It’s almost 2 AM and I need a break from fine-tuning the lyrics to “Lost in the Wind,” otherwise known as “Song No.1” in my 10-song producing marathon.

You can also check yesterday’s update to learn more about the origins of this song and the challenges I’ve faced in creating it…

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The Good News

The good news first. I’ve made measurable progress from yesterday. If you remember, my two biggest problems were A) deciding what to do with the Bridge section and B) finishing the complete Verse lyrics to the song.

Today I added a simple little keyboard part to the bridge that ushers in the drums. It got stuck in my head quickly, so I think that’s a good sign.

The complete lyric to the song is also filled out (!), but a few lines need editing (see “The Bad News,” below). I’ve had a decent amount of practice today with singing most of the song, so that’s good. The chorus is stuck in my head; so are some of the lines from the verses. Also good.

I’m getting some wonderful singing practice in general by working on this song. There is a falsetto leap in the chorus that is both fun and challenging.

I love the way it sounds in my head, but I’m having trouble making that sound exist in the real world. That’s OK, the point of this songwriting marathon isn’t to practice my singing.

Still, I’m glad for every minute of experience I can get on frontman duties like tricky lead vocals. My experience singing into a mic is also limited. Again, the more hours I can do this practice, the better. Luckily, I really enjoy it… but my voice is getting a little bit sore. And that leads into the rest of the bad news…

The Bad News

Here’s the main bad news for tonight: I’m getting stuck three lines of lyrics. Specifically, the two short lines of lyrics for the Bridge and one final line of Verse 2.

More bad news - or at least definitely self-critical news - the rhyme scheme could be significantly better. I envision (for the future) a rhyme scheme that is more deliberate, clearer, more rhythmic, more planned-out, and more repetitive and predictable (when it comes to rhyme scheme, this is often a good thing).

Still, I’m satisfied (enough) with my existing lyric to use what I have and move forward on the big picture of the songwriting marathon. I’ll take this experience and learn from it.

However, like I said - there are still three lines that I simply can’t accept yet. I’ve tried. But the baseline acceptable quality of those three lines just isn’t there yet.

It’s only three lines of lyrics out of 26+ total lines that are holding me back. But, the problem is - those crappy lines are preventing me from singing the whole song authentically.

I need to be able to pour my heart into the words I sing - I mean I have to, because my voice isn’t nearly good enough to sell anything less than total authenticity. This is a limitation I am very aware of - and I intend to use it to my advantage. Authenticity should be prized in music and art.

So, when it comes to finishing the words to this song, I might have to sleep on it one more night. But I also must press forward with all urgency.

The final (predictable) bad news is, I’m also getting a little bored of working on the same song so much.

Luckily I predicted this at the start, and I’ve been deliberately rationing my listening time to avoid burnout or studio lock-in.

In my past songwriting efforts (most of which failed), I would typically get something down and then listen to it 200 times on my headphones. Eventually it would become so deeply ingrained in my psyche that I would shudder to change a single note of the original recording - no matter how much better a song the original idea could have been worked into, had I been willing to change it. This was a problem.

Anyway, I’ll strive to prevent burnout for just a few more days. And after I finish these three lines of lyrics, things get very interesting again. I’ll be re-focusing on the instrumental parts, particularly the drums, bass, and piano.

Stay Focused on the Final Intention

I started on Monday, so I have 4 days remaining before I hit my 1-week deadline.

It would also be very nice to finish a day or two early, since that speed will add up over all 10 songs and save a total of two to four weeks on the whole project (that’s a lot of time).

Keeping myself organized, here’s what’s left to do:

  • Finish writing these last 3 lines of lyrics.
  • Polish the essential bass, drum, and piano tracks.
  • Detailed work on each transition between song sections.
  • Build the final (clean) instrumental mix project in Ableton.
  • Practice and Record the final vocal track(s).
  • Mixing and Mastering.

Looking forward to being done with this song - and on to a brand-new mystery for the next one. But, there’s still a bit of a ways to go.

Stay focused, and make sure to finish strong and with clear intentions. RG out.

Read more! Click here to continue to the next day of production…

Listen to the song: Click here to hear the original song “Lost in the Wind”, by Remote God.

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