When I Was Young
b'Episode #192: When I Was Young\\xa0 (Song starts at 4:52\\xa0 )
\\nWhen I Was Young is song #554, composed in 2010. I remember it was a fun piece to write.
\\nLyrically, as the title suggests, it\\u2019s an older me, looking back at my youth. It\\u2019s a reflective lyric. It\\u2019s about hanging on to the childhood optimism, the magic that can be found in life.
\\nI strive to hang on to those sorts of feelings. I think because I\\u2019m so involved in the arts, it\\u2019s kept me awake, alive, optimistic and passionate about life.
\\nThe music came together quickly. The words (which came first) dictated the rhythmical aspect of each vocal phrase, to a degree.
\\nI float a vocal melody above the improvised chords and each section leads naturally into the next. It\\u2019s like opening a series of presents.
\\nIt\\u2019s an incredibly enjoyable thing to do, composing. Actually, that doesn\\u2019t cut it. It\\u2019s a total joy.
\\nI chose to compose quite \\u2018up\\u2019 music to go with these lyrics. I\\u2019ve got a tendency to do that reasonably often. I think it comes from my history of being a live performer. The quieter songs have their place, for sure. But there\\u2019s nothing quite like having some more up songs up your sleeve when you\\u2019re under the pump on the gig.
\\nSpeaking of gigs, on this episode, I take you back in time when I was cutting my teeth on my first gigs, playing piano in restaurants. I was learning so much by creating arrangements in the moment. I was playing songs by great song writers. I had books of sheet music: Great Songs of the 70s and the Beatles complete. They got me through, to begin with.
\\nBack when I was growing up on a small Pacific island like New Zealand, the music coming from the USA and England was \\u2018the business\\u2019. That\\u2019s what everyone listened to. It took courage and a lot of self belief to have a go at songwriting. Great NZ songwriters like Neil and Tim Finn and Dave Dobbyn showed us we could -\\xa0 thanks so much to those wonderful artists.
\\nI\\u2019m so pleased I did have a go at song writing, and I\\u2019m pleased I haven\\u2019t stopped.
\\nI have 5 albums nearing completion at the moment and I have another 20 new songs waiting to be written into my song books.
\\nIf you\\u2019re thinking about getting into songwriting, I say: go for it! And when you start, don\\u2019t stop.
\\nThis podcast is about rediscovering older songs and finding out where they came from, how they came to be - the composition process. I\\u2019m not going to presume to be able to tell you how to write a song, but I\\u2019m endeavouring to describe and demonstrate the way I do it.
\\nit\\u2019s fun sitting at my piano each week. The moment the mic is ready and I hit record, I go into performance mode. The podcasting is something I\\u2019m really enjoying.
\\nThe initial songwriting often happens in a burst of activity for me. They seem to come through very quickly for me. So when I feel the urge, I put everything aside for a moment and see what comes through.
\\nOnce the songs are written, I open my songbooks, and perform a few, maybe on a rainy day, when the mood strikes me. Often I randomly pick songs that seems to fit together. I get lost in the performance and 2 hours later I\\u2019ve come up with a song list for a couple of new albums. And this:
\\nI\\u2019d constantly edit and arrange the songs. Just like those days of arranging in the moment as I performed on those restaurants all those years ago. It really was a great training ground in so many ways..
\\nJoin me now as I take you though some of my processes again this week - And I talk about whatever else comes to mind along the way. It all a bit of fun. It\\u2019s a creative way to share a creative process.
\\nPicture me on an intimate stage. You\\u2019re my audience - thank you!\\xa0 Here we go\\u2026
\\nThe lyrics for this song (plus paintings and more music) are on my blog\\xa0www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com. (perhaps open another window and read them as I sing the song).'