Thank you Paul!! Really appreciated that comment :)

Thank you, Paul! I'm happy to hear that "Overjoyed" made you happy. It's really fun to play as a warm up. We will work on this later, I'm rerecording the guitar part!

Paul, did get the e-mail I sent?

Hey, I saw your comment about performing our song at an open mic recently! Too cool. :) Where was it?

"a thin, flat, hard biscuit, especially one eaten with cheese"? No no, "a person or thing that is very good or has a special exciting quality"! It is so easy to lapse into colloquialisms and then leave someone completely in the dark - and I had forgotten that cracker had racial connotations in the states - doh!

Thanks for listening to Choices, Choices, and thanks for the comment. It's interesting how different people can have different responses to words: for me, "choices don't make me" is probably the single line I was most pleased with from the whole of FAWM (that isn't to say that it is as wonderful as I think it is of course!)

I just liked the double meaning:

a) trivially: people make choices, choices don't make people (so "choices don't make me") but more importantly

b) the choices I make don't define who I am as a person (i.e. anti-individualism/consumerist statement). We sanctify consumer choice as a society, and think that the choices we make as consumers help to chisel out who we are as a person... except this is a total fiction (arguably). From my perspective, the consumer choices we make don't gush forth from a wellspring of individuality in each of our hearts, but are drawn from us by vast advertising spending and the power of corporate giants to persuade people to part with their cash.

Anyway - it's good to know it isn't as clear as I thought. Perhaps the verses of this song can be improved to try to unpack "choices don't make me" rather more clearly.

Thanks for this comment!

I may play around some more with "Debtors" and try your suggestions. Thank you!

Ya this extended unstable chords add a lot of character and make their eventual resolution soooo nice!

Thanks for your comments on Hi, A.I. @paulharrison - Much appreciated.

Paul, What is your e-mail? I have something I want to send you.

Hi! Thanks for your recent comments on "I Remember Dying" and my profile. I did decide to play against the depths of where that lyric could go, because I wanted it to be about opening up into a place of anticipating and experiencing death without fear (hard to imagine, for me, but maybe possible). Thanks again!

Thanks for coming to visit Destiny, Paul!

Thank you, I'm happy you enjoyed "Magnetic Rose". Very proud of the band in total! It's been a full production, whereas I keep my FAWM writes simple without proper recordings and mixing. I will return your tit4tat later.

Paul, It ws a pleasure doing the "Soul" collab with you. Your lyrics resonated with me. Good luck on that song. I like your music. It's easy listening for me. Have a great post-FAWM

Thanks Paul, I'm so happy to hear that you like it! I'll hang around here for a couple of weeks listening and commenting on others, so hopefully we'll get a few listens in return! You can download the song here: https://oldlostjohn.com/track/3346577/looking-for-a-place

Oh yes - I met Larry at Jenn and Scott's songwriting retreat, have been to jams at his house (which was probably not too far from yours in SP) and we do a co-write every FAWM.

I promise not to tell the other songs that you have a favorite 😄 I also see you are in MD and know Myra and Steve. I know them well and live not too far from them. I love going to house concerts at Coopers House. They are such lovely hosts as well as lovely people.

They very much did, Paul. It's a really lovely song. Be proud of that one.

Paul, you asked about placeholders. Starting tomorrow, we won't be able to add any late-arriving songs to our Song List. It will be locked, so to speak. So it's apparently allowed to put placeholders in for songs you are anticipating, so you can amend the placeholder slot to add the song there when your collaborator sends it to you. Otherwise, you're dead in the water. At least that's how it was explained to me. I have 3 collaborators that are up against a tight deadline tonight, so this is a way to assure that their songs are shown, at least for any members browsing the site in March. It's not ideal, but better than being shut out. I'm not the rule maker, but this is something I've been told is OK.

I love that feeling when you are writing something and it feels magical - it is so exciting and we all know it does not happen all the time!

Paul, Yes, that is the message of Because It Ends...the same thing you said to your carpool mates. Thanks for your encouragement. It means a lot.

Yup Paul there is an archive button on the site , just click on it and you can download it where you like. It will keep all your comments from soundboard and against each of your songs.

Thanks for the comment- I wasn't thinking of Bowie at the time, but I think his singing is great, so I'm flattered by the thought.

yes, currently in vt, originally from Montreal

Hi, Paul, I'm so glad you commented on Never Fall In Love With A Musician. You're right about there being a number of ways these lyrics could have been interpreted/delivered. We went with the musical theater approach and I suggested that Caitlin try something "vulnerable" sounding. I think she nailed it! So glad you liked it.

Hi Paul, I've been watching your Songs this year. You are another one of those people who have been around a while, and somehow I've missed.
Regarding your "which comes first question:" I think the sequence really comes from; which one you as an Artists have and which one you work with best and from your heart. I've been a Music 1st person, with lyrics a 2nd. But as I gain more skills in the Music I have found that without an ideal lyric to fit that ideal tune, you're not really going to find that so called HIT we're all looking for, at least not easily. So what you're looking for in a Hit, becomes a balancing act, working and re-working all the parts with every trick in the book that you know how to use, and sometimes you can get a little help from your friends. I have struggled with writing the music and having a large catalogue of good tunes just sitting around on a shelf praying for some good lyrics to come along and send em to Heaven.

Recently I have had a break through on this. Some gain of certainty you might say. It was the realization that what I have had trouble with is just a SKILL that I didn't use or develop, didn't have, or was just too weak at. Something like the fear we would have if asked to jump out of a plane and look for a parachute on the way down. It takes "Evel Knievel" kind of Guts, but it is do-able, if you have a partner jump with you who has two chutes. Of course this is an extreme example, but the point is, it's all always a mental barrier that we put up there ourselves.

Here's a song that started with some brilliant lyrics of Bill White's, and I added the music to it, which totally reversed my precious method. A method I thought I would be totally stuck with BTW.
Check it out: https://write.fawm.org/songs/20432
Russ

You said it! FAWM 's collabs are great fun. Thank you for your comments on Something for Nothing with @edsmaronmusic. Ed was a total delight to work with--he wears his talent with ease. So glad you liked our song.

Hi, Paul! I've been remiss in getting back to you. I keep getting sidetracked and haven't done as much fawming as I'd like to. It's so kind of you to remember me and to leave a comment on Keep on Growin'. Part of the inspiration is the seniors who come to the very active senior center where I'm spending the last few years of my working life after leaving the corporate world. We probably have two hundred a day that come in for our dozens of diverse offerings. We have one rocking chair in the place and I've never seen anyone sit in it!
I look forward to hearing your new songs and will be visiting them this week.
I'm glad that some of the tribe are fawming. Burt Myers tagged me many years ago, so that's how I got started. Love to all at your end.

I would absolutely love that Paul! thank you!!

Thanks for the suggestion and I added two lines.

We are buying a used one. The Chevy Spark EV. It's the predecessor to the EV Bolt, which is the cheapest electric car. We just don't have enough income to get the new one.

Hi, Paul - thanks for your thoughtful feedback on "Finder of Things" - I appreciate your input and am looking forward to doing a deeper edit on that song after February! I look forward to listening to your songs!

Okay if you want to see what music comes for Too Long on Edge. Thanks!

Hi there-- You can post our song differently if you think it makes it look tidier, but I don't really mind either way. I've yet to get the hang of how collabs are posted!

You are very kind, thank you. 😀

Thanks! I think you are right about that. I'll change it after the Superbowl :)

Hey Paul. thanks for your kind words about 'Rounding Third'. Glad to meet you, it's nice to know us 'senior' singer-songwriters are out there! I'll sample your tunes while I'm here and watchlist you as well. Heigh-ho!

Hi Paul - thanks you so very much for your thoughtful and supportive comments on my song about my Dad. Tough times, but songwriting can be such a cathartic process - I know I felt better for writing it. I will make a point of listening to some of your stuff when I have a bit of time later. Thank you again! :-)

Pasadena MD? I am in Ellicott City BTW. Very cool. He is very talented, his daughter also! Congrats on the gig and very cool you will be doing that song.

Thanks for asking, Paul. I'd love to try doing something with your lyrics. (I understand the song in question is actually titled "Looking for a Place") However, my time is limited, especially as I've fallen into the trap of going for more fleshed out arrangements this FAWM, so you might want to offer it to others as well. If I find enough time later on I could still add my version.

Dear Paul, thank you sooooooo much for the wonderful song that you made of "One last kiss", it is so gorgeous and heartfelt, you did the original words way more than justice, music-wise as well as lyric-wise... I am very, very happy how it turned out and you can be very proud of it... The melody is beautiful and reaches for the heart immediately, and I LOVE your vocal delivery so much as well... All comes here together in such a lovely way, thank you soooooo much for giving me this honour...

Oh yeah, I’ve tried pulling out a journal or poetry book so many times and never had luck. I should try someone else’s lyrics and see if not goes better

Hey Paul, thanks for the nice comments. Appreciate it...

Hey Paul - thanks so much for your comments on "Moving On" - I really appreciate the feedback. I really struggle with bridges when recording new songs - that is the one place where I have trouble finding the starting note or setting up the correct melodic departure. I agree the bridge does feel rushed, and I like your idea about having a pause. I am also thinking about maybe slowing down that last chorus and repeating gone times to end with the opening theme. I will play around with it but again - thank you!!!

Hey, thanks! I have already replied the email... :-)
The music you wrote is wonderful and I also really like what you did with the lyrics... Thank you soooooooooo much!

Paul, well, I'm not as quick a writer as some but hopefully there will be one...you can always tell me a theme or topic & maybe I can come up with something you'd like to work on? That's hit or miss for me but I'm trying to think of ideas as we speak...

Soooooo while I agree it is the perfect song intro (a technique I have never, ever used in songwriting), I think it works very well in the middle as a chorus because it is such a nice contrast to your verses - both in lyrical pacing, singing style and all the space you put in it - so it works there. It might actually be working more as a bridge than a chorus perhaps. It is also the perfect outro! I guess one thing you could do would be to alter the words slightly, maybe make the outro an answer to your initial question since you have provided so much evidence in your verses. You could also make an actual bridge and put it in the middle, but leave the outro (or final chorus) as it is. For me the song works great as it is!!

I will jump back in and try to answer your question. BTW thank you for all you very insightful and much appreciated comments on my songs as well - it keeps me going!

Thanks so much for your kind comments on Discharge Instructions! I’m acquiring quite a few nurse/medical songs so maybe when I actually stop working full time, I’ll look for a gig like you suggest! Sounds sweet! Also, re: homeless/homelessness - yes, I had originally considered that. (I’m the person who gets personally offended when even the lowly adverb gets mistreated, let alone an adjective! 😂). But my point was to make it perk up ears and sound wrong. because it IS wrong. Or something like that 😁

I would like to thank you very much for your kind comment on "Time to say goodbye". I would *LOVE* it if you gave it a try... Please, let me know at some point if you like me to add you as collaborator or if you prefer to re-post the eventual song... Also, please, feel free to alter the lyrics any way you like...

Thanks for listening in, appreciate your thoughts and look forward to hearing your contributions.

You got confused? Welcome to my world! It's hard to keep track of everything during "normal times," and FAWM, with all its excitement and distractions--wanting to listen to everything and still have time to write--I understand! Thanks for getting back to me.

Hi, Paul, I wonder if the email you sent me was intended for someone else?

Thanks, I need to upgrade for that hi-fi.

Hi, Paul, Gwyn Jones just sent me his music & vocals for If This I Love, I Don't Like It, if you'd like to hear the song.

Thanks for the comment on Lotta Nothin. My music is always better when Serene puts her stamp on it….No doubt about that…

Hi Paul! Yeah, let's hope this FAWM is fruitful and prosperous! Have fun!

Hi, it was great meeting you in person! I was hoping we'd run into each other here again this year 😄

Hi Paul, I'm here, ready to go! Good to see you again!