Carry Me On – Song and a Chat

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Episode #150: Carry Me On (Song starts at 3:13)

Hi, on this episode we are looking at Carry Me On, song #237, composed 1992 (you can find it online as part of the album ‘Righto’, on www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com. I will remix it one day and it put it on the other streaming platforms).

I’ll also take you underwater with some snapper. I live on the Mornington peninsula, Melbourne, Australia and take a dip in the Port Phillip bay quite often.

Most of all though, I’ve looked at where the song came from, how it was composed.

In this case it was a ‘words first, music 2nd’ sort of song. Co-written by myself and mr Paul Dredge, great friend and longtime co-songwriter.

Picture Paul and I having a cuppa, In Paul’s lounge, back in 1992 in NZ. Paul, having had a brief look at the lyrics, leaps into the opening riff on his acoustic guitar. I ‘wing’ a melody as I hold the lyrics sheet, watching Paul play.

In this moment we are totally free, tuning into what the other is offering. It’s a bit like like ‘theatre sports’, where neither actor blocks the other. The idea then is: the story evolves naturally, being plucked out of thin air by two creative souls.

We are communicating fully in the moment without speaking, while listening closely to the music that the other person is producing. We are both improvising in the moment, based on knowledge of the theory of music & visual clues – but most of all, we are just following ‘the feeling’ – where the melody, chords and dynamics appear to be guiding us.

It’s a fascinating process to delve into. I do it on this podcast in a very relaxed, inclusive manner. This is no dry tutorial. I’m not here to tell you how to write as song. But I do share some ideas on how I do compose.

I asked Paul to share his memories about the song, so I’ve included some audio from him (by the way we are 8 songs into our new Folk Rock album. Although he lives in another country, we still write and record, via the internet. Check out ‘The Untrodden Track’, our last album.).

You’ll also hear about our 1996 mountain rock performance. An outdoor festival in Manawatu, NZ. Joe Satriani was the headline act – heady stuff for a relatively young band.

I start to compose another song on this episode, again (I must go back through the episodes and finish some of these off). I find myself demonstrating on the keys and this leads naturally into the composing process, so I go with it when it happens on this podcast.

Here’s my weekly blog, where you can find the lyrics to ‘Carry Me On’, my new seascape painting which I touch on, plus lots of other goodies. www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com

If all this sounds pretty good to you, please do email me (info@petepascoe.com) to join my email list. You won’t miss a thing that way.

Also, if you do enjoy this episode, there’s another 149 episodes to discover. Please do leave a favourable review and share this with people whom you think may be interested. Thank you in advance.

Ok , without further ado let’s get into Carry Me On. Sit back, relax and allow me to entertain you!