Low Tide – Song and a Chat

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Episode #161: Low Tide (Song starts at 4:23)

Welcome to another episode. Today we are looking at the song #556, ‘Low Tide’.

Last night I was out fishing. I did a quick recording while I was there, rod in hand at the beach at night. You can hear it on this episode.

Being out in nature really blows the cobwebs away. It clears my mind, it seems brings in energy. When I return home, I’m rejuvenated. The world seems to be an even better place.

So head out to my studio and get stuck into some seascape painting or some song writing…

…like the morning, in 2011, when I sat at my piano and looked at some handwritten lyrics. I came up with some chords and a riff straight away.

Earlier that day, I’d had pretty dark bad dream, right before I’d woken up. So I’d been moved to pick up my pen. The words that I’d written turned out to be the lyrics

On the episode, I mention the book The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. One of the great things Julia suggests is morning pages. The idea is you wake up and write down whatever comes through.

Most often you are just clearing your thoughts. Sometimes snippets of ideas seem to come through that seem to come from somewhere else.

That’s the moment you sit up and take notice. A couple of things seem to be happening. You are inspired, dipping into somewhere within and from somewhere else. The other thing that is happening is you’re discovering your own voice.

It’s a long road, the unfolding process that is a life in the arts. There is no ‘getting there’ – and if you do, it’s a fleeting moment of (perhaps) success before you go “well, that was good. What’s next”?

For me, composing a song like ‘Low Tide’ moment like that.

Generally, I come up with some chords and perhaps a riff, and then you sing over the top of it, and then you realise you’ve come up with something you like.

So you then become secretary. And write down what you’ve just composed. It can be a bit like recalling a dream. You can’t force it, but if you just sort of wait, the music comes back to you. Then you write it down.

So, back to this morning in 2011, ‘bad dream’. . I’m glad I wrote the words down when I woke up, caught my thoughts as they came through, I turned a murky feeling (which stayed with me for a few hours) into something good.

The title low tide only came to me after I’d written 12 lines. That’s the way I work: I often just start writing and something almost always come through

‘Low Tide’ became a song I like to listen to – and I like to perform it with my band.

On this episode, the version you’ll get to hear the album cut from the album ‘This World Offers You’ – by ‘Pascoe’, as we were known back then ( it’s now Pete Pascoe and The Patient Hum.)

You can check it out on www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com

There’s a live version on my YouTube channel Pete Pascoe Art and Music

Here’s my blog. The lyrics from Low Tide are here ( + other music and art): www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

I hope you enjoy hearing more about how the song came together. I also draw attention to the underlying themes that are woven into the lyrics. As I sit at my piano, it’s fun, demonstrating the songwriting process.

Enjoy.