first verse and a first chorus:

VERSE

When I was younger I was taught 

If I blew a bubble it would burst

If I climbed a tree I would fall down 

If I meet a stranger I should frown

CHORUS

And oh those days are gone

Those easy days

Laughing at the park with all my friends

Wishing that the day will never end

With these lyrics I believe I have made a strong start and that it is following the structure I have decided upon for my song. I now need to start thinking of a melody and a new chord progression that will match the lyrics. 

How To Write Lyrics

So far in this process something I have found most difficult is writing the lyrics for my song. The lyrics I seem to write are either immature or predictable and don't sound right for the genre of music. I decided to do some research into how to write lyrics to see if it would help me at all. I began by looking for books that would help me with this and I found "Writing Better Lyrics" by Pat Pattinson. In the book she discusses how using metaphors in your songs are a good way of adding more complexity to the lyrics, however, they aren't very user friendly so you have to be selective of the metaphors you do use. "In its most basic form, a metaphor is a collision between ideas that don't belong together. It jams them together and leaves us to struggle with the consequences." (2009, p.23). This complex form of expressing emotions and ideas will work well in my song and I believe that it fits well into the Folk Pop genre I am now pursuing.

Another important aspect of song writing that is discussed in the book is perspective. Who or whats perspective is the song about? By having a clear perspective it helps you to progress further much easier in the lyric writing process. I must choose between four different point of views: third person, second person, first person and direct address. At this point in my process I am most likely to be writing the song in first person as it will be about me and stories about my own life which I have to tell. "Point of view controls our distance from the world of song. Think of it as a movie camera, allowing the audience to look at the song's world from various distances."(2009, p.111). I don't want my song to be overly emotional but I still want it to be interesting, by writing in first person the song will be more factual than anything else therefore it will create a bit of emotional distance between myself and the audience. However, there will still be reflective moments throughout the song. 

Change of Heart

After my last rehearsal I made the decision to go in a different direction with my piece. I have decided that after listening to some more songs by more current and modern artists that I will now be composing a modern pop/folk song. I believe this will be easier for me to do and therefore I will produce a song of higher quality. I now need to write new chords and start writing lyrics. I still want to tell a story in my lyrics as I believe I should still incorporate elements of folk into my composition. 

I finally decided that I will be playing the song on guitar as this isn't my first instrument so would provide me with a challenge so that I don't find it too easy and don't progress any further as a musician. I also believe that the guitar will help to make the song sound more upbeat and happy, something that I believe I am interested in my sounding like. By only using one instrument in the song I believe that this will help to draw emphasise to the lyrics and the melody of the song, something that is important in folk music. It will also help to make the song sound more raw and stripped back, I enjoy music with this sound and I believe it will be easy listening for an audience and will be easy to interpret. 

Initial Chord Ideas

My first idea for writing this song was to choose a song I enjoy and play around with the chords to create a new chord progression. I sat at the piano and decided to figure out the chords for songbird. I would then play around with the tempo and octave placement of the chords to see what sounded good. The original chords that are in songbird are: D, G, Em, Bm and A. I played these chords in different arrangements and added extra chords in and came up with these chords: C, G, F and Em

At this point I wasn't sure whether or not if I liked this arrangement or the chords but it was a starting point and was beginning to inspire me slightly on where i would go with the lyrics for the song. I then started wondering whether or not I wanted other people involved playing different instruments or whether or not it would sound better with just me singing and playing either piano or guitar. Depending on what direction I take with the lyrics will help me decide if the song with be played on piano or guitar. 

Fleetwood Mac - Songbird

In 1977 Fleetwood Mac released 'Songbird' on one of their most successful albums 'Rumours'. It was written and performed by Christine McVie and the original recording was done away from the studio featuring her voice and the piano only, creating a pure, soft sounding song. The songs genre is classed as classic rock but I believe that because of the story behind it and the style of vocals and recording that it definitely has folk elements which may help inspire me for my own composition. People often dispute over the interpretation of the lyrics: 

For you, there'll be no more crying,
For you, the sun will be shining,
And I feel that when I'm with you,
It's alright, I know it's right

To you, I'll give the world
To you, I'll never be cold
'Cause I feel that when I'm with you,
It's alright, I know it's right.

And the songbirds are singing,
Like they know the score,
And I love you, I love you, I love you,
Like never before.

And I wish you all the love in the world,
But most of all, I wish it from myself.

And the songbirds keep singing,
Like they know the score,
And I love you, I love you, I love you,
Like never before, like never before.

Most people believe that the song tells the story of the band. There were arguments and hard times between the band at the time and the song is supposedly reflecting the turmoil they were going through. "Christine McVie has said that this song held Fleetwood Mac together during their hard times (while recording Rumours). Once the members heard this song, they thought how much they had been through and how much love they shared." (Song Facts, 2017) The "songbirds" she sings about are the members of the band, the song shows how much they mean to her and how big a role they play in her life. It represents how much she wants the band to love one another, get along and carry on making music together. 

Some other people believe that the song is simply about love and friends in general and it wasn't aimed at the band at all. There is the bittersweet tone in the line "and the songbirds keep singing, like they know the score." It suggests that even though there is happiness in relationships/friendships, there can be sad times too, the lovers and friends don't know the 'score', such as when sad and tough times may come. The line "For you there'll be no more crying, for you the sun will be shining." can be representative of a time she was comforting a friend or a lover. 

Most people agree that the song is about wishes, almost like a lullaby, this is something often found in folk music. Its almost like a song that a mother would sing to their child, they want their child to have opportunities they they never had. The child will grow up but the lullaby will always stick with them, just like folk songs stayed with generations of people in the past.

The lyrics can be interpreted however an individual sees fit, Christine McVie once said Songbird is "about nobody and everybody... in retrospect, it's like an anthem... a little prayer of sorts." (The Penguin Lyric Interpretations, 2001) I believe this sums up the song pretty well.  

Musically the song compromises of:

intro

verse 1

chorus

verse 2

instrumental

middle eight

chorus

outro

It features a single piano and one voice and was recorded in the University of California's Zellerbach Auditorium to create a distant, raw sound. The piano stays relatively simple throughout to make sure that the main focus is on the vocal melody and the story of the lyrics. The choice of music, melody and lyrics is what makes me believe that this 'classic rock' song has more elements of folk than people have thought. In folk songs the music is kept simple so that the main focus is on the lyrics as traditionally the lyrics were there for story telling and teaching. Christine's style of singing also has similarities to folk singers in the sense of tone, inflection and articulation. Overall I believe that this song will help to heavily influence me in my own composition and I will be taking the importance of lyrics telling a story seriously throughout this task.

A History of Folk

Folk music has been around for hundreds of years and was used as a way of communicating. Not many people could read or write so music was the easiest way of teaching or telling a story as everyone could interpret it, it was accessible to the masses. "The term Folk music came from England, where they took the German word “volk”, meaning people, and applied it to mean the common people of England, the illiterate peasants who passed on stories and legends through song as they were unable to publish books." (M.B, 2007). It was seen as an expression of their lives and has been a major factor in helping historians uncover facts about communities across the world. The term "folk music" wasn't used until the 19th century when it began to popularise as a  form of entertainment for people rather than a teaching and storytelling tool. 

Folk music became relatively popular at the start of the romantic period. Josef Haydn and Beethoven were two famous composers who made arrangements of Folk Music. In their time composers were highly respected by the upper class people in society so by them arranging Folk Music they helped to progress the popularity and made it an acceptable genre of music for all classes in society to listen to at the time. "Many also composed traditional Folk dances which were virtually indistinguishable from the dances and songs sung by the common people." (M.B, 2007).

After this time Folk Music began to become less commercially popular until the start of the 20th century when it is believed the first Folk Music festival took place in 1928 in Asheville, Carolina. The popularity kept on growing through the 30's with Jimmy Rodgers helping and in the 40's with Burl Ives until it reached its peak in the 1950s. Big groups like The Weavers, took Folk Music and added their own stylistic elements to it. This stylised folk snowballed until in the 1960's it emerged finally as Folk Rock which was famously popular with the Beatles.

During the 1960's a war broke out in Vietnam which sparked musicians to write protest songs about peace and civil rights. Some people may say that this music was Folk Rock, however, at the same time it is almost the opposite to true Folk Music. Some musicians viewed it as "anti-folk" based on the idea that Liberal Politics reduces the importance of ethnicity, which is an essential part of Folk Music. Taking this into consideration means that protest music is not folk music in any sense.

By the time the mid 1970's came the folk music revival had almost died out and was not thought of again until the 1990's. This later revival, however, was not as progressive as the latter. During the 70's and 80's bands still continued to use elements of folk music helping it carry on through to modern day. Although folk music isn't as popular as when it was at its peak there are still successful folk musicians in modern day and it can still be used in a traditional sense of teaching and story telling. 

First Post!

In this blog I aim to log my independent project process as well as my learnings in class. I will be posting videos of my rehearsals, sound recordings, rough copies of both lyrics and chord progressions and I will also be reviewing songs by artists which have helped to inspire me in the process. 

For my independent project I have decided to compose a folk song, I will be writing both the music and the lyrics and I plan on singing and playing piano. I may also ask a few other members of the class to play other instruments like: guitar, cajon and viola. These instruments are all relatively classic in folk music so will help to create the correct sound for my composition.

I am currently exploring the idea of writing a song that is heavily based around narrative, it will most likely be based on an event in my own life so that I can easily choose a theme/topic to sing about. I may explore an event in my childhood or something more recent and topical that has happened to me, this will be decided at a later date, once I start writing lyrics. 

As a starting point I am going to listen to: The Shires, Lady Antebellum and Ward Thomas. These are modern day folk artists that add a pop twist to their music, this may be something that I will consider in my own composition so I believe they will be my main influence throughout this creative process. As well as the above, I aim to read academic books and articles that speak about composition techniques and processes as well as books that have been written by Artists in the folk genre. I look forward to starting this composition process and hopefully by the end I will have produced a well written folk song.