Nearly Done and Dusted!

We're very happy to say that we managed to write the last few lines of the final song in the project (see below), 'A Brighter Day Tomorrow'. It's not unusual for the first song we write to be the very last one we finish:

                           There’s no telling

                                 What a difference we can make.

                                 This world’s waiting

                                 For the colours we’re yet to create.

Hats off to the 'Out Of The Ark Choir' whose hard work and great singing made last weekend's recording such a brilliant success! Andy, our arranger/producer has worked his usual magic in 'dressing' our songs in a great variety of styles and colours. We really think schools up and down the country are in for a real treat once they got their ears around the finished album.

With the songs recorded, our wonderful publishing and production team can now get going with piano arrangements, mastering, design, printing and words-on-screen. And then it's over to marketing, customer services and despatch to pick up the baton.

Being able to step back and look at all fifteen songs from a bit of a distance has given us a great sense of satisfaction. We believe the issues we've tackled and themes covered in this collection contain invaluable truths, with the potential for bringing significant change in the way we think about things. Thankfully, they're also great fun to sing! 

It's Good To Be Me!

It seems our blog-writing has been rather less productive than our song-writing! Apologies for the gap.... We actually managed to get a few 'away days' to write, before the long school holiday set in. It was a real treat to be away from it all - none of the normal responsibilities. No computer, no deadlines, no telephone calls. Just three days, two guitars, a keyboard and one beautiful spot in the country - with a good dose of sunshine and fresh air. 


Sometimes when we're in the middle of a project, a new idea will appear, almost effortlessly, from nowhere. Sometimes we'll have to do a fair bit of  'digging'  to unearth fresh melodies. Occasionally, however, we'll revisit our deep-freeze of creative ideas. We both record seed ideas on dictaphones (kept by the bed or in a handbag), which, if they're not used straight away, get stored until they're ready to be defrosted at a later date. 


We found an absolute gem in the 'freezer' while we were away. Lively, up-beat, unashamedly happy, it was the perfect melody for the theme we wanted to tackle: 'It's good to be me!' The lyrics themselves are very simple - the concept of self-acceptance often seems a good deal more difficult. Why is it we are so prone to compare ourselves unfavourably with others? This song is all about being "happy to be the 'me' I am" - flaws included - and learning to avoid the crippling comparisons:

"But if I try to compare myself with you,

And all the things you do,

I'll never see all the qualities

That make me the 'me' I am!"

Looking forward to hearing this one arranged and recorded!

The Lord's Prayer

Songs have a funny way of staying with you. The songs we learn as children tend not to go away, even into later years. Some of them we might prefer to forget! 


Using songs as an educational tool to aid the memorising of important material has a long-standing and successful record. The Bible tells us that Moses was given instructions to give to the people in the form of a song, specifically so they wouldn't forget. There were plenty of us, no doubt, who learned the alphabet, or times tables - or even the books of the Bible, through songs.


Today we decided to add our names to the long list of song-writers who have set the Lord's Prayer to music (Matthew 6). Probably, a couple of hundred years ago, children would have all been able to recite this passage as a matter of course - not that that was the point for it being given to us. But these days it's unlikely many children have even heard the Lord's Prayer, let alone know or understand it. A retired Head Teacher was recently bemoaning his experience at a funeral, when children were unable to join in the Lord's Prayer because the words weren't included in the order of service.


In an assembly project that considers healthy living - whether physical, spiritual, emotional or social well-being - the prayer Jesus taught as a model is an invaluable one for us to learn and consider. So, should we keep to the original King James? Or paraphrase it in a way that could be more accessible, but might not be recognised as the Lord's Prayer? We decided to steer a route that navigates, as deftly as we could, through both paths! Two lines of the original, followed by a couple of lines that seek to unpack something of the heart of those words. 


It's a been a good day - challenging for sure, but hopefully this song will go somewhere towards teaching and facilitating some creative thinking and fresh understanding.


This landmark song sees us two-thirds of the way through this exciting new project!

Don't Go Listening...

It's very satisfying when tunes just pop into your head. Our latest melody arrived before we'd even sat down at the piano. Without knowing quite how, we have been able to make a simple melody say something potentially important. "Don't Go Listening To Lies" is a song which carries an invaluable message. How do we react when people say things, either to us or about us, that are neither kind nor true? The power of the spoken word is immense - but we have the ability to choose what to do with what we hear. If children, through singing, can recognise their ability to choose how they think about themselves, they will have mastered a skill many of us - even as adults - are sometimes slow to grasp. 


So that's song 9 ready to roll. Just six songs to go. Maybe a change of scenery would inspire the next few? (Watch this space!)


After yesterday's stint at the piano, today we drove to the BBC Surrey Radio Studios, for a brief interview about our involvement with Red Nose Day. It was a pleasure meeting Nick Wallis,  presenter on their Breakfast Show. Then it was back to our offices for various team  planning and publishing meetings. There are definitely exciting things afoot....

Red Noses and Good Causes

It's less than a week now until the Big Day! Red Nose Day 2011 is this coming Friday - 18th March. We're thrilled to be partnering with Comic Relief by providing this year's Schools' Song. If you've not yet seen or heard it, check it out on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHw1UtOKCoE

Seems strange that we wrote this song nearly 9 months ago. It was huge fun working with local schools on the video shoot and the studio recording. As ever, we were blown away by the talent flying around the place. The video footage was directly shaped by the song lyrics - the idea being to fuel some creative and quirky approaches to raising money: "Can you raise a lot of money doing something really funny?" - whether it's juggling with bananas, singing in your pyjamas, doing the moonwalk (just like Michael) or riding a unicycle, the opportunities are endless!

This is the third time we have worked with our friends at Comic Relief, and they are as pleased with the results as we are. You can download the song and video by visiting the Comic Relief website and following the teachers/assemblies links: 

http://www.rednoseday.com/teachers/assemblies

You've still four days to learn the song, and join the thousands of schools who will be singing and performing the song this Friday. 

"Make a huge amount of money, a bucket load of money,

A lovely lot of money while you entertain!"

These Simple Things

On a previous blog, we talked about the process of song-writing. Given that serious writing generally requires a certain amount of crafting, technique and perseverance, just occasionally a melody drops into your head from nowhere. 


Yesterday, before we'd even sat down to write, a four-line melody, within half a tone of the right key, arrived, unannounced and ready to roll. Initially, it posed as a Christmas or Harvest song - not something we were planning to write just now. Two hours later, when the song was still hanging around like an uninvited guest, we decided it might have something to say to us. Given time for interrogation, this little tune turned out to be a most welcome visitor. Verse by verse, 'These Simple Things' considers different aspects of what brings us peace. This simple song takes us over the half way line on this new project. 


PS If you had five verses to fill, what would you include as the things that bring you that sense of peace and satisfaction? (We'd be very interested to hear your thoughts).

Spring Chickens and Cappuccinos!

Going out for a cup of coffee before we faced doing the weekly food shop was definitely a good idea! It generally is - but this time was unusually valuable. We'd barely had time to slurp the froth off the top of the cup, when the lady sat at the adjacent table started singing with her two very small children: "I'm... a ..... SPRING CHICKEN!". They were doing the actions with a good deal of enthusiasm, much to our amusement. (When Mark joined in my delight did a nosedive!)   It was only as they were leaving did we give in to the temptation of owning up to having written the song. Thank you Laura, from Cheam, for not being too ashamed to sing our songs in public - and thanks to our conversation with you, we are now seriously considering a new title for early years, sometime next year. Keep you posted.