Masters of Song Fu - Update #11 - Bad Fish (The Song From 'Jaws')

You must choose one of those 1970’s Williams-scored Spielberg/Lucas flicks (JAWS, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, 1941, or STAR WARS). and write "The Song From..." that the film never had, in the style of a 1970’s pop tune (particularly in your instrumentation).

And thus ended Song Fu...

Here is my final non-competitive effort. The instrumentation could have been a bit more lush and over-the-top, but I was running too short of time for such luxuries. The bassline is a bit more mundane than when I first recorded it, as it became the subtle reference I mentioned last time. Then I blew any subtlety away in the last few bars as the bass reveals itself much more blatantly - it's super-corny, but I just couldn't resist it. Sorry.

Click here to hear the song

I don't know whether there are plans for another run of the Song Fu challenge and, if there are, whether I should re-apply. A couple of the deadlines have been pretty tight (usually due to being away with work), but I've got 4 new songs out of it of varying quality, with inspiration for a couple more. What do you reckon?

Anyway, here are the lyrics and chords:-

[verse 1]
C              Gm7
  My, what big teeth you have, 
         Am             F
Said the swimmer to the fish
    C                    Gm7
One drop (of blood) in a million
    Am             F
And she became the dish
       C        Bb     Fmaj7   Fmaj7
of the day.
       C        Bb     Fmaj7   Fmaj7
of the d   -    a   -  y.

[verse 2]
The mayor of "Shark City" is
A sceptic through and through
Ignoring the problem until it
Swims up and bites you
on the ass

[chorus]
         C   F
It was a bad fish
       Am               Gm7->Bb
Like a piscine Jack the Rip-per
  C   F
A bad fish
 Am           Bb
A giant psychopathic kipper
 Fmaj7 x4 bars

[verse 3]
Swapping tales of scars
With buddies and a drink
You'll need a bigger boat
This one's going to sink
fairly soon

~Chorus~

[verse 4]
You'd be a much more efficient killer
If you didn't have that tell-tale fin
And you could still be alive today
If you'd swallowed that oxygen
Smile you son of a bitch

~Chorus~

Fade out on Fmaj7

Masters of Song Fu - Update #8 - The Ballad of Rufus Amos Adams

Your task is to write a country ballad - using a backstory of your own creation – called "The Ballad of Rufus Amos Adams".

Here's the song for Round 3 of the Song Fu challenge (you know, the one I was knocked out of at round 1):-

Click here for the song

For some background to the song and the additional challenge I set myself, see this post. It does include all the items I mentioned, including a wobbly theremin-pretending-to-be-a-pedal-steel-guitar solo. Having now listened to the other challengers I realise that there was no yodelling, but I don't know that would sit very well in a ballad, plus it was not in my original list, so too bad.

Here are the lyrics and chords (non-Scottish readers - minor translations included - move your mouse over a word you don't understand):-

[verse1]
  G        G           C               G
I left the farm in the morning, around 6
G       G             D       D
Fed the cattle on the way
G                G         C          G
Headed South for Dallas to pick up my girl
G                  G         D        D 
And that's when my life went astray.

[verse2 - same chords as v1 except last line]
She was waitressin' in the Korean restaurant
Noodles on poodles she'd serve
When a truck, red 'n' green, with the name of Christine
    G              D          G         G
Too fast round the corner did swerve

[verse3]
Gm                 Gm      Cm        Cm
What happened just then, I fail to recall
       Gm       Gm           Dsus4    D7
But my world it descended to Hell
          Gm         Gm          Cm     Cm
There was kimchi and shitzhu and bodily parts in
    Gm         Gm              Dsus4    D7
The rubble and dust where they fell

[verse4 - same chords as v3 except last line]
I grabbed the truck driver and gave him a kickin'
For killin' my sweetheart so swell
But she wasn't dead - she'd just banged her head
Gm          D7          Gm         G
And I spent time in the Bar-L


[chorus]
G                        C
I'm known around here as Amos Adams
G                     D
Sometimes as Rufus or Hank
       G                   C
I'd consider it lucky if I lived in Kentucky
  G                  D
Instead of a village just West of Buckie
          G                    C
Where the trains are sporadic, money is tight
  G                       D
A bottle of Talisker gets you through the night
  G                   C
I wish to God that my Mama, that sod,
    G        D              G         G
Had named me something like Shug.

[verse5 - same as v2]
Let out of prison this Christmas just past
I hoped for a change in my luck
When I got home she wrote, on a tiny wee note
"I've left with the man and his truck"

[instrumental verse - same as v2]

[verse6 - same as v2]
Now I'm only a jakey from a wee Scottish town
But my life's like a Johnny Cash song
My name isn't Sue, but Rufus will do
I guess Nashville is where I belong

~Chorus~
... Had named me something like Tam.
... or named me something like Doug
... or even something like Shug

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Tags: Song Fu, Country, chords

Masters of Song Fu - Update #5 - The C5 Shuffle

Your challenge is to choose a famous inventor and craft a song proposing a “dance craze” based on either the inventor or one of his/her most well known inventions.

Just finished mixing this non-submission to Song Fu.

Here is a link to the song.

It's called 'The C5 Shuffle' and the inventor in question is, of course, Sir Clive Sinclair. For those outside the UK or too young to remember, Sir Clive designed the best-selling home PC in the UK. It was pretty wretched, even for its own time, but was the door into computing for thousands. His follow-up invention was eagerly anticipated, but the battery-powered C5 was something of a failure, being both before its time and far from reliable or even practical. There are plenty of them still about, see here, but I think I've only ever seen one on the roads myself. From the way the vehicle is driven in the picture and the chorus of the song, it should be pretty clear how the dance works.

Here are the lyrics for the song, along with some chords for the musically inclined:-

[Verse1]
G
Trundling along
B
So close to the ground
C
3 wheels are spinning, but
Cm
what's that clicking sound?

Watch out for the fumes
Roundabouts are deadly
Hills are out of bounds
In our electric pedalled medley

[chorus]
      G            D  D7  Dm7
We're gonna do the C5
     C            G  G6 G       D
It's kinda like a three-wheeled jive
Invented by good old Sir Clive
Let's take it for a Microdrive
And the Hoover motor might contrive
To get us all home alive

[Verse2]
Arms close to your sides
Grab the handlebars
Shoulders up and down
Wiggling your arse
Battery's gone flat
Pedal for a while
Now get out and push
You're dancing with such style

[chorus]
We're gonna do the C5
It's kinda like a three-wheeled jive
Invented by good old Sir Clive
Let's take it for a Microdrive
And the Hoover motor might contrive
To get us all home alive


Gm                   F                       C2      Am7
I've got used to the scornful looks from the passing cars
Gm                     F               Am7        C2
and their comments and mocking tone so derisory
Gm                             F                   C2         Am7
But they'll be laughing on the other side of their faces
Gm                F         Am7           D              D(higher)
In 10 short hours once I've recharged the battery

[Verse3]
Arms close to your sides
Grab the handlebars
Shoulders up and down
Wiggling your arse
Battery's gone flat
Pedal for a while
Now get out and push
You're dancing with such style

[chorus]
We're gonna do the C5
It's kinda like a three-wheeled jive
Invented by good old Sir Clive
Let's take it for a Microdrive
And the Hoover motor might contrive
To get us all home alive

[alt chorus]
We're gonna do the C5 (ah ah ah)
It's a miracle we're stayin' alive 
We're gonna do the C5 (it's so delicious and moist)
I dunno how we're still alive
We're gonna do the C5 (we're heading for home)
Let's hope we all arrive alive

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Tags: Song Fu, Inventor, invention, dance, Clive, Sinclair, C5

Lyrics Galore

To give a little more insight into the Board's songs, the lyrics from all the songs in the first two albums are now available on the website.

Simply click on a song name on either the Eponymous Debut page or the Difficult Second page to be taken to a more detailed view of each song showing the lyrics and credits for the song. Over time we'll probably add to these details to give some more background about the songs and their inspiration.

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Tags: Lunacy Board, Quintilis, Eponymous, Debut, Difficult, Second, Lyrics, inspiration