Writing a Song

It's been about six months since I wrote a song, apart from helping a little boy write a song about dolphins at half term in the Hub in West Kensington. Drawing has kept me occupied and preoccupied, with a fair amount of political protest too.

In between bouts of spring cleaning (goodbye moths in the house, goodbye rats in the back yard, who someone seems to have sorted out at the beginning of their rat-run), I've sat with my guitar and put chords to one of the melodies that I dreamed a few weeks ago.

Writing melodies first is hard because you then have to fit words to them. Thinking of words first is much easier, but I've taken to typing them into my phone and they feel as though they have disappeared into that greedy little electronic thing. I put a little notebook into my bag yesterday to stop that from happening.

Having excess melodies was useful when I was working with Robert, because I could just give them to him as starters for songs he could finish. Same with him and me, I think. Anyway, he sent me his new album to listen to and it's got some really lovely songs on it. I sang backing vocals to a few of them, Amelia Fletcher did some and so did Kenji. It's got a nod in the direction of French film music, Jacques Brel and all sorts of other delicious audio ingredients. There will be a launch gig in October.

In other news, I am preparing for one of my embroidered artworks to be shown at Bath Fringe, which is tricky for various reasons. I'm going to sit and begin a new embroidery while I'm invigilating as part of the art. That's a rhyme of the time, BTW.