Thread: Fireman

I've been writing music first, then lyrics -- and not giving them much attention. As an aspiring writer -- kind of silly. I'm fairly happy with these and I think they fit the song. But I'd like to polish them up a bit before recording a final version.

Fireman

Show me please, if you could,
the signature to your favorite song.
And I will do the best I can
to teach you how to play along.

I will teach you harmonies,
and I will learn the minor scale.
then we can kiss under the trees,
and you will tell me -- pass or fail.

And when the band played our favorite song,
I decided not to dance.
And if the heal decides to break,
I will carry you --
I will carry you along.

Pick them out, and write them down,
And I’ll see if I fit the bill.
If you say that I’m allowed,
I’ll say that I probably will.

You say it’s harder to pin you down
than pick you up.
But if we start out from the ground,
will you wish me luck?

Like a fireman, I’ll throw you over my shoulder.
Like a gentleman, I’ll lay you down.
Down.

Link to song

A typo still but it's a set of good lines. "our" favorite song.

Hey thanks -- and thanks for the catch.

Any time. I still have my remix on my streaming player and listen to it from time to time.

This is may or may not help below but this is how I hear your piece. Pleas note there could be some mistakes easily as this was done rather quickly. I reversed first line as it sounded better to my ear and it ends the line in a vowel be the reason for that as well.

"If you could show me please 6
the signature to your favorite song 8
I’ll do the best I can 6
to teach you how to play along 8

I will teach you harmonies 6
and I will learn the minor scale 8
then kiss under the trees 6
and you can will tell me pass or fail 8

And when the band play’s our song
And we decide not to dance
And if your heal decides to break
I will carry you; I will carry you along
I will carry you like a fireman
I will carry you

Pick'em out, write'em down
And I’ll see if I fit the bill
If you say I’m allowed
I’ll say that I probably will

Harder to pin you down 6
than its been to just pick you up 8
But start from the ground 6
And maybe you can wish me luck 8

Throw you to my shoulder 6
Like a fireman rushing in 8
And like a gentleman 6
I lay you down; let life begin8

And when the band play’s our song
And we decide not to dance
And if your heal decides to break
I will carry you; I will carry you along
I will carry you like a fireman
I will carry you"

MT, I write the music first and then the lyrics --- sometimes simultaneously. So I’ve phrased things to flow with the music. (Link to the song provided above.)

You’ve taken out some of pauses and words -- and otherwise altered the length of the phrases to the extent they don’t have any rhythm or fit over the music.

I see your point in changing the “tense” of this line:

And when the band played our favorite song,
I decided not to dance.

It could be:

And if the band plays our favorite song,
I might decide not to dance.

Thanks for reading and commenting.

Still reminds me a bit of Jim Stafford's Spiders and Snakes-not so much in the words themselves but in the playfulness of the concept.

Hey Joseph,

I love the play on words with the fireman theme. Gotta love anything to do with firemen. I got my sister a stripper for her hen party and of course I picked a fireman. But even with all the hot fireman action (!) there is a gentle and playful and loving tone to this. I loved this verse.

I will teach you harmonies,
and I will learn the minor scale.
then we can kiss under the trees,
and you will tell me -- pass or fail.

Vulnerability expressed nicely here, in the pass or fail part.

The link doesn't work for me sadly!

Fireman

Hey thanks, Loulou., Sorry it didn't play. Hen party? I'm assuming that's what we call a "bachelorette" party. The pre-wedding thing. Funny. Glad you liked it.

Hey, mod, thanks for posing the link. Mine works too, so I'm not sure what the issue is. Maybe some kind of firewall thing. Appreciate it, though.

That's really great!

Works for me too, Joe, but who knows? You're welcome anyway.

Just read it, and it seems everyone has taken care of the typo, lol. It's very nice, I didn't know you wrote music.

How did you manage to get your song produced? Did you play all the parts yourself and record them seperate? Or did you go into the studio with a band? I'm really impressed with this. It's just great! Has a Bob Dylan feel to it.

Thanks patrick. This was recorded mostly live with a very basic home studio set up. The guitar, bass and vocals were recorded through three separate condenser mikes. The drums were recorded with a few mikes running into a small mixer. All went into an M-Audio USB external sound card and then straight into a computer. The tracks were recorded into ProTools, the sequencer software application. The one thing recorded afterward was the harmonica. I played guitar and sang live, a couple of friends played guitar and bass. I've posted a few other things, and the tracks on those were mostly recorded separately, although I usually lay down a bass track with a drummer and build on that. The sound is OK, and you can achieve better with the same equipment, if you know what you're doing. It all amounts to a few hundred dollars worth of stuff. If you want to know more about home recording, ask Moderan, he knows quite a bit, especially how to get the most bang for your buck. I'm still kind of getting my feet wet.

And thanks to you too AO. I appreciate your comments.