well, here we are - end of may, start-o-summer. this month really got away from me! i know i had said that i had no expectations for a consistent publishing schedule here, but still - there’s a part of me that’s a little disappointed i didn’t really hit the ground running writing… oh well. the live outfit for dizzy still played a couple of really nice shows, one in town, one out (on my birthday no less!), and then i spent a much-needed holiday weekend with family right afterwards. good stuff.
all to say, what i had originally planned to publish this month hasn’t come to fruition yet…i’m slowly incubating an idea that may need a little more focused analysis/critique, so perhaps that’s best for later in the summer. in the meantime, i thought it’d be interesting to pivot (earlier than expected) to something i’ve always had locked and loaded. i want to share with you my “running list.”
what’s a “running list”? gee, thanks for asking! in short, i think it’s probably something a lot of songwriters and creatives have somewhere on their person: it’s the cork-board hanging on the wall, the magnet poetry on the fridge, the lil’ notepad in your pocket, et cetera et cetera. in fact —
— elvis costello was said to have carried around bags full of notebooks with him, whenever he’d go out people-watching in the 70s and 80s. ruben nielson’s (unknown mortal orchestra) appearance on the song exploder podcast illustrated his obsession with writing down (and circling) potential album titles. and annie clark (st. vincent) has spoken in the past about writing turns-of-phrase down in her notes app. hey, me too!
not that any bigshot interviewers or members of the press are clamoring to hear about my process, necessarily, but i also keep a “running list” on my phone, of anything and everything: interesting combinations of words, little couplets, conceits/title ideas for potential songs, and sometimes even voice memos of chord patterns/melody snippets/quick demos, all housed in my notes app. whenever i’m drafting up a song in earnest, my running list is a great reference point for whenever i get stuck. there’s usually an idea or a rhyme on the list, that you can then shoehorn in to dig you out of a problem.
the running list is partially how i’d answer those classic process questions: how do you get started with a song? words or music? but the true answer is that it always depends, and sometimes an idea you deem worthy to jot down in one minute will go absolutely-fucking-nowhere the next. the trick is to always be observing, and be quick on-the-draw whenever something noteworthy or remarkable crops up, in passing or in conversation. write quickly, write frequently, and keep it going - hence the operative word: “running.”
i decided against just posting a screenshot of my notes. i’ll instead “pin” this text-based post to the top of my substack profile. that way, i can periodically edit it with new ideas as time goes on, in true running fashion.
some of this may look like gooblydegook. most of it may go nowhere. but i think it’s encouraging to be transparent about the fickle nature of making a Little Something out of a Big Nothing. better that than brooding, precious, self-importance about the whole thing. the truth is, making stuff looks pretty silly behind the scenes. maybe even a little stupid.
on that note, without further ado, here’s my (current) running list, plucked straight from my phone, From Me to You:
042624 - present (last updated 040725) - the mystery of misery / misery of mystery - caught a breeze when she blinked - tougher in the driver's seat - "butterflight" (??) - big moments clarify cliché - overthoughtful - and i will play this little heart in my chest/ perhaps a bit too close to the vest - born to bruce (lol)060924070124 - "Spot the pattern" (dizzy 4 track sequence? subject to change): 1. Getting time 2. Bit better 3.In a FlowFloe 4. Light burst 5. Nova - break 6. Back-to-Back 7. Vanishing creme8. pink lemon sour9. What is time? 10. On New Year's & for bandcamp/substack add'l tracks:City Park, before dark - notes app demo becoming a photo - .als demoGet me There - notes app demo look into the end of time, by richard k. fenn (i still haven't done this yet) - never had an occasion to rise to - that song is sadder now --> OR the song becomes sad // is there something here? - bloodfeathers (shouts to ella for teaching me this word, amazing) - why does the tv have to yell at me like that - you have to fool yourself to fool others - follow abundance, chase the bliss - superfeeler
- “choose” 071624 voice memo:
- “c’mon everybuddy, let’s do the sisyphus slide!!” 072024 voice memo:
- there’s an alternate reality where i’m doing much better thanks
- it’s a hum that hums
- 091424 chord sequence ( | D7 D7/G :| Emaddb6 Em :| A7b9 G | )
- sundowner
- my pockets are a mess
- you are your only guarantee
- i won’t remind you / you won’t forget
- mourn for all the people you’ll never know
- metaphor makes it something else —> connect to the cliche phrase somehow? ^
- the roundabout charmer
- a vein of oil
- the saccharine in man
- plastic/dramatic
- the delta between
- scheme of consciousness
- Bm7/F#, Fmaj7, Cmaj7, D
- G6 F#7 Fmaj7 E
- undertaker took her under
- “it’s been said before / and drowned at odds in metaphor
but when all those words begin to falter, short,
I’d speak it to you plain— I’ve just been living lean
But I don’t know what I mean, I guess it’s just that I…”
- sequence the sizzle reel playlist? “officially”?
- unruly tongue / unmanaged heart
- podcast idea: speak with musicians and artists about works in progress
working title: “strike-throughs” (stylized “
strike-throughs”)
- its fruit taste like poetry
- majestodelic
- perfume advertising imagery as metaphor (what’s that horse doing on the moon??)
- misty at the moviehouse
- overtaken by marginalia
- music is the sound dance makes
- soporific / somnifacient
- closet philosphers
really only time will tell if any of this stuff is useable, whether that be in lyrics, poems, stories, wherever. it just so happened that the first month’s worth of runner (late april ‘24 to late may ‘24) didn’t happen to have any audio/voice memo embedded. but i’m sure that if a riff or snatch of melody occurs to me, i’ll make updates as we go. [july edit - houston we have liftoff]
nothing here has to make sense — at least not yet. sometimes you just gotta take a few laps.
— dizzy/sjg/etc