Composing 101
Did you have any songs you made up and sang when you were little? Maybe with your siblings or friends?
A couple stand out for me. When we were maybe seven and eight years old, on a family vacation in the Adirondacks, my sister and I met some kids. There were two older sisters close to our age, Stacy and Kim, and a little brother Wally.
And they were obnoxious. Mean and bossy, they intimidated the hell out of us, but they especially teased my older sister. I felt constantly on the alert to defend her, and we spent the week avoiding them. Till one morning when we were lucky enough to have snagged the only two swings. I needed to run inside to pee, and gave my sister strict instructions to guard those swings with her life. Of course, when I came back out two minutes later, Stacy and Kim had confiscated them, and my sister sat on the grass nearby, seething in shame.
"We didn't want those stupid, old swings anyway," I declared haughtily. We turned up our noses and stalked away.
Naturally, as soon as they abandoned them, we ran back over to the swings. That's when we made up the song. It's sung to the tune of "This Land is Your Land," which I suppose we were singing in school at that time. Somehow in our minds, by their mean spirited and hostile actions, Stacy and Kim were trashing not only our rights, but the whole American ideal of liberty and freedom.
Anyway, it went something like this:
This land is your land, this land is my land,
from Stuart's Mountain, to the Adirondacks,
from the Main House bathroom, to the lake and
row-oh-boats,
this land was made for you and me.
This means that Stacy
and Kim and Wally
can't take our swings
when we are holding them.
This means that they-aye
can't talk so fresh to us,
this land was made for you and me.
(It works much better if you are on a wooden swing, pumping for your life.)
We sang it loudly and wherever we went for the rest of that week, even, I am slightly embarrassed to admit, in the presence of Stacy, Kim, and Wally, and their parents. They must have been as evil as I remember, because I don't recall my parents forcing us to stop, and they were not the type to put up with in-your-face displays of aggression.
I'm sure if I started to sing it right now in front of my sister, her face would light up with recognition, and she would sing along.
But I think my all time favorite original tune is one my cousin K and I made up one summer when I was staying at her family's lake house. I was 13 and she was 10, and again, I am pretty sure we were composing in retaliation, my cousin having been wronged by some mean older girls who also summered at the lake.
It went like this:
I am great.
You are stinky,
I AM GREAT
and
You ARE STINKY.
Repeat (again and again).
Let me tell you, we felt mighty empowered marching around, belting it out at the top of our lungs. I seem to recall my poor aunt shaking her head uselessly, wondering how and why she'd wound up with this combative, adolescent niece corrupting her innocent daughter.
But I'll bet K remembers it well. I'll have to ask her. In the meantime, I'd love to hear any of your original tunes. It'd be a shame not to share.
A couple stand out for me. When we were maybe seven and eight years old, on a family vacation in the Adirondacks, my sister and I met some kids. There were two older sisters close to our age, Stacy and Kim, and a little brother Wally.
And they were obnoxious. Mean and bossy, they intimidated the hell out of us, but they especially teased my older sister. I felt constantly on the alert to defend her, and we spent the week avoiding them. Till one morning when we were lucky enough to have snagged the only two swings. I needed to run inside to pee, and gave my sister strict instructions to guard those swings with her life. Of course, when I came back out two minutes later, Stacy and Kim had confiscated them, and my sister sat on the grass nearby, seething in shame.
"We didn't want those stupid, old swings anyway," I declared haughtily. We turned up our noses and stalked away.
Naturally, as soon as they abandoned them, we ran back over to the swings. That's when we made up the song. It's sung to the tune of "This Land is Your Land," which I suppose we were singing in school at that time. Somehow in our minds, by their mean spirited and hostile actions, Stacy and Kim were trashing not only our rights, but the whole American ideal of liberty and freedom.
Anyway, it went something like this:
This land is your land, this land is my land,
from Stuart's Mountain, to the Adirondacks,
from the Main House bathroom, to the lake and
row-oh-boats,
this land was made for you and me.
This means that Stacy
and Kim and Wally
can't take our swings
when we are holding them.
This means that they-aye
can't talk so fresh to us,
this land was made for you and me.
(It works much better if you are on a wooden swing, pumping for your life.)
We sang it loudly and wherever we went for the rest of that week, even, I am slightly embarrassed to admit, in the presence of Stacy, Kim, and Wally, and their parents. They must have been as evil as I remember, because I don't recall my parents forcing us to stop, and they were not the type to put up with in-your-face displays of aggression.
I'm sure if I started to sing it right now in front of my sister, her face would light up with recognition, and she would sing along.
But I think my all time favorite original tune is one my cousin K and I made up one summer when I was staying at her family's lake house. I was 13 and she was 10, and again, I am pretty sure we were composing in retaliation, my cousin having been wronged by some mean older girls who also summered at the lake.
It went like this:
I am great.
You are stinky,
I AM GREAT
and
You ARE STINKY.
Repeat (again and again).
Let me tell you, we felt mighty empowered marching around, belting it out at the top of our lungs. I seem to recall my poor aunt shaking her head uselessly, wondering how and why she'd wound up with this combative, adolescent niece corrupting her innocent daughter.
But I'll bet K remembers it well. I'll have to ask her. In the meantime, I'd love to hear any of your original tunes. It'd be a shame not to share.
I think most kids do this - I know I did, although I couldn't remember any to save my life.
LOVED the "I am great, and you are STINKY" song - it made me LMAO.
Posted by: Jan | June 01, 2009 at 12:17 PM
Oh how funny!
I used to make up words to songs as a kid but for the life of me I can't remember any of them! Bummer!
Happy Music Monday!
Posted by: robin | June 01, 2009 at 05:47 PM
oh my...i was just talking to someone about a little ditty my sister made up about easter to the melody of "sleigh ride" that christmas song. but i'm not telling you the words until i know you will not take offense...then all bets are off!
Posted by: heather kathleen | June 01, 2009 at 06:22 PM