The Prettiest Picture – Song and a Chat

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Episode #227: The Prettiest Picture (Song starts at 5:14)

I wrote this song for my mother (Mum), back in 1987 {!). I remember like it was yesterday.

It was Mother’s Day, in the morning and I’d remembered. I like to give some sort of an original gift, so I thought I’ll paint mum a picture.

Yes, I thought I would come up with something suitable in a couple of hours, rock around to Mum’s house in the afternoon and deliver it. Unfortunately the painting just didn’t come together. It wasn’t up to scratch at all.

So, plan b: I sat down, pen in hand and wrote some lyrics.

Here’s a song for mum

Just written to say how much you mean to me.

So it sounds like a letter, initially.

What came out eventually was: this song was the prettiest picture I could paint, which became the ‘punchline’ of the lyrics.

Then I sat at the piano, wrote the music, recorded a demo and delivered the tape a couple of hours later.

This was song #23. Looking back, 1987 was a formative year for me, as a composer. I found I could really do it. And as an artist, too, I also realised I could sing well enough to be more confident about my vocals. Recording myself was a good idea..

It’s also a great idea to write lyrics down. Put them together, in some sort of tangible form. I recommend an A4 book. Lyrics, chords and hints of melody (in lower case above each syllable), plus some rhythmical notes, too.

I find I just need to start all of these old songs, and the whole arrangements come back to me in a flash.

In fact, when I wrote it, I imagined straight away it would go equally well on the guitar.

As usual, this episode became a bit of an observation on life. My mum passed away last year, so I guess I was quite reflective as I winged proceedings (as I do, on this podcast – there are no notes to follow, no script).

One of the things that came to light is: sometimes ‘creatives’ are viewed as almost a different species. Yes, we have specialised skills that can be honed, but I think to be human is to create. Everyone creates. We have choice as to how to feel, how we react (act). I figure we may as well do good things in this life.

That’s why I’ve put a mountain of art and music, writing and spoken word online, these last 200 odd weeks. I’ve archived my work and I hope it’s entertaining and helping people. Feedback, to date, would indicate this has the case, which is great.

Speaking of archiving, I think I better do some more backing up. The digital domain isn’t exactly stable at times. My music computer might have done it’s last bit of recording with this episode. Some very bizarre noises were happening.

The upshot is: this recording is in mono. I got there, just. Finishing it took some thinking outside the square.

So I’m going to take a break for a few weeks. I’ll be back rejuvenated, with a recording system that’s operating in the NY. See you then.

In the mean time, if you’d like to hear more like this, There’s another 226 episodes you can listen to retrospectively.

Producing this podcast has been so rewarding, often surprising, in so many ways. Thanks for reading this and I hope you enjoy hearing how the words and music came together for ‘The Prettiest Picture I could Paint’, ( this one’s for you, Margaret, delivery #2.).

Enjoy,