We All Need (A Little Bit Of Peace)

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Episode #122: All We Need (A Little Bit Of Peace) (Song starts at 3:02)

Hi there.

All We Need, song #46, was one of those songs that’s been sitting in my songbook, doing nothing. Why? The chorus wasn’t up to scratch. The lyrics were just not right.

So I decided to rewrite the lyrics for the chorus.

Then, just before I recorded this podcast episode, I thought I’d have some fun and record a demo of ‘All We Need’.

I think this sort of ‘ahh, what the heck!’ / free sort of feeling I have presently, is partly to do with the fact that I have just opened my Seascape Exhibition (you can view paintings on my recent blog posts: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com). It feels like my every woken moment for the last few months has been spent with a paintbrush in hand.

I think this sense of freedom and ‘play’ is so important when it comes to writing a song. How does it feel to write a song? It feels free – or that’s the way it feels to me.

I’m not one of those ‘creatives’ that spends hours and hours agonising over the details. I like the initial magic – both at the composition stage and during a recording session.

I am big, however, on constantly editing – in a free manner. How it works for me is: I regularly sit at the piano and flick the pages of my song books randomly, picking out songs to sing and play.

As I perform the song (and it does feel more like a performance than a rehearsal), I’m completely open to changing the song…the lyrics, the riff, the melody, the chords, the structure & the feel (rhythm / tempo) – and I do. A tweak here and there…

I seem to have the ability to remember the most recent version, too, which is handy. I hear the whole band arrangement – including string arrangements – even though I’m playing it on the piano.

So with this episode’s song, ‘All We Need’, I’ve reworked the chorus. The words: ‘if we could have a little bit of peace today’’ popped into my mind.

So I went with them. I can always change them again. Nothing is cast in stone – until the song has been recorded and released (and even then you can record another version).

I’d just like to add here: I think it’s also really important to set yourself a deadline to finish creative work by. Otherwise the years can whizz by quietly and you might find yourself with a pile of unreleased songs (or art).

Go for excellence. If you go for perfection, you’ll suck the creativity – the magic – out of the process.

I’m looking forward to recording ‘All We Need’. Guitars would be great – and real drums.

Also, at the end of this episode, a piece came to me on the piano. As I improvised/composed the song, it sounded like it could do with some lyrics. I’ll finish this song off one day.

So, on this episode you’ll get to hear me in the moment, ‘catching’ a melody and some chords for a song as they ‘came through’ for the first time (happens at 29: 26 , just as I was about to sign out).

All of this is an endlessly fascinating & rewarding process. If you’d like to hear more about it, sit back and enjoy the show. Here we go.