Open Mic Songwriter's Challenge Week 8 Entry - "Take Care"
I did it. Eight weeks in a row of original songs for the Songwriter's Challenge.
This accomplishment, made possible by @meno and the #openmic crew, has reminded me that I can do truly extraordinary things with a little commitment and discipline. Not that my songs are brilliant, but I'm incredibly proud of how far I've come in such a short time.
Without the constant support of my amazing wife, @carrieallen, I never could have followed through on this. Speaking of following, she's a good person to follow.
The topic for the final week of the challenge is Til We Meet Again... With a phrase like that, I could only think of sappy goodbye songs. ;) So that's the direction I went! I call it "Take Care."
Take Care
How do you say goodbye,
When nothing really ends?
My old and trusted friend,
I’ll meet you there.
Forgive me if I cry,
Or leave some frayed loose ends,
To shed these tears for you is
All the change I can spare.
Take care, fare well and goodbye,
It’s not fair and it’s harder than hell,
We don’t get to know why.
I swear that I’ll never forget you,
No matter how I try,
Though I might not recall your name
I’ll remember your light.
This is my salute
To the light inside of you,
May it always burn the brightest
When you’re furthest from home,
And if you ever get confused
About what you’re supposed to do,
It’ll be alright, as long as there’s a light inside of you.
Keep it warm,
Keep it bright,
Weather the storm,
Or the cold dark night.
No matter what you think you know,
And no matter where you go,
If you only know yourself, you’re gonna be alright.
Take care, farewell and goobye.
It’s not fair and it’s harder than hell,
We don’t get to know why.
I swear that I’ll never forget you,
No matter how I try,
This is just the end, my friend, ‘til we meet again.
Thanks everyone for your amazing support throughout this incredible experience. Can't wait to do it again!
This is such straightforward and heartfelt writing and performance... beautiful, and effective.
Once again, I'm impressed by the way you're able to build dramatic tension and release through the course of a song. Starting off with straight singing, but right away there's that place where a single chord interrupts the strumming pattern for emphasis, and kind of wakes the listener up... and soon after that, the melodic pattern changes, and your voice starts to rise, and carries us along with it.
Though this song has a country feel, and your voice stays pretty soft throughout, it nonetheless connects emotionally in a very strong, direct way, to the degree that (even though it clearly isn't one) it evokes the feeling of a soaring arena-rock-ballad-tearjerker.
Beautiful melodic changes too... I really like this one Chris. Well done!
Thanks, Bennett!
That's great feedback, and I'm glad you liked it. That building dramatic tension thing is probably one of my stronger suits, as a student of literature and theatre.
They all have a country feel... ;) Apparently country is the music of my soul.
This is a nice song my friend! Simple yet very effective and powerful . I loved the lyrics , learning to accept when someone is not around anymore is indeed hard and painful sometimes but we keep their memories s and carry part of them with us . So as you said , how can you say goodbye when nothing really ends? . Thanks for sharing my friend! And congrats on making it through the 8 weeks! no small feat at all! Cheers!
Thanks! I could endlessly write songs about goodbye. It's one of the most fascinating issues to me, and I'll never truly understand it. I haven't watched many other entries yet from this week,but I will. I'm expecting some... emotional feedback, so I'm putting it off.
This challenge was so great for me. I can't wait to see the music we'll all create during 2018! I'm keeping my rhyming chops up by doing a #dailylimerick... Today I wrote three limericks about Batman. LOL...
I like limericks.
Thanks for your support!
Another great song from a truly great song writer! It has been super awesome hearing from you each week! I don't know exactly how many of us there were who managed all 8 weeks in a row, but it certainly was a mammoth task, so my utmost creative respects to you brother! Its been a pleasure :) until the next time x
Wow, I really appreciate that Basil. You're the big boss of this competition; you blow us all away every time. I'm just happy to be able to even compete on your level. I haven't watched your song yet, or many of the others'... I'm hesitant, maybe don't want it to end.
I'm gonna keep myself sharp until the next songwriting contest by doing my #dailylimerick. Check it out if you like limericks :)
Thanks for all your support!
haha thanks man.....that makes me feel epic and evil! I love it ;)
I do quite like a good limerick too....I'll come and give it a gander! x
Chris... pat yourself in the back brother... you did it 8 songs, 8 weeks!! great lyrics!
Thanks, @meno! But now it's Wednesday... who's gonna give me an awesome topic to write a song about?
lol. Your wife? Theme: "If you don't know, I'm not gona tell ya" - j/k
These are beautiful lyrics man! Yes it's sappy but you present it with so much sincerity that makes it great! Also your Uke sounds more like a guitar, have you changed the tuning or the way you play? What's your secret?
Thanks! I got a new baritone a couple weeks ago. It's got two wound strings, goes DGBE, like the higher four strings on a guitar. Makes a pretty big difference, doesn't it?
It does, sounds awesome! I love playing the Uke but I find for some songs the distinct "Uke sound" isn't fitting. So that's a great alternative! Thanks and keep on rocking!
That's great man! 8 songs in 8 weeks is really good for a guy who thinks he can't write songs. You're doing it man!
Oh, I can write songs. Not so much a few months ago, but you guys taught me how, helped me realize I really enjoy writing songs. There's no stopping me now! Thank you times a million. :)
En serio que tienes un estilo único y muy bueno! me gusta mucho tu trabajo, gran entrada disfruté tu canción. Saludos!
Disfruté tus canciones también. Muchos Gracias!
Man, melancholy is running through the veins of this tune.
A true eulogy of sorts.
Well done on this final week.
Thanks a lot, Jay.
I was pretty pissed off when I saw the topic and knew that only sad songs were gonna come out... at least from me. ;)
I guess I'm a little worried that I'm going to stop writing songs. I really like where it's taking me, but my creativity is multi-faceted and I tend to wander.
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the lyrics describes farewell and goodbye but the melody of your song, my hearts asking more music from your sir. salute!
Thanks for your support, @g10a! I'll be doing #openmic most weeks probably. I'll be in on the next Songwriter's Challenge for sure.
I'm doing a #dailylimerick if you feel like checking out my rhymes. I like words.