Writing songs is one of my favorite things to do.  Over the course of a few days this past week I wrote two songs as well as took my first stab at composition.

Writing the composition was quite the adventure.  I didn’t even start working on it until midnight.  I “finished” at about 4:30AM… and then tweaked a few things for a couple hours the next day.  Inspiration just happened to strike at midnight and I couldn’t sleep until I had my ideas out.  It’s interesting how much late night energy I can get when working on something creative (juxtapose this to the fact that I can rarely stay awake to see a whole movie, and it really is quite impressive).  The composition is written for piano, violin, and cello - mostly focusing on the piano, with the stings just filling out the sound.  It is a fairly short instrumental experimental classical piece that depicts a day in the life of a spider.  I wrote it on a cheap version of the Finale notation software called NotePad.  The program allows me to hear what I’ve written on MIDI playback (it basically sounds like crappy keyboard versions of sampled instruments).  I enjoy listening to “Spiders”, but it’s probably not that good of a composition (it is only my first attempt).  I hope to one day record it though.

The other two songs that I wrote were pretty good though.  They’re both upbeat and fun to play.

I normally don’t do this, but I’m going to show you the lyrics (I usually prefer to have people hear the lyrics rather than read them, but “what the hey!”):

Beyond My Control (a song about the uncertainties of life after death)

I don’t want to die, but one day when I do, I think that I’ll be fine
I’m confident I’ll get through
But still I seem so scared, and oh so unprepared
For a new creation beyond imagination

So much is unknown and it don’t make me comfortable
So much is at stake and I just have to wait
So much is so strange; it’s so easy to complicate
Beyond my control, it’s beyond my control

There’s little information about the transformation
Into that second body, while the other one is rotting
So where do I go? And what is my soul?
How long is forever? How many meet together?

So much is unknown and it don’t make me comfortable
So much is at stake and I just have to wait
So much is so strange; it’s so easy to complicate
Beyond my control, it’s beyond my control

Better Man (a song about life change)

I was a broken man - a heartless beast
Among the damned and amid the least
You were beautiful
There was something new that I had to have that was inside of you
A quick and sudden change;
There’s really something strange about this

You’re a miracle. You’re the reason why I’m a better man.
You clear my mind
You’re innocent. I was so corrupt, but it balanced out.
You lifted me from the rut
I’m on the level ground. I’m never going down there again

And all you ever did was nothing else but live,
And teach me to forgive myself

I’m curious to know what you think.  Feel free to critique or completely tear me apart.  You can bluntly tell me which lines suck.  All is fair…  But if you want to say something nice, I like that too.