King Edwards Park – Song and a Chat

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Episode #66: King Edward’s Park ( Song starts at: 6.44 )

This song (# 380 ) reminds me of how it felt to be sitting in King Edwards Park all those years ago, back in New Plymouth, NZ.

I can recall the mood, the sounds of ‘ the ducks chattering in love’, the sights … just a few people strolling by, a monarch ( butterfly) floating by on the breeze… the most peaceful kind of scenes: late Autumn & the seasons seemed to have been paused.

I was sitting on the old wooden park chair, writing the words that turned out to be the lyrics for this song.

It brought out some emotions as I listened back to this song. I starting thinking about how I moved to Melbourne ( from NZ). Looking back, There’s been a lot of sacrifices I’ve made, to live this life as a songwriter.

I think, to a degree, it’s necessary to really commit to an artist’s path, to come up with art or music that is really ‘honest’ You’ve got to live a little and ‘find your voice’ – the voice that is yours and yours only.

That’s why my lyrics stand out to me. They ring true and I’m not trying to write like anyone else.

I feel the same about my music. To begin with, you start out by emulating the music and songwriters you admire.

Then you sort of step out in faith and have a lash at writing something of your own. I think you get lucky initially, then you basically just work really, really hard at what you do, chipping away, being honest to yourself while playing and keeping all the theory in mind.

Then one day you wake up and find you’re consistently writing songs you really enjoy. And other people do too.

I love how you sort of get to dip into another world ( or different worlds ), constantly, as you close your eyes and wait for the next flash of inspiration to come through.

This is the way the words and the music comes through. Eg a monarch ( butterfly) floated by and I thought of a monarch as in a queen . So in the next line I cast myself as a jester – an entertainer- observing the day.

I really enjoy analysing the lyrics, recalling how they unfolded. I find it amazing how much I can recall.

For something different, as a songwriter, it can be a good idea to sort of not divulge everything -leave a sense of mystery. I did this in the bridge, talking about the night air so cool….

So join me today as I retrace the steps, looking at how the music & words came into being.

It really is all a bout the feeling . That’s number one.

See if this song makes you feel anything in particular….

It’s great fun to be a songwriter & It’s nice to be sharing how I go about it.

You can check out the lyrics on my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

Enjoy