February Songwriting Reveal!

[Peen Simmons]

Let’s go for a trip. Close your eyes. Relax. Float downstream. Allow Dr. Blanchard to take you to “The Land of Long Away.”



Good. Good. Did you like that? Good. Now let’s get cosmic as Commander mnewb1 takes us “Drifting Around the Moon.”



Nice. Now buckle up. We’re going somewhere a little weird. Into the mind of Baron von Peen to a place called “The Season Came and Went.”



Hold tight. We’re going somewhere darker and darker still. Into Mr. Simmons’ “Seafoam Black.”



Oh dear. This isn’t going as expected. The astral plane isn’t meant to be as hazardous as this. Lookout! It’s the “Queen of the Martian Discos!” Damn you, Peen!



*you all died on the way back to your home planets*

Attn: @Gary Blanchard @mnewb1

 

[Gary Blanchard]

@mnewb1 - The entire feel of that song was great. I felt some of what I feel with the best of Pink Floyd. It certainly made me think of drifting around the moon. Groovy.

@Peen Simmons - Season and Seafoam were, as expected, great acoustic, punk-tinged songs. I often think of the Ramones when I hear your stuff. The chords of Seafoam were particularly nice. I did not expect Queen of the Martian Discos.

 

[mnewb1]

Gary: sweet arrangement, really dig the strings, guitar sounds really good...excellent submission this month

Peen: the season...your lyrics are always so good, I need to start sending you my tracks to come up with lyrics...I like the raw immediate quality of this song
Seafoam Black...I swear, 30 years ago you would have been an artist on I.R.S. Records, a hard rain is comin...really like this song
Queen...love this one the best right from the first couple bars...fantastic!

 

[Gary Blanchard]

Gary: sweet arrangement, really dig the strings, guitar sounds really good...excellent submission this month

Thanks. This is the song that came to me in a dream. The song just seemed to need the string arrangement, and I was able to get Sonik to mix it for me. My wife is not too happy with the lyrics; I can't say that I am, either, though it is something to be faced.

 

[mnewb1]

It is inevitable for all. Something we don’t address well in our culture

 

[Gary Blanchard]

It is inevitable for all. Something we don’t address well in our culture

True. After my heart attack last year we are both a bit more aware of our mortality.

 

[Peen Simmons]

GOTH BLANCHARD! A very nice tune well arranged. The mellotron is a cool touch. The father, sister, and my brother line was well deployed.

Mnewb1 — very dreamy. Real cosmic vibe. Synth textures are great as always. Has just the right amount of vocals.

 

[Peen Simmons]

@Gary Blanchard — thanks for the kind words. The Ramones are certainly party of my pop DNA...and I suspect the brothers and I are drawing from the same musical sources (girl groups, 60s rock, 20th trash culture). And I did work pretty hard to figure out how to make things seem dumb and simple...inspired, in part, by the Ramones and similar acts.

@mnewb1 — Thanks for aaythjngbnice stuff. I’d be happy to help with lyrics. I’ve done it for people before. And it’s no thing if they don’t wind up fitting because I can often repurpose them. For example, this song was born because a buddy asked for lyrics and didn’t use them and I wound up marrying them to something I was working on months later.

https://hauntedhare.bandcamp.com/track/wayward-cosmonaut

As for “Queen of the Martian Discos,” that’s about 30 minutes worth of procrastination doodled out on my cellphone. I included it as a lark. I’m glad other folks think it is fun too.

 

[rickenvox]

If you hadn't told me the first song was by Gary Blanchard, I totally would have said "hey that song is by Gary Blanchard." I have the sneaking hunch this song is somehow about death. And you know what, if anything ever happens to Gary and someone posts this songs we're all going to be bawling like little girls.

Mnewb1's song is awesome. It's where it's at! More like a safari on the moon than drifting. If it was missing anything it was 2 turntables and a microphone.

I don't want to start a controversy here but the 4th contestant has clearly plagiarized the voice and guitar stylings of the 3rd contestant. I would say disqualify if Seafoam Black weren't such an awesome song.

The last song is clearly a sneaky recording someone took of me anytime I play my synth. You can't fool me. But assuming it's not me, had this ambitious person actually collaborated with contestant 4 on Seafoam Black we might have a ready for radio hit.