I walk down a path lined with pine trees. Birds sing. Early morning mist seeps through the trees, giving sections of the path light and shade. I come to an iron gate, wet with morning dew, it creaks as I open it, and step into a yellow wheat field. The stalks of corn dance as I amble its perimeters. I come to a lush green meadow. I remove my sandals and walk barefoot over the damp grass. I admire the clover, daisies, and buttercups.   I walk up the meadow hill and at the top look at the view beyond. I walk on…

At the foot of the waterfall, angels bathe in a pool. Steps lead to the water’s edge. I take them slowly, with two angels offering to hold my hands if I feel unsteady. The sounds of water and the feel of the spray on my face greets me as I approach a gold waterfall. The golden waters at the foot of the waterfall have bathing angels.  Steps lead down to the pool. I take them slowly, with two angels offering to hold my hands if I feel unsteady. The water is warm. My body feels weightless and tingles all over. Angles play in the water, diving, splashing, and swimming below the surface. Two celestial beings fly me to the top of the waterfall. I survey the view below. The spiritual females hold my hands, and with open wings slowly glide down the face of the falling water.

On my way, I see the faces of deceased loved ones smiling at me from behind the veil of gold. The angels return me to the golden pool. They tell me it has healing properties and swimming in the gold water heals a person on all levels: physically, mentally, and spiritually….

I leave the pool and the waterfall and retrace the steps of my journey over the meadow, through the wheat field and back up to path lined with pine trees. In my own time, I return to the worldly plane.

 

 

 

I received a phone call from a neighbour; he said he had put my name forward to write a song for two well-known footballers.  They wanted to record a credible pop song. They visited me at my house and listened to some songs. They both liked the same song, ‘Diamond lights’. I had a demo of the song on my 8-track tape machine, so I was in a position to try out their voices. I recorded Glenn Hoddle (spurs player) singing the lead vocal. Glenn surprised me because he has a high tuneful singing voice. The song was written for one singer, so I wrote a melody part for Chris Waddle (spurs player) to sing on the chorus. Chris had a low voice which worked well underneath Glenn’s high voice.  We all agreed, the boys voices sounded great. We went into a studio and recorded the song. ‘Diamonds lights’ gave  Glenn & Chris a Top Twenty UK hit.

Asked to write a new song for the England Internationals, I wouldn’t have known where to begin. ‘Diamond Lights’ was not an obvious choice because it was a moody song with abstract lyrics, but I think the boys wanted a song that sounded nothing like a football song. However, by creating a sub melody and speeding up the track with a rock feel, we moulded the song to suit the pop duo: Glenn & Chris.

The next time you need a song for an act, go through your catalogue, you never know, you might find a song you can rework.

THE ONE-LINE CHORUS

We have discussed song structure: verse, bridge, and chorus, etc. However this law is not written in stone, there are exceptions to the rule, i.e., the one-line chorus. Say your immediate creation has a great melody and lyric; It doesn’t always follow you try to start writing a verse out of them. Sometimes a song has a one-line chorus structure, i.e., the chorus is at the song’s beginning.
‘I’m in the Mood for Dancing’ The Nolans; the chorus begins the song: ‘I’m in the Mood for Dancing, romancing…’ Then comes a little verse, the one-line chorus repeat in a new key, a middle-eight, followed by one-line choruses.
‘Summer holiday’ Cliff Richard has a one-line chorus.
When writing songs, be on your guard for one-line choruses, they often evolve to great songs.