Do you remember your first songs ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter grimtraveller
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I remember writing "I Can't Believe It" in the late 70's with a friend of mine. It was all about the state of the world - one of the lines was "and Nixon got his Watergate" ... Drums were played on cardboard potato chip containers, alongside a Magnus chord organ.

Good times.
 
I not only remember my first song, at age 13 (I'm now in my 50's) I sat on the floor in my bedroom with two wired cassette recorders, my accoustic guitar and a friend from school who could sing, and recorded it. We added "bass" with an overdub of my accoustics lower 4 strings.

I still have the recording. Here's the song

The subject of the song (love) was an 8th grade girl I would marry some 20 years later.

Rick
 
rickidoo said:
I not only remember my first song, at age 13 (I'm now in my 50's) I sat on the floor in my bedroom with two wired cassette recorders, my accoustic guitar and a friend from school who could sing, and recorded it. We added "bass" with an overdub of my accoustics lower 4 strings.

I still have the recording. Here's the song

The subject of the song (love) was an 8th grade girl I would marry some 20 years later.

Rick
Click to expand...

That was excellent, especially having to turn a guitar into a bass.

I did that with this, one of my earliest recordings also done in my teens. My mother would ask me to play this every single day... I got sooooo sick of it because I was playing bass and two guitar parts at the same time. So I decided to record the song once and never play it again. At that time I had a Squier Strat and nothing else so I had to knock the tone right down and play bass on the strat using my fingers to further take the edge of the treble guitar. The only effect added was a cymbal swell.

This is the recording

Albatross
 
GuitarLegend said:
That was excellent, especially having to turn a guitar into a bass.

I did that with this, one of my earliest recordings also done in my teens. My mother would ask me to play this every single day... I got sooooo sick of it because I was playing bass and two guitar parts at the same time. So I decided to record the song once and never play it again. At that time I had a Squier Strat and nothing else so I had to knock the tone right down and play bass on the strat using my fingers to further take the edge of the treble guitar. The only effect added was a cymbal swell.

This is the recording

Albatross
Click to expand...

Wow... if I had heard that song independent of this post I would have given in a big thumbs up, not knowing that it was recorded a long time ago. It's quite beautiful, quite beautiful indeed. I'm not surprised your mom liked it - I do.

Wow,

Rick
 
rickidoo said:
Wow... if I had heard that song independent of this post I would have given in a big thumbs up, not knowing that it was recorded a long time ago. It's quite beautiful, quite beautiful indeed. I'm not surprised your mom liked it - I do.

Wow,

Rick
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Thank you for the kind words but as I pointed out, I had a lot more practice on it than I really cared for. So because I never wanted to have to play it again, I tried to do the best I could. I have managed to achieve my goal hehe :D
 
rickidoo said:
Wow... if I had heard that song independent of this post I would have given in a big thumbs up, not knowing that it was recorded a long time ago. It's quite beautiful, quite beautiful indeed. I'm not surprised your mom liked it - I do.

Wow,

Rick
Click to expand...

+1

That was a splendidly faithful rendition of Albatross. Great job. :) One of the most memorable songs from Fleetwood Mac back in their early days. Peter Green and Danny Kirwan on guitars back then. I guess you'd tire of it if you had to play to too often, but it was a great nostalgia trip to hear it again. Released by FM in 1969 apparently. Geez that's over 40 years ago now (*Insert optional old fart rant about "they don't write them like they used to...."* ;) ) I bet you had some fans other than your Mum when you played that one GL.

Chris
 
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Coincidentally, having ones Mum for a fan cracked a mention in the lyrics of my first effort.

grimtraveller said:
Can you recall the first song you wrote ? What do you recall about it and what made you want to write songs in the first place ?
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Nice thread Grimtraveller. :)


Yes, I certainly remember my first song. At least the first one that I actually wrote with the intention of letting others hear it. And I still recall it with affection - not because it's that good but because people took it in the spirit it was written and were kind enough to be supportive.

I didn't take up trying to play guitar or read or write music until I was nearly 60, and I've never been one to sit and do exercises or follow written practice schedules. But I do enjoy trying to write lyrics. So, because I really was lousy at singing and crap at guitar I thought that my only chance was to write about just that - the frustrations you feel trying to get harsh reality a little bit closer to the daydreams you have about being good...

Perfectionist Beginner Blues

I'd like to say that I could do better now at the playing and singing, and definitely at the recording but, for me, the imperfections are part of what I like about it. Kind of like your first kiss, you can't really go back and do it again... :D

Cheers,

Chris
 
Hakea said:
Coincidentally, having ones Mum for a fan cracked a mention in the lyrics of my first effort.



Nice thread Grimtraveller. :)


Yes, I certainly remember my first song. At least the first one that I actually wrote with the intention of letting others hear it. And I still recall it with affection - not because it's that good but because people took it in the spirit it was written and were kind enough to be supportive.

I didn't take up trying to play guitar or read or write music until I was nearly 60, and I've never been one to sit and do exercises or follow written practice schedules. But I do enjoy trying to write lyrics. So, because I really was lousy at singing and crap at guitar I thought that my only chance was to write about just that - the frustrations you feel trying to get harsh reality a little bit closer to the daydreams you have about being good...

Perfectionist Beginner Blues

I'd like to say that I could do better now at the playing and singing, and definitely at the recording but, for me, the imperfections are part of what I like about it. Kind of like your first kiss, you can't really go back and do it again... :D

Cheers,

Chris
Click to expand...

Nice job :D It was a great listen, very entertaining :D
 
Hakea said:
+1

That was a splendidly faithful rendition of Albatross. Great job. :) One of the most memorable songs from Fleetwood Mac back in their early days. Peter Green and Danny Kirwan on guitars back then. I guess you'd tire of it if you had to play to too often, but it was a great nostalgia trip to hear it again. Released by FM in 1969 apparently. Geez that's over 40 years ago now (*Insert optional old fart rant about "they don't write them like they used to...."* ;) ) I bet you had some fans other than your Mum when you played that one GL.

Chris
Click to expand...

Thanks Chris, I appreciate the comments. I think I had a lot of practice trying to play three parts at once so when it came to to multi-track it, I didn't have much to do. I really hated playing it all the time but its great to have it on the demo disk so to speak, so I am glad I recorded it ( I still don't play it hehe)
 
HAHA I totally remember my first song... It was awful. It's all about mushy feelings. I went out and got a little USB mic, plugged it in, to my computer and used the Windows built-in Sound Recorder program. It's no Logic Pro, if you know what I mean.
But I started out playing bass guitar, so the melody was just a super simple bass line and my crappy voice. I must've been... 12 or 13. Naturally, it was about a girl I crushed on who had no idea I existed. And it was called "Can't You Remember Me" haha.

"Can't you remember me?
All I think about is your smile,
And if you gave me one chance,
I would make it worth your while.
Can't you remember me?
I'm that guy who gives a damn,
Who cares so much about you,
And I should be your man."

My goodness... If anybody is having trouble writing music, I'll send you my recording, so you can have a good laugh.
 
Smolina20 said:
HAHA I totally remember my first song... It was awful. It's all about mushy feelings.
Click to expand...



Hey, I've read a good many first efforts that were a great deal worse than that. :)

If internet song forums are an accurate guide about 99% of early songs are versions of yours. At least yours has the merit of being straightforward, clear and simple. After the initial stage which (like yours) can be quite endearing in their way, there's often an intermediate stage where the writer tries far too hard to show the world how deep and poetic they are. They bang on about their internal struggles in the most grindingly awful way, and often get furious if anybody tries to suggest even a small improvement. :eek:

I can remember a girl at one forum who was a classic example, although she was far from alone. She posted the most dire teen tosh, never offered a single note of music, and angrily insisted that she was a 'poet' and her stuff was already complete and perfect. Some of the regulars (who really could write songs) gently tried to give her some tips but were rudely rebuffed. She eventually annoyed the people running the forum enough to get thrown off. Finding your feet in any creative endeavour can be a pretty bloody process!

I hope that you're still writing, and successfully got through the urky stages without serious injury. :cool:

Cheers,

Chris
 
Hakea said:
Albatross. One of the most memorable songs from Fleetwood Mac back in their early days. Peter Green and Danny Kirwan on guitars back then. Released by FM in 1969 apparently.
Click to expand...
It was a huge and unexpected hit back in the day. Even the Beatles did their own take on it on the Abbey Road Lp called "Sun King" {it was part Mac inspiration, part piss take by John Lennon of George Harrison's 'Here comes the sun' as in 'Here comes the sun King'}.
 
The first song I wrote was a Punk inspired piece called "Head Butt" with the unforgeable line

"She said she liked my head, but she didn't like me"

It didn't really have a structure (I was anarchist) but something close to a bridge section include

"I join the foreign legion and the captain was appalled
He found me in Jerusalem head butting the wailing wall"

Much like Tonesponge I'm still trying to find the genius that now evades me in these my wilderness years
 
I remember my first song rather fondly. I still play it from time to time. I must have been around 15 years old when I wrote it. The lyrics were very metaphorical, I had written it about my dying great grandfather (of whom I had always been fond) and my younger sister who had essentially disassociated herself with me. It was called "In Loving Memory."

The first lines went like this:

How can you stop the tears
when you lose someone you hold so dear
wilted flowers on an age-old grave
I just can't bear to watch, I can't stay

Everywhere you went, I came along
Life was so good back then, but now so wrong

In loving memory of who used to be
back when I thought that you would always be beside me
In loving memory of what you meant to me
but now you're gone and you've left me feeling so empty


The lyrics were okay, I hadn't become very poetic until my later songs. I knew that the melody was at least decent because my siblings, my friends, and their siblings kept singing it around they're houses, even when I wasn't playing it or even in the room.

I'd like to think I've gotten better since then :p
 
This threads been on my mind now since i first came across it and i decided to dig up a few old ghosts of songs that i had with my old band from when i started recording kinda like an audio diary really brings me back guess its cause i'm getting back into song writing. and original stuff.

Actually its kinda motivating thinking that this is what i could do when i was like 16 lol
 
My first song written is not my first song produced.
My first written (and sung) song was Wal-Mart Shopping.
my first produced song was Cathedral Chaos, which is an instrumental that alot of people deem 'Halloween Music'.
 
i remember the first song i wrote was a song called "Kids" when i was about 9 years old. It was about being bullied (which i was back then) and how that made me feel. It made a big impact on how i write and what i write about. It was a great song for a snot nosed 9 year old.
 
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