Mixing signatures and structures.

I was up late last night starting a song. It was 1am and I was avoiding sleep. I'd started thinking about past relationships that were almosts-but-not-quite...thinking that a lot of the time I just didn't feel like the other person was letting me in as much as I wanted them to. That sort of unevenness seems to be an early sign of relationship problems to come. Anyway, I was messing with a rolling finger picking rhythm on the G# chord and started at the verse.  I know some people say starting with a chorus is a must for pop songs, but I wasn't sure this was going to be a pop song, and more often than not, I just want to go along with the song and see where it takes me when it gets to a "Chorus" moment.  What ended up happening was a Verse, Pre-chorus, Verse, Pre-chorus, Chorus pattern.  It's a little different, but something I've been gravitating towards the last couple of weeks.  I also gravitated towards the phrase, "from me."  I thought about the idea of repeating a phrase as a tag, but having it mean something slightly different each time... I also think the phrase "From me" sounds kind of nice at first, but in this song, is actually mellow and sad.

After some tweaking today, I wound up finishing the song. I think I'll end with the Pre-Chorus, rather than a Chorus, or a Chorus repeat. AND...this is a first for me, I think I will go into 3/4 time in the 2nd chorus.  I don't know exactly how it happened, but it felt very natural today. We will see how it sits tomorrow, if I can find time to play before my flight to Buffalo.

There is tweaking yet to be done... but here's that first bit that I wound up writing last night, along with edits from today:

From Me (Written by Alfa Garcia, BMI. (c) 2013. All Rights Reserved.)

Verse 1:

I try to speak to you / all casual and true

you speak in riddles back to me.

I wonder if it's just / the language that we have

I know you love your poetry

Pre:

But it seems I have to find 

a better man who doesn't hide

from me.

Verse 2:

You're such a wanderer / you're beautiful that way

and I would never tie you down

But your symbolic sighs / the overdrawn goodbyes

baby, they don't keep me 'round

Pre:

Lookin' for someone like you

who doesn't have to keep the truth

from me.

Chorus:

Tell me your secrets / tell me where do you go

I promise I'll keep it / I promise I'll let you go

when you want to be free.

----

In other news, I had my second rehearsal with drummer Kevin Jimenez, who will play with me at Room 5 on Nov. 22nd. I enjoy our weekly get-togethers, because it forces me to practice the older stuff, rather than get caught up solely in writing new songs.  I think songwriters are too quick to walk away from a song once it's written. I guess it's the artist's job from there...so if you're both (artist and songwriter), you carry a song with you a lot longer.  

That's it for now... will be in Buffalo playing a showcase with NACA this weekend. :)  More news when I return.