Time For A Break

Things have been a bit quiet here blogwise but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. For a music teacher 'tis the season of multiple christmas concerts, school assemblies, and general craziness. Dad of four? You get the picture. But that doesn't mean all songwriting has ceased. On Monday night I was in Old Library Studios doing preproduction for my first solo EP. More about that next year!

I've also finished writing song #47 Better For Me If I'd Never Been Born. A cheery title perhaps, but when I tell you it's about Judas Iscariot it might make more sense. That song's had a long history - I wrote most of the music in 1992.

So with a remix of Tedashii's song Riot and a lullaby/prayer song in the works I hope I may still finish 50 songs this year. I may not get em all recorded, but I'll sum up what I learned from the year of 'writing dangerously' and strike out in a slightly new direction.

Thanks for listening!

  Free songs by Matt Blick

Bonus Mashup: The Intergalactic Wizard

Photo: Steve Burns

For my 46th song project I got distracted from the mashup idea that was distracting me from the song I was writing while I should have been writing another song.

I ended up working on a mashup of The Wizard by Black Sabbath and Intergalactic by the Beastie Boys. I've always thought the second track on The Sabs debut album was unfeasibly funky for a hard rock band. See what you think. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you

The Intergalactic Wizard - mp3

Other free songs by Matt Blick that are nothing like this one

   

From The Archives: I Got Lost

I Got Lost

Fell from grace, right through the cracks

Emotionally raw rock song played on a two string guitar
Download     mp3     Lyrics (pdf)

I lost my way
I lost my path
Lost my bearings
Mislaid the map
Looked for a star
But the night was black
Fell from grace
Right through the cracks


I didn't gain the world
But I lost my soul
Not asking for your pity
Just your hand to hold


I got lost, I got lost
See that face in the mirror?
That isn't me
I got lost, I got lost
Somewhere out there is the person
That I forgot how to be


I gave my all
I bought the shirt
I played the role
Until it hurts
I walked the walk
I towed the line
I stood for truth
And learned to lie


Thought I could save the world
And play a starring role
That dream became so brittle
And much too sharp to hold


I got lost, I got lost...


Pull up the roots
And start again
Tear down these walls
They've been condemned
So many dreams
To feed the fire
Don't waste one tear
For what's left behind


I got lost, I got lost, I got lost

You may also like (Everything) Is Broken or Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Day 328: The Other Way Of Writing

So here's the thing. I'm working on Silver aka Judas' Song aka Better For Me and I'm still working off a page that I typed out in 2005, annotated with a million different scribbles from the last 6 years (sorry my exaggeration alarm just went off).

I've been greatly helped by Nicholas Tozier's method of writing each section on a separate piece of paper (A5 is how I roll) that way you can rewrite without having to write it all and you can even swop bits around (still not sure verse 1 isn't verse 2 and vice versa. HAH "VERSE - A" - you see what I did there?!?!?!).

That's so cool and helpful. I wonder where T said it. Was it here? Anyways...

I'm losing perspective as you might expect with lyrics that are 6 years old and music that goes back to 1992! Some of the things that are 'wrong' with it have been wrong for nearly a decade. How will I know when I've finished? Or even near finished?

What I did was type up everything I've got so far. Hey presto! It's finished song. (I've read that Brenton Brown does a similar thing too).Yes there are still sucky bits, but I can see the finish line from here now. I'm going to press ahead with fixes and then demo, which will act in pretty much the same way as the fake finished lyric sheet. Once it really is a song, rather than a potential song it will be easier for me (or anyone else) to see the wood for the trees.

And in other news, here's a beautiful vid from Nottingham 'band' We Show Up On Radar. Some of it was filmed just round the corner from my house. Those flippin' foxes are a real pest...

Download the song for free from the We Show Up On Radar Bandcamp page

I'll be a Ghost from WSUOR on Vimeo.

Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick

[If you're subscribed to this blog via email, you will have to click on the post's title to watch any video content (the link will take you my site).

New Song: Don't Bring Your Bongos To Church

Don't Bring Your Bongos To Church [2011] Humorous Rock n Roll Retro
Bongo, bongo, bongo, bongo...
Rockabilly Pentecostalism gone wild.
download     mp3     Lyrics (pdf)     Chords (pdf)

Jesus loves you man
Jesus loves you man
Loves you just the way you am
But don't bring your bongos to church
Don't bring your bongos to church


Jesus loves to hear you sing
You can bring your offering
Just don't hit those things
Don't bring your bongos to church
Don't bring your bongos to church


Bongo, bongo, bongo, bongo...


Take a snake out of your bag
Drinkin' strychnin' ain't so bad
You can even bring a flag
But don't bring your bongos to church
Don't bring your bongos to church


The good Lord understands
When I tell you that I can
Prise 'em from your cold dead hands
So don't bring your bongos to church
Don't bring your bongos to church
Don't bring your bongos to church
Don't bring your bongos to church


Don't, don't, don't bring your bongos
Don't, don't, don't bring your bongos
Don't, don't, don't bring your bongos
Don't, don't, don't bring your bongos
Bongo, bongo, bongo, bongo...

You may also like: Maybe Your God's On The Toilet
If You're Here This Morning (The Notices Song)

Other free songs by Matt Blick

Day 324: Bongo Fury

Wow. A productive and happy day. Both feel a little too rare at the moment.

I completed song 45 - Don't Bring Your Bongos To Church, it took 12 hours from initial idea to finished uploaded demo. I think that's a record - Let's Build An Airport and If You're Here This Morning may have been quicker to write, but I think I demoed them the following day. It's a kind of Early Zappa meets Sun Records-era Elvis/Johnny Cash. Gonna try to post it tomorrow.

But for now just say "bring your bongos" out loud - doesn't that just feel amazing tripping over your teeth and tongue?

I also wrote part of a new song today - it's a lullaby/prayer for Christian parents to sing with their kids, as suggested/requested by a pupil of mine this week.

And I've been working on finishing an old song called Silver which is from Judas' point of view.

Liverpool beat Chelsea today which was great news. We're only 58 points behind Manchester City.

Another great song from Jonathan Coulton...he's a real Ukelele player

And Jon Gomm is from another planet - he's like all the best bits of Adrian Legg and Michael Hedges stuck together - with vocals!

Other free songs by Matt Blick

[If you're subscribed to this blog via email, you will have to click on the post's title to watch any video content (the link will take you my site).

Kid's Song: Eleven Sweets

Eleven Sweets [2011] Children's Humorous
But the fizzy cherry, was stuck to a fizzy cherry
A true tall tale from sunday school, sung by my daughter
Downloads     mp3     Chords (pdf)     Lyrics (pdf)

In the pink group in Arrows, in Church, in the Earth

If you're listening when they tell you all about God

And you wiggle or wriggle or talk to someone

You're probably going to get your balloon popped

Then you might only get three sweets

Or you might only get no sweets

But I didn't wriggle or wiggle or talk

So I got a white bag like they have in the shops

And a pink or green token to put in the silver pig

Cos the pig is the place where you go and put your tokens in

And then you can have ten sweets,

And then you can have ten sweets.

I got some cola bottles and put them in my white bag

And one lollipop, cos one is all that you can have

And more cola bottles, some fizzy cherries made nine

And I put my hand into the plastic box for one more time

Soon I would have ten sweets,

Soon I would have ten sweets.

But the fizzy cherry, was stuck to the fizzy cherry

Which was stuck to the fizzy cherry that I picked up

So I asked the leader, “what shall I do?”

She said, “you'll just have to have eleven sweets today”

And that's how I had eleven sweets

Eleven sweets instead of ten

And that's how I had eleven sweets

Eleven sweets instead of ten

You may also like The Greatest Commandment
Other free songs by Matt Blick

My Name Is Matt And I'm An Encouragement Junkie...

I try to just create because I'm human and that's what we do, and because I enjoy it and it brings me pleasure, and all of that is true. But sometimes I just want to know that someone else out there, anyone, appreciates what I do. I often feel slightly guilty when I make comments like "If you like this song please leave me a comment, or share it with friends" etc which I fend off by telling myself I'm not asking for money, and I often take time to leave comments for other musicians and artists, telling them how much I appreciate their art. But it's hard not too feel like some needy clingy girlfriend or something. Yuk!

But this story made me feel better.

Courtney (Coco) Mault was so taken with the first teaser trailer for Wall.e that she would burst into tears every time the little robot said his name. As this is the modern age she uploaded a film of her bursting into tears on YouTube because it was so stupid and geeky. And a few of the people watching and leaving nice comments were lowly tech guys, wait for it, working for Pixar.

Then she got a Wall.e crew jacket from the producers for Christmas with a nice note saying they like her video.

Then months later she received an invite to fly out to a special end of wrap party and screening at the studios expense. Director Andrew Stanton gave a speech before the film started

"Six months ago, when the first trailer for Wall-E came out, we were only halfway done with the film, and we weren't exactly sure how we were going to get it done. We were exhausted. And then, one day, a movie showed up on YouTube showing a girl watching the trailer for Wall-E. And every time she watched it, she would cry on cue. When we saw that, we knew we were on the right track."


Everybody in the theater laughed at this knowingly. 


"Well," Andrew Stanton said. "We invited Courtney here tonight." 


[Her boyfriend continues] A gasp went through the theater. I turned and looked at my girlfriend, who was gape-mouthed with astonishment. Andrew Stanton asked her to stand up, and all one-thousand sets of eyes in the theater turned to find her, and thunderous applause broke out. Courtney stood, and, not knowing what to do, blew kisses to the assembled artists and craftspeople who had made the film. 


It was one of the most moving and astounding things she had ever experienced, and I had ever witnessed, and Pixar had done it for no reason other than that her video had touched them and made them optimistic about the film they were making, and they wanted to repay her.

How much is encouragement worth? It's worth flying someone out so you can thank them personally (not that I'm in a position to do that anytime soon!). In other words - priceless.

So how about giving some encouragement today? It doesn't have to be me (pause to make cute puppy eyes) artists are more approachable through twitter/facebook than ever. You may just be the one that helps that next song/film/book get finished.

(read the full story)

Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Day 313: Looking In A Box For Boxes

Sorting through old ideas, digitising cassettes, hoping to work on two more songs one called 'Silver' which is from Judas' point of view, and another provisionally called 'Boxes'.

I'm really being grown upon by Jonathan Coulton's new album Artificial Heart. And Nemeses is probably my favourite song. Only geek-laureate JoCo would duet with someone via iPhone.

And this is also cool, and if you play Portal apparently it will make even more sense!

Blogging Muses has an interesting post called Five Ways To Finish the Song You’ve Been Working on Forever

Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick

[If you're subscribed to this blog via email, you will have to click on the post's title to watch any video content (the link will take you my site).

New Song: Maybe Your God's On The Toilet

Maybe Your God's On The Toilet [2011] Humour 
Some might say that sarcasm ain't the language of Zion
Interfaith conference on Mount Carmel
Downloads     mp3     Chords (pdf)     Lyrics (pdf)


We use different paths to climb the same mountain
So let's build a safe place to explore the terrain

We're all part of ancient faith communities

There may be common ground that we can embrace

No one person has all the answers

So let's try to find the things that unite

I hope that you'll be part of the conversation

I'll share my feelings first if you like

Maybe your god's on the toilet

Maybe he can't get to the phone

maybe the man with the plan, the whole world in his hands

Sits on a porcelain throne

Maybe he's making a pit stop

Loosing a couple of pounds

Either way he's not home so leave your prayer at the tone

Perhaps he'll answer you when he comes out

I hope I haven't somehow offended you

I hope I haven't said something wrong

Because you practice human sacrifice

And you outnumber me four hundred to one

You fundamentalists don't think humour

Has a place within religious debate

But I'm just trying to facilitate a paradigm shift

So lighten up you prophets of Baal

Maybe your god's on the toilet

Doing a poop or a pee

Is he still in control when he's sat on the bowl

And he's bombing the porcelain sea?

Maybe he's mixing some concrete

Maybe he's moving some earth

He's dropping some logs, seeing a man 'bout a dog

So perhaps we should just call off the search

Some might say that sarcasm ain't the language of Zion

And I should wash my potty mouth out when I'm through

But ask brother James, maybe he can explain

I'm a man, just a man, just like you

Maybe your god's on the toilet

Trying to do number two

Grow a tail, hang a rat, park a coil, send a fax

Drop the kids off at the pool

Maybe he's blasting a dookie

Punching a growler somewhere

He's taking a slam, he's pinching a yam

But it doesn't mean that he doesn't care

Maybe he's laying some wolf bait

Maybe he's laying a brick

He's going boom boom in the little boys room

He'll come out when he's launched the big ship

Maybe your god's on the toilet

But I'm starting to entertain doubts

So I guess I'll just go 'cos your god's a no-show

And if he's in there then he's not coming out.

You might also enjoy The Eglon Song
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Day 310: Love Nottingham And More Poo

Had a couple of hours at Shabby Road laying down song 44 - Maybe Your God's On The Toilet. It will be up on the blog bright and early tomorrow morning.

In other news Nottingham's newest (internet) radio station NGenious went live today. The big difference to our other station is NGenious plays all Nottingham music, as opposed to Radio whatever-trent-is-called-this-week which doesn't play ANY music from Nottingham. Check it out.

Time for some internet love!

Warren Lee is a soul singer that I'd never heard of before I can across him on a New Orleans sampler. Here he is backed by The Meters

Chris Henson is one of those guys that makes you say "why aren't you famous?". I love practically everything I've heard by him, but why don't you try Science Museum or Hate To Be That Guy on for size? (WARNING: Science Museum contains a bad word).

Just listening to Nottingham band The Money, I used to teach guitarist Jake when he was a kid

Free songs by Matt Blick

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New Song: Brother

Brother [2011] Spiritual Rock
I am the train whose brakes have failed
The Prodigal son blues
Downloads     mp3     lyrics (pdf)     chords (pdf)

Raise the curtain, set the scene

Our Father, my brother and I make three

One I loved, couldn't stomach the other

Couldn't look at my Dad without seeing my brother

My brother, he didn't do a damn thing wrong 

My brother, he never did a damn thing wrong 

Took the fast train to the wrong side of the tracks

Broke my father's heart and I broke the bank

My head was hot but my heart was cold 

My brother you cast a long shadow over my soul 

My brother, he didn't do a damn thing wrong 

My brother, he never did a damn thing wrong 

My brother, he didn't do a damn thing wrong 

My brother, he never did a damn thing wrong 

It's all my fault

Hit rock bottom, rock bottom fell through

Wound up in a pig sty trying to eat pig food

Money dried up and my friends all gone

Retrace my steps to where it all went wrong

It's all my fault, it's all my fault

My brother, he didn't do a damn thing wrong 

My brother, he never did a damn thing wrong 

My brother, he didn't do a damn thing wrong 

Never did a day's wrong in his whole life

But right, right, right, right

Right is more than the absence of wrong

And love is more than the absence of hate

And that my brother, my brother didn't do a damn thing wrong

Is the best that I can say, the best that I can say

I am the train whose brakes have failed

The roller-coaster that jumped the rails

Patron saint of every prodigal son

Parental heartbreaker number one 

Busted shoes on a dusty road

Who should I meet but a well shod ghost?

I'm going back to where he's coming from

Lord have mercy, I look so young...

Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Day 304: Forty Three And Counting

I find I'm not playing with a full deck

I'm up to my neck like Toulouse Lautrec

So Oct is over. Spent a week workshopping, writing, recording and performing with another batch of talented kids as well as Joff and John from Swimming and Nottingham's first lady of Electro pop Ronika. A couple of songs with the young peeps and completing Never In A Million Years takes me up to 43 songs completed this year. 

I guess I'm informally shooting for completing 50 songs this year, but at the same time I'm hoping to get into a real studio to record a four song EP by the end of the year. That's gonna take a lot of work, not least trying to complete 2 more possible songs for that project. 

But tonight I wrote 4 choruses for a song about Elijah and the prophets of Baal, working title is…wait for it…Maybe Your God's On The Toilet. You might want to check your hebrew commentaries now…

Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick

New Song: Never In A Million Years

Never In A Million Years [2011] Humorous Rock
Let's do some science in a song
Unapologetic apologetics. The Foo Fighters send back the soup.
Downloads      mp3      Lyrics(pdf)

Let's do some science in a song. Let's pick a prehistoric pond.
It's small and warm and has all sorts of ammonia and phosphoric salts.
Zapped with electricity, a protein forms there chemically
And once that protein's fully formed, it's ready to evolve some more.
That's the theory now let's try again with carbon dioxide
Water and some nitrogen and life will happen sometime … when?

Never, never in a million years
Never, never in ten million years
Never, never in a hundred million
Four hundred million years
Never in a million years


Let's give Oparin his due, he proposed we should make soup
And Haldane said that it just might cook with ultraviolet light
Urey said we should put in methane and some hydrogen
So Miller cooked it but since when did we have those ingredients back then?

Chorus

Don't cry Charlie Darwin, what does Louis Pasteur know?
Just tell Frankie we can pin the whole damn thing on undetectable spacemen
Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry
(That ship has sailed and it ain't never coming back, there's always
Much too much speculation running after too little facts)

But let's just say you make that soup, most amino acids you can't use
Right handed ones you throw away but keep a hundred lefties (give or take)
Stick 'em together with peptide glue. You've made a protein - clever you!
You know I hate to be a bore - for a cell, we only need 200 more.
Now we just got instructions left to write, 30 volumes worth that we gotta fit inside
There are only four letters in DNA, so how much longer do you think it's gonna take?

A million years?
Or ten million years?
Maybe in a hundred million?
Four hundred million years?
Never in a million years.




Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Something For The Weekend

I'm full of cold and recovering from being hit on the head with a piece of lighting rig. Here's something to cheer us all up!

Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick
 
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New Song: There Goes The Moon

There Goes The Moon [2010] Love Song
There are plenty of other moons in the sky
A mellow Metallica ballad of a lovelorn lunatic.
Download      mp3


They promised me the moon
And like the moon she was cold
She was desolate and distant
And blessed with a light not her own


They promised me the moon
And around me she spun
But her love waxed and waned and
One casual eclipse she was gone


But oh, how she drew me to her light
And oh, how she tugged at my heart like a rising tide


There's plenty of other moons in the sky
One is waiting for me, silent as light
But morning arrives too soon
There goes the moon


They promised me the moon
To love and lose was my part
But can you say you've lost somebody
If you still know where they are?


They promised me the moon
And like the moon she was cold
She was desolate and distant
And blessed with a light not her own


I know I was irrational and insane
But oh, how she toyed with the tide inside my brain


There's plenty of other moons in the sky...


There goes the moon
They call it 'the moon'
But it's only the moon of the earth
Only a moon
Not the brightest or best
But she filled up my sky 'till I just couldn't see that...


There's plenty of other moons in the sky...


Mars has two Pluto has three
There must be a moon out there just for me
But morning arrives too soon
There goes the moon


Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Day 285: We're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat

Tried to do a bit of recording at Shabby Road after teaching but the mac was flat so I switched all the lights off and improvised in the dark. It seemed the thing to do.

I'm still slogging away with the evolution song "Never In A Million Years". I'm not sure why it's taking so long but I'm nearly there. It's teaching me about the limitations of 3 minute pop songs to get across humorous points about scientific arguments, but I'm going to finish it dammit. Whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger...

I'm having to rethink my whole blogging posting songs method. What worked when I was writing six songs a year, is groaning under the weight of 40. I'm writing songs and not getting around to posting them, or not getting them on the download page. Expect some changes soon. And a few old songs that never made it onto the blog.

Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Rock And Roll Injuries

Lou Reed was playing a gig in Buffalo in 1973 when a man invaded the stage, shouted “leather” and bit him on the buttocks

Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham collapsed onstage in Nuremberg in 1980 after eating 27 bananas

Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst suffered 'testicular trauma' after being hit in the balls with a lemon while onstage in Chicago

Courtney Love's dog died in 2002 after eating one of her breast implants (having had them removed previously and kept as souvenirs)

Elvis Presley died of a drug induced heart attack. Drugs in Elvis' system when he died: Codeine, Morphine, Demerol, Avental, Valium, Quaaludes, Placidyl, Carbrital, Valmid, Amytal, Nembutal, Elavil and Sinutab.

Keith Richards crashed his restored Nazi staff car twice in 1969 after falling asleep at the wheel. He fell off a library ladder at home and broke three ribs in 1998. And he was injured when he fell out of a Coconut tree in 2006.

Source: The Q Magazine Music Bible



Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Joanne's Difficult Decision

In 1954 Joanne Schieble was pregnant, unmarried, university student. She faced the difficult decision whether to keep the baby, give it up for adoption or have an abortion.

She had no way of knowing how things her life or her baby's life would turn out, the kind of dilemma I was trying to capture in the song First Black President.

I could have been a hero
Covered in glory 'cos I gave my life
I could have been a mother
Three young kids and working nights
I could have been a nurse or a football coach
Could have had your smile, your eyes, your nose
Would my coming still be something you'd lament
If I'd have been the first black President?


Thankfully Joanne decided not to have an abortion but to give him up for adoption. Her son didn't become the President of the United States. He became the CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs.

It's impossible for anyone to accurately assess another's life. But I think Steve Jobs made the world a better place.

Rest in peace, Steve. And thank you Joanne.

Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Day 263: The Illuminati Ate My Homework

Really enjoyed this article/video on the making of Bohemian Rhapsody. Also enjoyed this video slightly more than Queen's original vid.

The great thing about 50/90 and FAWM is coming across musicians creating great stuff. Here's two very different tracks from 'RC' both written and recorded sometime in the last 79 days. (By the way RC has written 45 songs during 50/90 so far!)

You Killed It
Balderdash

Speaking of FAWM, glasgow power pop titan KiDD recorded some great songs, which he's now gathered onto a free album. Check it out

CD Baby ran a series of songwriting tips from the hitmakers recently

If you want to know what William Gibson told David Crosby about the elves taking over the workshop, why Chris Cornell think's it's easier to write melodies over odd time signature riffs and why Richard Thompson recommends copying everyone except yourself check out parts one, two and three

OK I'm off to do more brainstorming on a new song called "The Illuminati Ate My Homework". BTW - Eleven Sweets has very quickly hit over 100 downloads!


Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Day 261: I Question The Soup, And Eleven Sweets For Everyone!!!

I've gone a record 3 days without writing. Having started back at school this week I came down with freshers flu or whatever the junior version is called and struggled to do anything but sleep and watch a few DVDs.

Tonight I tried to get things moving again. My evolution song (working title "I Question The Soup" is paused while I take advice from a chemist, a doctor and a science teacher, so to move that along I typed out a response to their responses and eagerly await their response.

In more clearing decks news I finally turned the huge audio file of one of my old cassette tapes into neatly labelled mp3s. Only another 38 tapes to go!

Eleven Sweets has had a massive positive response from friends and family. Zeppo and I got loads of comments at Church today and in her honour THE CHILDREN'S CHURCH GAVE ELEVEN SWEETS TO EVERY CHILD!!! How awesome is that!

Zep and I will be working on the follow up single 25 Sweets, A Happy Meal & An iPhone 5 soon.

(PS there was only one other page on the whole internet with the phrase "I question the soup" on it. Now there are two. Will I get top ranking? Simply type "I question the soup" into google and see if I win the "I question the soup" battle.

Soup Battle?

Hmm...

Nah  - 5,790 results.

Stick to "I question the soup".

Because I do.

Question the soup, that is).




(Did I win yet?)


Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick



[If you're subscribed to this blog via email, you will have to click on the post's title to watch any video content (the link will take you my site).

New Song: Let's Build An Airport

Let's Build An Airport was written during FAWM 2011. In keeping with the rough and ready vibe of that songwriting challenge I wrote it from scratch and demoed in a single night. I've had quite a few positive comments about it from other songwriters so I decided to go back and do a better recording. As well as the very talented Rachel McClean on Cello you can also hear a number of planes and real life WW2 bomber crew.

The original inspiration was simply a list of bizarre children's books that I'd seen in a school library on a break from teaching. I had intended to do a surreal list song, but I never got beyond the first title “Let's Build An Airport” by Kath Mellentin and Gillian Clements. I just spilled out my frustration over a descending chromatic chord progression that has been done many times before (in 'If' by David Gates/Bread for one). But switching off my inner critic seemed to be a good thing and I'm really proud of some of the phrases and imagery – 'As deep as the clouds', 'rootless and artless and freer than birds' and catching 'that burning ball in the fist of one hand'.

Though the song is using a commercial airport as a metaphor, in my mind's eye I see Lancaster bombers taking off when I hear the song, so I was thrilled to get some sound library recordings and Rachel's cello is almost the musical representation of a Lancaster bomber – heavy, yet elegant and quintessentially English.

Download the mp3
Download the Chord Sheet
Watch Video Live @ Vauxhall Griffin, London 2011

Let's build an airport and let's fly away
If we put our minds to it we could finish today
These people round here are as deep as the clouds
And they don't understand anything that isn't glued to the ground

But we're rootless and artless and freer than birds
Let's not march to the abattoir just like the rest of the herd.
Forget Stansted, forget JFK.
There's a whole world of difference Between a runway
And running away.
We're not running away...

Doesn't the sunset attract you? Don't the horizon look grand?
Couldn't you just catch that burning ball in the fist of one hand?
I'll clear you for take off and you can clear me 
Then we'll cross every ocean and be back for our tea
Let's build an airport and let's fly away
If we put our minds to it we could finish today
These people round here are as deep as the clouds
And they don't understand anything that isn't glued to the ground

 © Matt Blick 2011

Samples credits

Lancaster Bomber Crew Raid over Stettin, Germany (April 20, 1943)
Lancaster Bomber Crew Raid over Berlin - Sep 3 1943
by stelzriede.com. Both of these can be found on the Marshall Stelzriede War Story website
Consolidated B-24 Liberator Bomber pass by 1 and 2 by The Recordist Free Sound FX
Lancaster Bomber by confusion_music from Freesound.org
Spitfire Mk 19 (Griffon engine) by Genghis Attenborough from Freesound.org


Related posts: Download Faithful and True for free!!!
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Day 257: Attack Of The Mean 90's People

The only writing I did yesterday was emailing Eleven Sweets to a bunch of friends and family and writing a riff at 11:55.

My wife took me for a 'I love you' lunch at the Soulsville Steakhouse. They play music that makes everything taste better. I honesty almost wept tears of joy at the beauty of the second bar of the chorus of Stop! In The Name Of Love. In fact every chord in that song is perfect (may the names of Holland Dozier Holland be forever blessed). I just wish we hadn't been seated at the Ike & Tina Turner table on our date. That's bad joojoo.

I am listening for the first time to A Night At The Opera by Queen. It seems to be a day for awe inspiring beauty. They created so many incredible singles that it's at least excusable to forget they made albums too.

Ever wondered what all the mean snarky judgemental people did before the internet?

Now I know. They wrote letters to guitar magazines.

One of my pupils gave me 120 issues of Guitar World, Guitar, Guitar One, Guitarist and so on and every single letters page contains the following flamefests

1) "I can't believe you f***** a******** ran another interview with [insert metal/thrash/hardcore band] those guys are talentless w*****. Why the hell don't you feature some decent music like [insert blues/alternative/indie artist]"

2) "I can't believe you f***** a******** ran another interview with [insert blues/alternative/indie artist] those guys are talentless w*****. Why the hell don't you feature some decent music like [insert metal/thrash/hardcore band]"


3) Yngwie/Clapton/Page/Dimebag/EVH is God. You're all d******


4) Yngwie/Clapton/Page/Dimebag/EVH is a pathetic joke. You're all d******

And so on...



Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick

[If you're subscribed to this blog via email, you will have to click on the post's title to watch any video content (the link will take you my site).

Day 255: Who Was That Masked Man? (Ah, Who Cares)

Eleven Sweets is finished - here it is - Eleven Sweets mp3

My unfinished rap funk metal thing got featured on the 50/90 podcast. Here that is - 50/90 Podcast #6

Just watched Rainn Wilson in Super. It wasn't.

Started back a school today.

Busy.

It wouldn't be my blog without a little Jonathan Coulton. His new song Good Morning Tucson is growing on me and is available for free from Blurt online

Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Day 254: Headstock And The Kitchen Sink

Had to head out early this morning to play at the Headstock festival with the young people from the workshop I did the other week. They did really well and there were a few star performers that really impressed me. (Was nice to see one of Nottingham's best cafes, Homemade keeping the bacon cobs coming). Then off to Shabby Road for some more recording.

I wrote Eleven Sweets right at the end of FAWM. Zeppo told me about her adventures in sunday school and I set them to music. I wanted to get her to sing it but just ran out of time. But we redid it this summer and tonight I added the finishing touches – piano, penny whistle (aka irish/tin whistle), recorder, shaky egg, electric guitar, synth, samba whistle and snare drum. Or 'kitchen sink' as it's known in the trade.

I accidentally hit on a fun way to work without getting bogged down with second guessing or over engineering. Just leave you power cable at home. Watching that little battery icon turn red really concentrates the mind. I finished with 2% left.

I'm really pleased with the way the track has evolved from 'acoustic Green Day' to 'crusty reggae' (see Noah And The Whale for further details). All thanks to a bit of uke and a funky recorder lick. It's still a home demo with a 6 year old lead vocalist but now it's a lot more fun!

Hopefully I'll have the mix up tomorrow, but starting back at school might knock me out!

Jo Co Bo Rap

Really enjoyed this piece from American Songwriter about Queen's Greatest Hit. Both the videos are worth watching. The Beatles were their 'bible' and Freddie wrote out all the vocal parts? Impressive. The guy was a true musical genius.

Revisiting Jonathan Coulton's Thing A Week I have to lay some love on I'm Your Moon. Not many  people could write a song about the downgrading of Pluto from the point of view of Charon and create a love song that people would sing to their newborns and request at their weddings. And once again, click here, find the smily face and you get a free download. He's a nice guy. Maybe you should give him some money anyway?

You Like Sarcastic Signs?

So do I. No, really.


Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Day 253: Bulgarian Feedback And Failing To Write About Nothing

A while back I was slogging my way through recording and arranging Never Be Silent and put a rough mix up on the 50/90 site to get some second opinions on a thread titled Bulgarian Feedback. As well as a lot of cool advice a number of people said Bulgarian Feedback would be a cool title for a song. But only one man was cool enough to make it so - Johnny Cashpoint.

Bulgaria has fallen and there’s terror in the air.
Conquering invaders have arrived with questionnaire:

“Please rate our occupation on a scale of 1 to 4
Where one is sheer perfection and four is very poor.

How’d you find the food? (Please only rate food you can find.)
During interrogations were our men polite and kind?

and this classic couplet

Promised to provide a service that’s both harsh but fair.
Just ‘cos we’ve over-run you doesn’t meant that we don’t care.”

Listen to the song and read the rest of the lyrics

Jonathan Coulton wrote about his excellent song Mr Fancy Pants*

 It’s almost like this song was generated by the non-thinking parts of me, by the systems level utilities - sitting down and typing gibberish until something gets traction. Strangely, it was the first time I tried this technique during Thing a Week, and I wish I had surrendered to it earlier. I relied on it quite a bit for this new album, and it often led to much more honest and personal expression than I could have gotten to otherwise. It’s very hard to write about nothing for very long, and the real stuff sneaks out of you when you’re not looking.

It reminded me of my song Let's Build An Airport. I started with a weird title, which was actually the title of a children's book and what flowed out of me (oooh don't sound like a reel arr-teest!) was a reflection of the escapism and frustration I was feeling inside. Like Coulton I want to try that more often.

I'll be posting the new recording up soon, but for now here's a live recording I did at the FAWM Over Party at the Vauxhall Griffin Pub in London. (Note: the audio starts before the video)

*You can listen to Mr Fancy Pants on the page but why don't you go here
Find Thing A Week Four
Find Mr Fancy Pants
Click on the smiley face next to Mr Fancy Pants and get a FREE DOWNLOAD
See all those other smiley faces?
You can thank me later


Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick


[If you're subscribed to this blog via email, you will have to click on the post's title to watch any video content (the link will take you my site).

Day 252: New Song - Still Standing (Trees)

Walking in the woods I spoke aloud

my deepest hopes and dreams

The marks I'd make on history

The great things I'd achieve 

When from above 

I heard the leaves

Their laughter borne 

Upon the breeze

The mocking trees fell quiet, the wise old oak

He spoke up for them all

“We have stood our ground 

Since Bonaparte coveted our soil

And we'll be here 

When wind and rain

Erase the name 

Upon your grave”

I'm really trying to work on melody this year and singing in my 'own' voice (not that wretched generic american one that I and everyone outside of the Arctic Monkeys and The Proclaimers adopt). So on that score I'm quite happy with Still Standing (Trees). There's a little Marx Bros influence in the lyrics of the second verse (listen to the track before you read the lyrics and see if you can guess where the song is going) and a bit of Beatles in the chord progressions (especially the minor 4).

It's just a crazy story that came into my head one day. I live in a beautiful area surrounded by trees but lately a lot of them are losing all their bark for some reason. Despite what the song might lead you to believe this make me quite sad.

I approached the writing a little differently just to break me out of my habits. I wrote the lyrics to existing tunes Fly Me To The Moon for the verse and Autumn Leaves for the chorus, then wrote new music. The odd line lengths and different rhyme schemes made my go beyond my usual patterns. I like the way the song kind of goes 4/4 then 2/4 at the end of the chorus.

I'm up to 40 songs written now this year. It's easy to get a bit down and feel I'm doing this for nothing, but I think I am getting better as a writer. Time will tell.

Leave me a comment if you like it.


Download Still Standing (Trees) mp3
Download Still Standing (Trees) lyrics

Free download: Never Be Silent
Other free songs by Matt Blick