Week 6 - Collaborating and Technology is totally AWESOME!!

Collaboration .... what a perfect way to wrap up six weeks of creative bliss.  The Songwriting Association of Canada (S.A.C.) - Six Songs in Six Weeks Song Writing and Blogging Challenge has come to an end with the writing and posting of our week 6 song.

Canadian Songwriter, Christopher Ward explained our final challenge this week and asked us to schedule our time and write a song with a fellow participant.  Lily Cheng is S.A.C 's Editor-in-Chief of Songwriters Magazine.  Lily gave us the heads up about the collaboration challenge at the beginning of week 5 and I certainly appreciated the extra time she gave us in teaming up with a writing partner.

I was excited about collaborating ... whoot whoa!  Excited about partnering with one of these creative masters!   I held the intention of letting the process flow.  My dear friend, Jody Lee Bigelow who has been supporting me with all of my weekly song challenge recordings, shared this very important message with me ...  "the universe has a way of working things out".  Wow!  Does it ever!  Thanks Jody!!

The universe connected me with the brilliantly gifted, Canadian Singer-Songwriter Kelly McQuillan. Right from the start, Kelly and I were synchronistic in our collaborating.  The entire song writing process was so much fun!  I am so happy to share details about our collaboration experience. 

Kelly resides in British Columbia .... and my home base is in Northern Ontario.  This could be a Canadian geographical challenge right?  How does a song get written when both writers live at opposite ends of the country.  Oh ...  this is where the magic happened! The wonder and power of technology! Social media built and linked our networks and the computer programs connected us!  Technology is truly AMAZING!!  Together, Kelly and I brainstormed and pooled our resources.  We sent emails back and forth and after just one song-writing session, Kelly and I had our song titled, melody framed and laid out.  It was great to bounce lyrical ideas around with such an experienced song writer.  The song writing process flowed easily and our skills complimented each other.  Kelly used her savvy computer skills and shared typed written lyrics with me as we were creating them.  She emailed me the outline of our song and I printed it out. We simultaneously worked from the same page as we were creating.  Even though Kelly was at one end of the country with a three hour time difference, this process totally worked for us.  Kelly scratched out a track for us to work from and then we shared one more song writing session to finalize the details before we recorded the song.  This was the COOLEST part ... Kelly and Jody have the same recording system.   Kelly recorded her parts and then sent the tracks to Jody.  Jody then shared them with me and we recorded the rest together.  And voila!   Borrowed Time was born.  Technology magic!
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I posted the lyrics below for our song titled Borrowed Time.  You can have a listen to Kelly and I singing our tune via sound cloud.  https://soundcloud.com/robyndewar/borrowed-time-written-by-kelly 

Kelly also blogged about our song writing experience on her website ...  read all about it on Kelly's HAPPENINGS link here:   http://www.kellymcquillan.com/happenings.html

 

Thank you Kelly for a gem of an experience.  We sure teamed up well together!  Sharing my love for horses here in this picture.  What a team!!  Whoot whoa!  "A Honest Day's Work!" by artist Adeline Halvorson 

I am so grateful for the opportunity to participate in the Six Songs in Six Weeks - Song writing Challenge.  Thank you Christopher Ward and Lily Cheng for sharing your time and talents with all of us!  I have been inspired, motivated and celebrate this productive experience.  I have appreciated all the networking opportunities provided to us as members of the Songwriters Association of Canada.  Cheers!! Well done everyone!  Keep on writing and sharing!!

So in love with TODAY!

much love, Robyn


Borrowed Time   

Written by Kelly McQuillan and Robyn Dewar

Hey mister, can you spare me some time?

Just need an hour or two

My cup’s overflowing and my pockets are bare

 Won’t you help me get through

 Trivial decisions and constant revisions

 Stealing my time away

 So many places to go, and information to know

 What flavour do I want my latte?

CHORUS

Tick tock tick tock borrowed time

 I wish that I could hit rewind

Stop living off this borrowed time

Borrowed time

There aren’t enough hours in my day

To meet all the demand

Pay, pay, pay the time man cries

As he throws out his hands

CHORUS

BRIDGE

My father always warned me

Not to squander it away

 Sow your seconds wisely

And time will be repaid

 

CHORUS

Give me a second

Could you give me a few

Give me a moment

How ‘bout two

Borrowed time

Borrowed time

Week 5 has been by far the COOLEST week of all!

 Week 5 of this S.A.C. (Songwriters Association of Canada) song-writing and blogging challenge has been by far the coolest WEEK EVER!

Six Songs in just Six Weeks - we are getting to the end of our weekly challenge.  For our assignment this week, Christopher Ward asked us to write by trusting our subconscious.  Just write, every day, as much as I can for five days.  No stopping / no judging or editing until I run outta ideas or my hands get tired.  At end the of week, review what I have written and look for ideas that could become songs.  Choose one idea and bring to life. 

I followed our assignment instructions and wrote every day, listening and trusting.  The following words are a snap shot of the result of five days worth of  "mumbo jumbo".   When I reviewed what I had written, I found some themes for each day.

Day 1 - The Worrying Box
Where, what, who, when why and how.  Daily questions driving her crazy.  I can see the worry in her eyes.  Scribed in the lines on her face, These are the words she choosing.  These are the thoughts she chooses.  These are her actions.  Love is the key,  Love is the only thing that matters.  Does she think she is stuck?  Does she think there isn't enough love to go around? Doesn't always have to be a plan. Breathe. Trust. Let go and see what happens.  Layer by layer layers. Growing from the inside out.  Loosing touch with the world - stop to smell the flowers.

Day  2 -   Permission Slips
Turbo Tax - paying the tax man.  What is the debt free plan?. Life happens ... snow happens.
Why do I have to get I all done?  When is enough going to be ok?  What is going on in their life that makes it work for them? Is the grass always greener on the other side ... wait a minute ... I don't see any grass ... all I see is a six foot wall of SNOW.  Control and existence. What do you need to prove anyway.  Prove it to yourself.  Why do you need all these permission slips anyway?

Day 3 -  Come Home to Me ... the nights are getting longer baby.  Snow day .... kids home. Early morning rise - pj day.  Getting the taxes outta the way Horray Horray
I can sing his blues t'ill I 'm blue in the face.  I'll end up in vegas up on stage wearing his blue face. 

Day 4 - Words Not Said.  Time to let it go ...  the gift that is not tangible.  Love is not something I can hold.  She chose me - I chose her. Desire to move on. Taking a trip. Trust.  Have faith that she is in every sparkle of sunshine.  She is always there to comfort you.  We really never know why we are here, except to love and be love.  Change the world ...  by not saying anything at all.  Find delight in the little things.  Nature speaks in  all of its beauty and memory.  Let that memory wrap you and comfort you.  Loving that moment in the sunshine.  That beam of light and honour her memory and her love.  Her wings took flight.

Day 5 - Bad Day on the Range
The person in the mirror and making the change.  Maintain a certain speed in life.  Moving forward or I might go back in time.  Love the saying "bad day on the range"  Cowboy metaphor
In the heat of the moment: door frame slam / smashed, old coin found, gold coin valued.  Hair day, cowgirl home on the range.  Chores, laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping.  How bad could a bad day on the range really be.  lol

The theme "Words Not Said" really called to me this week.  Totally trusting my subconscious, I resurrected a song that has been developing for a long while.  Releasing the song and recording it and then magically seeing the notes appear on paper has been the highlight of my Week 5.

My dear friend Jody Lee Bigelow has been supporting  me each week and recording my song challenge tunes.  This week he totally surprised me and was able to create the musical score for my Week 5 song. Oh my goodness! I actually have sheet music of my song "Words Not Said".  This is a happy dance moment for sure! I was so excited that I had to take a couple of pictures.  lol  Thank you so much Jody!  This is just amazing and the coolest thing ever!

The lyrics are below and here is the sound cloud link to Words Not Said

Week 6 update:  Lily C. gave us the heads up about our Week 6 Song-writing Challenge.  For our final challenge .. we get to collaborate with one our fellow challenge song-writers!  I am honoured and thrilled to be collaborating with Canadian Singer/ Songwriter Kelly McQuillan.  Kelly lives in British Columbia and released her first solo EP, "Walking Tall," in April 2013.  You can check out her website here. http://www.kellymcquillan.com/ Oh happy day!!!

I'm so in love with Today!

much love, Robyn

https://soundcloud.com/robyndewar/words-not-said-by-robyn-dewar

 Words Not Said by Robyn Dewar

The rain is falling down, tears are all I taste

I know that in my heart, I‘ve come to the right place

With every piece of me, you sparkle in my soul

For what you’ve given me, is not for me to hold

CHORUS:

Let me wrap you up in the sunshine

Let me wipe away your tears

Let me fill your soul with gladness

And comfort your buried fears

 

It’s the fear of never knowing, just who we truly are

But a crystal clear reminder that’s gifted by a shooting star

This mystery that we’ve been solving, since words are never said

It’s the quilt that we’ve been weaving, connected by tiny threads

BRIDGE:

Oh I don’t know, where to go from here

If I raise my hands up high, will the world disappear

 

The rain is pouring down; tears are still all I can taste

And the salt that’s on my lips, takes me to another place

Where the waves come rolling in, the sand is always white

It’s where I think of you the most, your wings took flight

CHORUS x2

 

Week 4 Songwriting and Blogging Challenge ... Rockin' the Cliché

Week Four - Top of the morning and Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

My morning began with a delicious green smoothie made by my hubby. What a glass of yumminess ... mmmmm and a great way to start my day:)   Thank you Shawn!!  Even though as I look outside my dining room window I still see six feet of snow ... I know that spring is just around the corner. The days are longer and the sun feels brighter.  At the end of our March Break, we had a change of scenery and travelled to where there was less snow and was ten degrees warmer.   Shawn, Rory and I did the five hour drive down south to the big city of Toronto.  We participated in Young Living Canada Anniversary Celebration at the  Mississauga Convention Center.  I strummed my guitar and sang a few tunes for the beautiful oilers at our  World Peace Caravan fundraiser table.  We had time to take in a show at the  Toronto Sketch Fest Saturday night.    Watching the group Falcon Powder  had me rolling in my seat.  After such a long winter, I needed a good 'jelly" belly laugh. 

The Songwriters Association of Canada Six Songs in Six Weeks "Song writing and Blogging Challenge" has certainly been keeping me on my toes.  I have gotten myself into a bit of a routine now.  I find that I anxiously wait for the week to week challenge and when it gets posted... it is as if I say in in my head ... "Ok Robyn, on you mark,  get set.... go!"  lol

Christopher Ward says that our Week 4 challenge is all about rockin' the cliché, and to go back into the song-writing box.  We were to watch the Neil Young video that Christopher presented, choose 10 clichés and then brainstorm ways each cliché could be interpreted. The choose one cliché and then expand it into a song.

Sometimes clichés are obvious. A cliché is an overused expression and something that is said a lot.  Clichés are often idioms which is a figurative phrase with a implied meaning and interpreted as a phrase not to be taken literally. I have chosen a few clichés I hear often.

Time is flying by –interpreted as loosing track of time.  How I stopped paying attention to time because I was so wrapped up in the details of a specific event.  

Fit as a fiddle –  interpreted that someone is healthy and in good shape.

A diamond in the rough – interpreted as though the person, object or location has value that will be seen or discovered in a timely manner.  It needs polishing.  It has potential to be valuable and solid. 

A lemon - interpreted that when life gives you lemon, make lemonade. An opportunity to see the positive through the negative experience. A lemon is sour... but I like to think of it as a sunny fruit that is a gift.  When I add lemon juice to my salad dressings it gives the salad a yummy, bright flavour.  We need the sour in our lives as much as we need the sweet in order to balance the taste of life.

What comes around goes around -  interpreted as karma and my perspective is that how I treat others, will eventually be how people treat me.  
Read between the lines – interpreted as that there is always a different story of what is not being said.

The calm before the storm – interpreted as a knowingness is that things are quiet now ... but be prepared the huge spiral of energy happening soon.

Only time will tell – interpreted as the result will be revealed in divine timing.

I have so much cash, it's coming outta my ass - interpreted as that fact that money is overflowing and I am  abundant.  What am I going to spent all of this money on. I am so wealthy the money is pouring outta me.  This is part of secret of the universe.  When I am in the mindset I have money .... I actually do have money.  The abundant song ... love this!
 

Bag of bones -  interpreted as a undernourished person or very thin person.

The cliché I chose to write about is "I have so much cash – it is coming outta my ass."  I called the song The Cash Song.  It was tricky for me to write a song using the word ass.  Ass is another word for bottom or butt or even a donkey.  I do use this word but I had ask my two daughters if they were ok with their Mommy using the word "ass" in a song.  They said yes ... so I started writing.  To be honest ... I am really happy to see  week four ... out the door! Cliché or no cliché it has been challenging.  I am discovering who I am through the pressure of this challenge and has been an incredible experience.  I must have had twenty pages of lyrics all around me during the writing process.  I felt panicked that I story of the song would not evolve.  I literally surrendered during this process.  And within minutes ... the story was revealed.  And I am happy.

 

Thank you once again Jody Lee Bigelow for your patience and professionalism during this song recording process.  He had quite the busy week last week ... and I am so grateful for his friendship and support!!!!!  Looking forward to our Week 5 Challenge.  Whoot whoa  ... we are almost there :)

I hope you enjoy The Cash Song.  https://soundcloud.com/robyndewar/the-cash-song-by-robyn-dewar The lyrics are posted below. 

So in love with today!

much love, Robyn
 

Week 4
The Cash Song by Robyn Dewar

It is so amazing being here with y’all tonight
Gonna tell you about a story that might give you a fright
But take heed … maybe you will find the light
Well … whatever you find … be sure that whatever you wish for or ask for or pray for
You must really really want it … with all of your might

I had me a problem and I didn’t know what do
I spent some time drinking red wine thinking of the answers to
Needed a solution, it was a real strange problem for me
There was this money tree pouring down on me and it was soaking me to the bone

There was much cash, coming out my ass and more showed up every hour
I didn't mean to complain but I was going insane from all the financial power
It was no fantasy; but a real money tree and pouring out a fortune on me
And it soaked through my drawers and oh dear Lord … …I've got cash coming outta my ass

I read me that book by Napoleon Hill
And look what happened to me
I took a gratitude spin and boy did I win me a big problem that day
An abundance mess and I must confess I don’t know what else to say

I bought me up a few of them luxury items
Since the cash started pouring outta me
Like Dom Perrion, and caviar, and a really, really fast sports car
And I never ever heard of Sotheby’s

CASH CASH CASH – What to do with all this
CASH CASH CASH – What to spend on all this X2
I never had a problem like this before

So I placed a call up to heaven
And said Lord, what on earth did you do
A thunder filled voice said I made the choice and when I asked for a bigger territory
And it was my fault there was nothing that God could do

I surrender Lord
I surrender Lord
Could you clear a path through my back door

I surrendered to my God and gave him all of the glory
and he would help re-write my story

So I cleared my Karma and bought up big Pharma
And cured me a disease
So happy we have our health cuz I shared my wealth
And the cash coming is coming outta my ass

CASH CASH CASH – What to do with all this
CASH CASH CASH – What to spend on all this X2

An abundance mess and I must confess that the universe put me to the test
Well I've got the moral of this story and all of its glory
Yah good people can do good things with cash too

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 3 Songwriting Challenge - Colouring Outside of the Lines

It's March 2014!   Whooot whoa!   Happy dance!

Celebrating Week 3 of our  Songwriters Association of Canada  Song writing and Blogging  Challenge.  I've been really been enjoying listening to our groups weekly song shares. 

 Our Week 3 assignment was revealed to our group by Christopher Ward and he asked us to think about song writing as if we were "colouring outside of the lines".  Christopher asked us to:

1 a) Identify our song writing ruts and why are our current song structures / forms are comfortable.

2. Write a song that breaks the rules.

3. Have fun writing outside the box.

Song writing ruts... what is a rut?  A rut is "a habit or pattern of behavior that has become dull and unproductive but is hard to change." Canadian Oxford Dictionary 

I believe that what others might call a "song writing rut", I like to think of it as a situation involving "stale water". Song writing for me is all about creating and planting seeds.  As long I am in the mindset to create,  I am writing with "living water".   When the water is stale, the song seeds are no longer receiving the nourishment or "encouragement" that they need for sprouting.  It is really important to tend to my song writing garden.  Participating in this six week challenge is a good example of  how I am giving my song writing a healthy, happy dose of living water.  I am very grateful.  Keeping my song seeds nourished will encourage song blooms. Thank you Stacey Hall for teaching me all about seeding, sprouting and blooming.  The SSB concept is wonderful way of expression in all aspects of my life and I apply this concept daily.


My song writing style has been influence by the folk / grassroots / country genres.  These song writing patterns tend to include a verse / chorus/ verse / chorus / verse.  When I wrote Home Grown  I added a bridge after the chorus and it shifted the mood of the song.  The words in the bridge painted the picture of the most beautiful place in the world to me.  The songs I have shared during this six challenge have been written in styles out of my comfort zone.  Styles that have been "out of the box" for me.  I like that I am seeding new ways of writing songs.  For Week 1, I shared my song called Lover Lover   This song was written with a two word chorus.  During Week 2, I shared my song called  Melting Away which style totally changed things up for me.  The song does not have a chorus.  Song writing is an art form of expression.  I love the fact that this S.A.C. Challenge offers the opportunity for growth and development.

The third piece of our Week 3 assignment ... Ah yes!  Have fun!  My black and white, fluffy kitty cat must be feeling a bit of  "spring fever".  He is going crazy these days.  lol He has literally been climbing  the walls. He meows and meows.  He jumps up on the piano keys when I'm playing.  He sits on my lyrics and won't leave my side.  They say that when a cat enters your space ... they are reminding you to have fun, live a little and enjoy TODAY!  Thank you Indigo for the daily reminder. Indigo is pictured here ... siting on my Week 3 lyrics.  How much fun is that!  lol

For my Week 3 "out of the box" piece I chose to write a ballad.  It is called "The Memory of Light".  It begins with a dialogue .  This song reminds me that when I am looking for answers ... I only need to listen to my heart and go searching within.  I carry the memory of my own light with me.  I recorded the song using my keyboard and with the support of my very talented, dear friend, Jody Lee Bigelow.  Thank you Jody for sharing your incredible gift.   Jody's voice really compliments the song and I am so thrilled he was able to add his vocal elements.  Many, many thanks! 
Here is pic of Jody and I have a hoot recording "The Memory of the Light".  It is not Ellen's Oscar "selfie" but I like it!  Lovin' my $5 reading glasses too ;) lol

I have posted "The Memory of the Light" lyrics below. 
Click here to listen to the recording via sound cloud https://soundcloud.com/robyndewar/with-jody-lee-bigelow   Enjoy!  Happy March!!!!

So in love with Today!

much love, Robyn

The Memory of the Light by Robyn Dewar

 

Dad, I’m scared.  I don’t know what to do.  How will I ever choose?

Do I follow him, he can lead the way.  He can take me to where I need to go.

I’m so afraid, I can’t see in the dark.  How will I ever choose, how will I know?

 

Darling girl – do you know how much I care?  Do you know I will always be there?

Where ever you go, whatever you choose, it will be the right choice for you.

You’ll find your answer, listen to your heart, live your dreams, and never fear the dark

 

If I starred at the sunset long enough, until all the colours disappeared

They’d sink behind the ocean’s wall and fade away                                                                

I’d begin to question why I’m here, 

There would there be nothing left but darkness and fear                                                     

And the shades of gray in the stillness of the night

 

The memory of light guides my way, a knowingness of who I am today

The memory of the light is the colour to my soul, it lifts my spirit

Through this darkness  I know … in the memory of the light ... in the memory of the light