Soundcloud: Painting on a wall
YouTube: Painting on a wall
This song is in response to two songwriting challenges (set by Knee Wobbler): the first: to write a ballad; the second: to write about an inanimate object. I succeeded with the second, but not the first, as I don’t consider this a ballad. On this recording, finger-picking and strings are provided by Band-In-A-Box while other guitars, 'foot tapping' and vocals are provided by me. I tried to learn Travis picking to record this song, and while I am someway towards my goal, I will release my full version in due course once I can use it more fluently. In the meantime, I’ll refer to this as the ‘BIAB mix’.

The idea for the song came to me while doing the dishes one day, which is a pleasant change from the bathroom. The idea came along with the line ‘I am a painting on a wall. Nothing escapes me, I see it all.’ From there, the concept of the painting on the wall seeing the things going on in the family home, and particularly the life story of the only child daughter of a couple. The lyrics are fiction and not based on my experience.

When my own children were approaching adulthood, I had a realisation of how good it would be that our grown up and departed children would want to visit their parents just because they wanted to. I relayed this to my late mother-in-law and she replied “Andrew, you don’t know what it would mean to your parents if you visited them more often.” It took me by surprise that I wanted something of my children that I was not providing to my own parents.

Video notes: I realise the main characters change their looks slightly in the video. I've tried to keep them as consistent as I could while relying on stock video footage. I rationalise this by thinking that women change hair colour regularly, and the father is obviously wearing a hairpiece in some scenes. The painting on a wall is an AI (Copilot) rendered oil painting of a picture of me I took with my webcam. I asked Copilot to replace my daggy polo top with a suit and tie, which it obliged.

****** SONG SUMMARY *************
Key=F , Tempo 80, Length (m:s)=4:57
28 bar intro, 68 bar chorus, from bar 29 to bar 96. Repeat x1 chorus
Style is _MIST.STY (Misty Fingerpicking Folk) of which I only used this track:

RealTracks in style: 3057:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking SongwriterFolkAltBassQuinn Ev16 085

… and added this one:
RealTracks in song: 2335:String Quartet, Rhythm PopHall Ev 085

Me:
Vocals – doubled, and no pitch correction – can’t you tell? I manually aligned the second track to the main vocal using stretch markers in Reaper - boy, was that hard work!
Acoustic guitar playing bass notes and Verse 6 strums
Acoustic lead for chorus fills
Foot-tap – a recording of a biro tapping my carpet protector – and ultimately discarded
Mixed in Reaper
*******************

LYRICS
VERSE 1
I was watching when they first brought you home
When you climbed to your feet, walking on your own
I saw the pain when you cut your knee
When you learned to tie your shoe laces at the age of three

VERSE 2
Your first day at school filled me with pride
You put your lunchbox in your case and off to school you’d ride
I saw you come home with your crayons and your picture
And showed them to your mother and described your new teacher

CHORUS
I am a painting on a wall
Nothing escapes me – I see it all
I’ve seen the highs and lows, the joy and the pain
I hope I’ve been a constant for you, time and time again

VERSE 3
Christmas Day was always such a treat for me
Your family opening presents round the Christmas tree
And Mummy cooked a roast – I could smell it in the air
After lunch you had a nap with Grandad in his chair

VERSE 4
I was there when you brought Johnny home to meet your Mum and Dad
Your father let him know the expectations he had
I saw what Johnny tried to do, when you were both alone
And the tears you cried in shame and sadness sitting on your own

CHORUS

VERSE 5
Your parents were so proud in the graduation hall
And a photo of you all next to me up on the wall
I heard of your promotion and your transfer overseas
And when you came to visit, your parents were so pleased

BRIDGE
For many years, your life was busy – your time was not your own
Your parents would wonder if you’d call them on the phone
Your Dad was often sick, your Mum had trouble remembering
You promised them continually, but the telephone never rings

VERSE 6
You finally came back home, but your Mum and Dad have gone
This house is cold and dark without the light you shone
You look up at me - the tears run down your face
You can’t see mine, but I am looking over this place.

CHORUS

Regards,
Andrew D
Adelaide, Sth Aust
Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/SQE4btVvNVkLq74e9
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@andrewoftheantipodes