I was thinking about this February songwriting thing, fawm.
I have no desire to do this but thought I’d try a quick write.
So I decided that the first intriguing phrase that I came across
reading a news piece I’d make my song title. There was something
on House Of Cards, the Netflix series. I’ve never seen one minute
of this show but I thought it sounds like one of my songs already.
So, house of cards, it needs an action verb, falling like a house of cards
because we know it’s a fragile setup. So the hook needs three chords
and will be the pay off line in a four line verse. I wrote down a few
rhymes with cards, the most interesting to me, guard, yard, and heart.
Two of the four lines in the three sections are mostly already written,
I just need to fill in the descriptions. The setting - the same old dirty town,
it’s the first thing that comes to mind, off and running.
I’m writing about a drama that I’ve never seen, it’s wide open.
The pop singer in my head comes up with the bridge
And if da DA da then da da da da da da
wtf da DA da then da da da da da da (make that last line longer)
I could write maybe two or three of these a day, is it good? I don’t think it’s as
good as letting an idea or song live in your head for a few days, giving you
time to be your own critic or come up with a better version.
Nothing against the FAWM writers, if it sharpens your tools, then good.
It was fun, writing a new one always is. Thanks for listening, comments
are welcome even if you disagree with everything I’ve said here. It’s OK
Nobody’s right or wrong about songwriting. (write backwards)

[Link no longer valid]

House Of Cards
© 2019 Kenny Leverett

Same old dirty town
Where everybody loves to drag you down
Holding to the same old guard
And falling like a house of cards

No one looks you in the eyes
Once you know their petty lies
You’re a chained dog in the yard
And they’re falling like a house of cards

And if you’re standing still
You’ll only get left behind
Where’s it written in stone
That we can never change
We can never change our minds

Listening to the same old song
Even when you know it’s wrong
Train comin’ thru your heart
And you’re falling like a house of cards

And if you’re standing still
You’ll only get left behind
Where’s it written in stone
That we can never change
We can never change our minds

There’s a train comin’ thru your heart
And you’re falling like a house of cards

Drums FunkHalfNoteSync
Bass 2260 Electric FunkyGroove60s
Guitar 362 Acoustic Strumming
Guitar 636 RootsRockDirty (Held)
Guitar 1689 PopPromiseGrittyA-B
Fiddle 624 Soloist George
(still featuring the winter head cold/chest cold vocals)

You've created a good song on short notice...
I know it would be well received at FAWM
I enjoyed the rock feel you envisioned & created in this tune...
But I always enjoy your work...

To me the challenge of FAWM is not to write 14 songs in a month...
Many of the song writers on this forum would be able to churn out 14 songs in a week...
To me the challenge is to write 14 songs that fit the prompts someone else gives you...

Here is last week's prompt...
"WEEK 1: Clothing. Write a title/chorus that involves an article of clothing.
Examples: “These Boots Are Made For Walking” by Nancy Sinatra, “Long Black Veil” by Lefty Frizzell,
“Green Shirt” by Elvis Costello, “Raspberry Beret” by Princ

Here is this week' prompt...
Week 2: Chromatic Tune: Write a song around a chromatic melody or riff.
Examples: “Creep” or “Just” by Radiohead, “Make Me Feel” by Janelle Monaé,
“Sophisticated Lady” by Duke Ellington, “Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen.

Others may not have any trouble coming up with 3 or more songs to meet the week 1 challenge...
But for me it was a challenge to come up with 5 of them & the 1st one really sucks out loud...
So far I've only come up with 1 song that meets the 2nd week's "chromatic" challenge...

Challenge yourself to write 3 or 4 songs for each week's challenge...
3 or 4 songs about "clothing"
3 or 4 songs with a "chromatic melody or riff"

At least for me, doing is indeed a challenge...

Hey Jim,
Thanks for the listen and kind words

I appreciate your insightful explanation of some things that I didn't really

know about fawm. My thoughts are, the title and subject of a song really

need to strike a chord with the writer or how can you expect them to resonate

with anyone else. Now I know that you could write a passionate song about clothing

(Dolly Parton, My Coat of Many Colors) and that writing something with a chromatic

progression might make you come up with a song that you'd otherwise have never written.

Follow your heart, see if you really have something to say, try not to be a hack.

Write when you are moved to write. Again, I'm not against any of this,

if we have 100 million songwriters knocking one out every day then someone's bound

to strike gold. Right?

Hey 44kfl, great work on this! The arrangement is a pleasure to listen to and the chord progression is very nice. Good use of EFX on the guitar. Very captivating lyrics, its always nice to see where the inspiration for lyrics comes from. Keep it up!

Kenny,

I know a lot of people who need weeks to come up with a song and the results are nothing compared to your House Of Cards.

I like the idea of just picking up a more or less catchy, funny or weird phrase and build a song around it, because this fuels your fancy and can take you to places you'd otherwise would have never been - I wrote a lot of my songs that way.

But you bet it always took me much longer. And I wouldn't dare to claim they were half as good as this one... I like it from A - Z.

Stefan

Kenny,

I don't care how long it took you or how you got it down on paper...this is simply GOOD songwriting. Song craft. Some folks "got it" (some don't) - YOU "got it" in spades. (And it seems to gets better with each song!) And it is not just the words and how they are put together, but also the melodies and the perfect cadence of how those words fit and "fall on the ear"...

Love the BAND!. The vocal is killer. Mix is excellent.

"There’s a train comin’ thru your heart
And you’re falling like a house of cards"

...not your run-of-the-mill lyric.

Excellent.

fj

This is such a good song for a "quick write". Really impressive. Thanks for sharing!

Kenny

Really liked that - excellent melody, vocal and instantly ear friendly.
Great work - enjoyed the story about the writing as well.
Basically floyd said it all very well before me.

Peter

Yes, I agree with Floyd. Just good songwriting, period, you just have that special gift.

Of the 40+ songs I have done with Christiane I wrote the lyrics for only one, and it was a painful process. Somewhat like I imagine passing a kidney stone would be like

Joe,

Thanks for the listen and kind words

much appreciated

Hey Stefan,

Thanks,

we all write in different ways, I seem to do well with title-first

I appreciate your kind words

keep rockin' !

Kenny,

I like this a lot. To me it has a Tom Petty feel, which is just great.

You completely nailed the vocal and mix on this one...

Excellent!

Bob

Hi Kenny, Really good song. The title/hook was intriguing. This is my 3rd FAWM and I do enjoy it. I feel pretty good about my songwriting process, so don't really need to do FAWM, but I find the people inspirational and I like to see the creativity, what they come up with and how, just as you have explained in your song. I find that very interesting. I find it true that writing from a prompt for me is not always successful. My best songs have come from a really good title that inspired me and something that connected with my life experience. However, professional writers write everyday and they have to write for various projects and be good at it and maybe it's not something they relate to. I remember one long time songwriter, his name escapes me, but he always said "Some people say songs should strike like lightning, so its good that lightning strikes for me every day at 9:00 am". I like that. For me it's like a gym work-out keeping the muscles toned and stimulating the grey cells, so that when you do get that great inspiration, you can do a song justice. I watched that video posted here the other day about the musician who wrote over 4,000 songs and had access to great bands and only about 15 or so of his songs got in the top ten on the charts. I think probably a lot of those over 1,000 written were probably really good songs, but there's so much out there these days. But the point is he wrote a lot of songs and I'm sure they weren't all from inspiration, for him it was a work week.

Another thing I've learned from FAWM is that it gets me outside of my comfort zone. It stimulates me to try something I've never thought of or a genre I've never considered. I learn something new that someone else is doing and it expands my horizons.

Love a lot of your lines and the imaginary they produce. Good vocals and the rock style really fits the emotion of the song. You nailed it!! Congrats.

Kenny, you have an infectious groove here. Like a lot of your other stuff it so easy to listen to. The melody is familiar but it is also new at the same time. The connect the dots lyrics are just open ended enough to keep the listener engaged. Another winner,Tom

As others said - this is really impressive for a quick write! Sometimes the ideas just flow and it happens quick, and this is proof that can end up in a solid tune. Love the groove on this one, and the prominent vocals almost demand your attention. Nicely catchy, but it also has a bit of ruggedness to balance it out.

Great work and thanks so much for sharing

Hi, Kenny !:))


One of your absolutely
best I´ve heard so far !:))
Wonderfully great music so
delicately performed and
produced ! I truly liked it !

Cheers
Dani

Hi Kenny,

I have to say that you are an EXCELLENT song writer. This song just rocks! And your vocal shines...

Really, really enjoyed listening to this! And I will listen to it again tomorrow!

Thanks for sharing,
Will

aaahhh, I worked hard on that introduction

just kidding of course,

You always have the nicest compliments, it is much appreciated

Tho we write differently, you inspire to come up with the next one

and try to make it just a little better than the last.

even tho I know I may never reach your level of excellence

Kenny,

For something you kinda put together without thinking . . . well, very cool—nice Petty feel to this one. The vocal really works with this one. Very impressive given your approach to writing this song. Well done!!

Best regards,

Deej

Sometimes I think artists make terrible judges of their own work, because the see the craftsmanship and compromises that went into something, instead of being able to objectively observe the final result.

Love the Tom Petty groove, nice write, enjoyable listen.

Loved this Kenny. It is amazing how one can just sit down and in a short period of time a new song is born. Such a cool gift. Super vocal and backtrack..

Hi Kenny.

It's an absolute classic and I love the whole thing from beginning to end!

Quality has nothing to do with how much time was spent. I've spent weeks on things which were rubbish!

This song sounds like it could make money.

Cheers, Rog.

Thank you Ember

Peter,

Good to hear from you, I appreciate your listen and kind words

Hey Dave,

Thanks for your kind words

Nice one Kenny,
As an Australian I see the title and start singing the Ganggajang song in my head
House of Cards
but your track forced me to focus on a different melody and treatment.
Cool cross over/roots/rock arrangement, fine melody and a good narrative.
I do hope you re-track the vocals when you're better able.
The song is worth the revisit.

This is right in your wheelhouse Kenny! It's got a great sound with wonderful chord changes galore! Your vocals fits it perfectly! Thanks, Torrey

"I could write maybe two or three of these a day, is it good? I don’t think it’s as
good as letting an idea or song live in your head for a few days, giving you
time to be your own critic or come up with a better version."

Two or three a day? Seriously? I'd be supremely happy to do that once a month....really.

Sounds like something we would hear on our daily listenings to various Americana playlists.

As Tom said, "The connect the dots lyrics are just open ended enough to keep the listener engaged. " Yep. And that is a sweet spot to lay a lyric.

The aforementioned write, the vocals, the band and the mix...YEAH!

J&B

PS We did watch the series....dark dark dark.

A great song and a fascinating insight into its creation. Thanks for sharing Kenny.
Cheers,
Mike

Kenny,

Nice!

You sure do know how to write hook-y song!

Loved the vocals on this.

This is great:

There’s a train comin’ thru your heart
And you’re falling like a house of cards

Thanks Bob

very appreciated

Thanks Belladonna,

Wow, I really appreciate your listen and very kind words

I look forward to hearing your next song

Thanks so much Tom,

yup, connect the dots

I greatly appreciate your support and kind words

Hey Derek,

Thanks for dropping by for a listen,

I appreciate your feedback and kind words

Hey Dani,

Thank you so much

I'm glad that you liked it

Hey Will,

Thank you for the very nice comments

Hey Deej,

Thanks for the listen and kind words

it wasn't completely void of thought, I sketched out my plan

and template, just another way of writing

I appreciate the Tom Petty reference, he will always be one of my favorites.

Hey David,

You're right, I have no idea if something that I write is any good or not

It's for others to decide

I appreciate your listen and kind words

It's funny, when I don't try to do a Tom Petty influence in a song

it seems to come out more.

Cool tune.

That's a good way to write. Pick a topic or a line and write something to it.

I used to be with TAXI and they have listings coming in constantly. They are often very short notice turn arounds.... a few days at most. The challenge is to write on the topic, in the style, and get a polished radio ready recording finished in the allotted time of 2 to 3 days. It forces you to write, and it forces you to not overthink your work. You can't set and ponder for 3 days on one line or a few words.

I like the rawness of the song and the recording. Kinda like a Bruce Springsteen vibe going on in there. Yep.... good work there.

Scott,

Thanks so much for your listen and kind words

Appreciate the comments on the vocals

Hey Rog,

Thanks for the listen and kind words

Ray,

Thanks for the listen and kind words

and the link to the Ganggajang song

I will consider re-recording vocals if I ever get better.

Thanks Torrey

Hey Mike,

Thanks for the listen

and for your kind words

David,

I'm so glad that you stopped by for a listen

You are such a creative writer, I really appreciate your listen and kind words.

Thanks Greg, appreciate your kind words

When will we hear your next one?

Herb, Thanks so much for the listen and comments

I appreciate your kind words.

right on

Kenny,

Really nice song!
I entirely agree with Will.
You are an EXCELLENT song writer. This song just rocks! And your vocal shines...
Your commentary on how to make this song is very interesting and helpful for a "quick write" as well.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Thank you Shigeki