6:23pm- I just zeroed in on the feel for this new set of lyrics for song 4, “Famous Bones”. I’m a little concerned that it’s day 8 and I have only 1 song totally finished. When I did the challenge in 2015 I did a whole song every couple days. To be fair, I do have some lyrics and music going for three other songs. I guess I need to see my process is just a little different this year.

Another thing is that my songs are a little more involved than just a strumming guitar and vocal part. These are full-blown productions. I feel that if I get too far behind, I can just do ‘demo’ type songs that are more simple, call them ‘songs’, and then really flesh them out after the month is over. I feel that this is a bit of a cop-out though. In 2015, I knocked out 10 full tracks that needed very little tweaking before I released them.

In any case, I present to you my progress on “Famous Bones”.

winding our way through Père Lachaise
on this November day
plotting out the numerous ways
we’re gonna beat the system

row after row, names and tomes
and the stream of mecs that miss ’em
our time may be limited
but we’ve learned to beat the system

back in our nest in the 19th
with photographs and string…

CHORUS [still need to write]

we hop the 7th from Crimée
throughout the parks we lurk
discover notes in Côtes du Rhône
to help us crack the network

row after row, gardens grow
bits of data glisten
secrets of the underground
are yours if you just listen

and at the end of the day
we hang with Fehrat at Café Urbain

CHORUS

BRIDGE

CHORUS

My sleep schedule is upside-down right now. Last night I was up til 4am or so and couldn’t sleep til probably 6. I don’t even want to tell you what time I woke up. The reason I mention this in the context of the RPM Challenge is that, because of my neighbors, I can’t really make too much noise at night. I do most of my work in headphones, but the banging of my hands on the keyboard can be pretty loud (especially when I’m programming drum parts). My downstairs neighbor actually sent me a polite email asking if I could keep it down at night. So I have to use the day and not the night to record. I’m going to try to get to bed at a reasonable hour tonight so I can use the morning to track these songs.

For now, I’m trying to get this set of lyrics in shape. I also am going to take a look at the other sets of lyrics (“Bullets for the Wake” and “Shangri-La”) so those are ready to go as well. I feel I’m a tad behind this month. Need to get back on track!

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