PICTURESQUE POETICS
30 Day Song Challenge
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During April 2020, I wound up stumbling across a #30DaySongChallenge; the gist was that following a list of daily prompts, people would highlight relevant songs that they liked on social media. Creative types put their own spin on it however and for my part it became 30 days of lyric sheets, shown here from one to thirty.
Can't Escape the Red
Prompt one: A song about a colour. Be warned, this one's downright grim and grisly.
Just One
Prompt two: A song about a number. You'll find I get a bit loose with how I interpret the prompts.
Flesh Herons
Prompt three: A song about an animal. This is a song about featherless herons who fight crime... to be glib.
Why Aren't You Me?
Prompt four: A song in 5/4. Easier said than done when working with lyrics alone, but here's something that should technically work, I think. I took the opportunity to rant at the inner voices.
You Might End a Life
Prompt Five: Parody an existing song. This is a twisting of the Fray's 'How to Save a Life' which carries the message: Stay the fuck at home during the Covid-19 pandemic.
One Axe on the Bridge
Prompt Six: A song set in another time. Here's a song of a legend from the battle of Stamford Bridge, about how a lone Viking held off the entire English army alone on the bridge, killing 40 or so men, before a crafty fellow snuck below the bridge and poked him most saliently inwards with his spear. (Also, because I forgot to write it on the sheet: Copyright (C) 2020 Richard Paul)
Ten Circles Dance
Prompt Seven: A song set in our current place in history: Considering that at the time of writing it's the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, bollocks to that. Here's a song about a holiday of good cheer I made up. Close enough.
Ill-Suited
Prompt Eight: A song about falling in love. Unfortunately, I'm me.
Ring Around the Corpse-Fire
Prompt Nine: A song that makes you want to dance. Now we come to something reasonably cheerful after the last one. Sort of. A bit. Maybe. Hmm.
Memory
Prompt Ten: A song that reminds you of family. This song's a mite generic, but sincere at least.
I'm Not Letting Go
Prompt eleven: A song from the perspective of a best friend. This one is my attempt to be heartwarming. Here's hoping.
Piece by Piece
Prompt Twelve: A song that reminds you of someone you'd rather forget. I thought of my old high school cookery teacher and this came to mind. (Be warned, it's a bit grisly.)
A Writer I was Meant to Be
Prompt Thirteen: Rewrite an old song. Very well, here's a writer-themed take on 'A Pirate I was Meant to Be' from 'The Curse of Monkey Island.' If you don't know that song, shame on thee!
THE BATTLE OF THE FALSE HEAVEN – PART ONE: MERIDON'S GATE
Prompt Fourteen: A song with as much harmony as you can manage...... uhh, sure. It's long. Does that count?
As Saint Rackham Teaches
Prompt Fifteen: A song about drugs or alcohol: I thought back to my university days and added the quasi-deified Calico Jack from my 'All Merrily Through Hell Together' Universe
Everything
Prompt Sixteen: A 'Sexy' Song - I'm so sorry... I'm sorry for everything.
Vaccine
Prompt Seventeen: A song about science: A mite predictable perhaps considering the times, but I figured that viruses warranted scorn right now, and sooner or later this will apply to Covid-19. Also it might irk a passing anti-vaxxer
Sigil
Prompt Eighteen: A melody that sounds as good backwards... Sure.
Wasn't going to do any instrumentals of any kind, but the prompt demanded and this isn't the one I plan on ignoring so here we are. I dug out me ol' Tin whistley and made this simple tune, split in half and played backwards for the second part. Make of it what you will.
Here's me a'whistling.
Go Summon Up The Whispers
Prompt Nineteen: A song to travel to. I tried to make this both catchy and nostalgic and pleasant and peaceful and all that nice stuff.
Day After Foolish Day
Prompt Twenty: A breakup song. Half-remembered grimness twisted into fiction and done halfheartedly, truth to tell.
Lindisfarne's Shadow
Prompt Twenty-One: A song about a place. For the record I'm not really accusing the monks at Lindisfarne of anything.
Eyes in the Ghostly Oaks
Prompt Twenty-Two: A song about nighttime. Ehh, close enough. A song about thieves in the darkness, a less than pleasant lot.
4:49AM
Prompt Twenty-Three: A song that feels like a hug. A hug and a series of extended middle fingers perhaps.
For Coretanima, Time and Again
Prompt Twenty-Four: A song about your best moment. Well I didn't wish to put such a thing to verse so here's this weirdness instead.
If The Heart Fails
Prompt Twenty-Five: A song about your worse moment: See above. This one's a bit more serious at least.
Ours to Decide
Prompt Twenty-Six: A song with impressive vocals. Well I'd hope that applies to more than just this one. It's based on a less than pleasant part of my 'All Merrily Through Hell Together' series, be warned, tis a mite vulgar (and doesn't reflect the actual opinions of the lyricist).
Wheel of the Year
Prompt Twenty-Seven: A song in iambic pentameter. Not a great deviation from my usual doings i suspect. Anyway, here's a pleasant sinagamajig about the Pagan wheel of the year.
More Than Life Itself
Prompt Twenty-Eight: A song inspired by a cliche: And because it's me I involved despair and demons.
Day of The Fiends
Prompt Twenty-Nine: A song with a plot twist. People often find unexpected twists when the Vieshkyrl start tearing through their city, that's almost a pun... never mind.
Three Kingdoms
Prompt Thirty: A song not on your usual instrument: The last one would be awkward, wouldn't it? I took to bandlab and twisted together as nifty a thing as I could with seven instruments that aren't my usual and this was the result.