How I Write 'Em - 2

How I wrote my second song "Nothing Gonna Stop Me" by using chords from other radio songs, and trying to say something when I had nothing to say.

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SPEAKER_01 0:00

Alright, Greg Bruce is back with my second episode of How I Write Em. This is for singer-songwriters who maybe want to get an idea on how to approach their songwriting. I took guitar lessons in the fifth grade, dropped in and out, hung out with musicians later in high school, college, eventually learned enough to write my own songs. And I've been doing that for the last forty years with two albums to my credit. A third one on its way. If I can ever get it finished. Money too tight to mention. That is the bitch of being a singer-songwriter. You have to pay for it all yourself. Uh but I love it nonetheless. And keep doing it. And I'd like to share with you how I go about it sometimes. Because songs, as you know, come in many different ways and take many different forms. And they can be planned or happen by accident. It all depends on how you tap in, so to speak. So if you want to tap in with me, I'll walk you through what is, I believe, the second song I ever wrote in my first episode. I showed you how I wrote my first song, one called Thanks to You. And now I realized it wasn't the absolute first. It was one of. Because the song I'm going to do in this episode, a song called Nothing Gonna Stop Me, may have been my first or at the same time. In my last episode, I also told you some of the influences I grew up with. Uh the late 50s, 60s, 70s, which pretty much shaped my style. Then I talked about the environment I was in at the time and all the eighties bands that were coming my way. Uh for the second song I wrote, or first, I was more playing around with a chord structure, uh, just a simple one, back and forth, and didn't really have much to say, which is how the song came about. Uh but let's back up to some of the first radio songs I learned when I was taking my guitar lessons way back in the mid-70s. And the first thing you wanted to do when you started learning guitar was play all the cool rock songs on the radio. Back at that time, one of the first things we wanted to learn was Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple, and it was just the guitar riff. But if you could play it over and over, you felt so cool, and it was a stuff. Then we wanted to play Stairway to Heaven, but that was too intricate, so I just learned Smoke on the Water. Was just play that over and over. You didn't even want to get to the singing, the you know, we all came out to Montrose. It was just then when I started taking lessons, it was Jim Croce's Bad Bad Leroy Brown, a huge hit at the time, and I had to play it real slow, you know, as I was learning it.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

And if you go down there, you better just be aware of a man named Leroy Brown.

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Of course, a band called America was all over the place.

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Where the days are longer, the nights are stolen and moon shine.

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And of course, their other hit. He had already slayed us, to use a term one of my guitar player friends always uses. So he had already slayed us with his solo album, Maybe I'm Amazed. Maybe I'm amazed at the way you love me all the time.

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And then his single My Love. And when I go away, I know my heart can stay with my love.

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And now here he comes out with Band on the Run. And the whole album is great. And in my opinion, and probably a lot of people's Jet was the best song. And I'll tell you why it's one of the best.

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It goes like this I can almost remember the funny faces. That time he told you that you hardly old enough yet.

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You hear that little change? Whenever as a songwriter you hit upon a move in your song like that, the mojo's really working for you. And it's just a spot in the song, if you will. But what a spot. He gives it to us in the beginning, then every time you hear it, you love it. I liken it to the Chili Pepper song, uh, the one where he goes, I drive through the streets cause she's my companion.

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Lonely inside him. Now that is ly.

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The song is good, but that one chord is my favorite and best part when they hit it. It just hangs there all by itself. A tack ta tack. And as an artist, the moment you hit it, you know it and go, wow. It's the same in Hamilton, which I'm sure you've seen, sensational. But in the King song, when he sings Oceans Rise, Empires Vall, Lynn Manuel must have been so ecstatic when he hit that change. Empires Vall Simple but perfect. Sometimes you get through ten songs before you get one moment like that, but it's worth it. Anyway, Jet, one of my favorite songs of all time. But at the time, in my taking lessons guitar stage, I cannot attempt that song. So of course it's Band on the Run, which is the first single released anyway. And right away I like the chord structure in Band on the Run. Very simple but melodic. And it's still one of my favorite patterns today. And I launch a lot of my songs from it. But it's only two chords, C to F major seventh. So Band on the Run goes like this: Well, the rain exploded with a mighty crash as we fell into the sun.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

And the first one said to the second one there, I hope you're having fun.

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And before I continue, I have to tell you a funny story about playing Band on the Run. When Band on the Run comes out, I'm in the fifth going into the sixth grade around 1974-75. And I'm taking guitar lessons at a music store from an old school guitar teacher. He ain't no rock and roller. Now, when you're that age, around 11, 12, it's hard to hold your interest in anything, even if it is something you really want to do. Why? Because we're all over the place as a kid, at least I was. You want to be out riding your bike, playing with your friends, and even baseball practice comes at the wrong time. You just don't feel like doing it or going. Because it's still practice. Or in the case of guitar, lessons. And that's what you did when you get and took guitar lessons. You got out the Ernie Ball guitar book and you played hot crossbuns over and over again. Hot crossbuns, hot crossbuns. And you had to, because that's how all the great started, but you didn't want to. And then in between lessons, you tried to form your fingers into chords, uh simple G's and D's. And the other thing you did was buy sheet music to your favorite songs. And for anybody learning guitar, the sheet music to your favorite song was almost like buying a record. Because now you got to play what they were playing, and you could try to sing like McCartney. So I would go to my lesson, play my rudiments nervously over and over because I hadn't practiced much, and my teacher, as I said, wasn't what I pictured a guitar player should be. So they were boring. Uh the only cool thing was at the end of the lesson, my teacher would ask me if there was any one of my songs, my being the sheet music of radio songs I carried around in my guitar case that I wanted to play. Well, one day when it came to that time, uh he said, Is there any song you would like to play before you go? And I eagerly pulled out Band on the Run. And the sheet music had the cover of the album, which was by now a hit. So you could see who it was as I brought the sheet music up. And as soon as he saw it, he exploded. Not Band on the Run, I hate that song. And he said it in a way like it was the last song on earth he ever wanted to play. It was hysterical, and I remember cringing, like, I guess I pulled that one out too much. And I think that was the last time I ever pulled out one of my songs again. Uh, but back to the song. Uh whether you hate it or not, I love the song and was toying with uh those two chords uh from then on, the uh C and the F major seventh. Now, along that time, probably a little after, I was into a group called Firefall. They were really a cool group that had beautiful voices and lovely lyrical melodies. Uh, the one you might be familiar with is You Are the Woman That I've Always Dreamed of. I knew it from the start. And then they came out with another song after that called Just Remember I Love You. And by now I'm still buying song sheets, but I'm also trying to figure out the chords for songs on my own or having other people show them to me. So now I want to sing Just Remember I Love You. And I start hanging around those band on the run chords, particularly the uh F major seventh chord. And then I realize by doing the hammer off, as they call it, with my index finger, I'm getting the intro to the song. Then suddenly I decide to slide the chord three frets to what is basically a G major, played in a different configuration, and I realize I've got the verse to the song when I play F major seventh to G major. Back and forth.

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And the song goes like this when it all goes quickly and the thrill is gone. Days get rainy and the nights get long, and you get that feeling you were born to lose, staring at your ceiling, taking of your blue.

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Anyway, I learned the song and play it over and over, especially if the girls are around. You always wanted to show off and play the song on the radio for the women. Maybe they'll fall in love with you, like the song. Anyway, I already know Band on the Run, now Firefall, and as I said, I have a fancy, if you will, to the major seventh chord. I toy with it all the time as I try to enhance my skills and write my songs. Now, and you're gonna love this, cut to my college days around 1983, 84, 85, somewhere in there, I'm trying to write a song. And I'm pretty sure I had nothing to say. I'll tell you, the hardest thing when you're a beginning writer of any kind novels, movies, songs, whatever, is where am I going to get my ideas from? And right away, if you want to be a good songwriter, you can't keep singing about girls. Anyway, I hope to do another little podcast coming up here called a writer's pep talk and address that very question, where do ideas come from? So as I said, here I am, the early 80s in college. I've already written one song, I think, thanks to you, which I talked about in the first episode. So here I go with my second, and I fall back to those firefall chords. The F major seventh, and slid it three frets to G major, and I like the wangy tangy, if you will, so I play it back and forth a few times. And since I have nothing to say, I decide to say just that. I begin with, well, it ain't no thrill. I've come a long way, I got nothing to say. And I sing it to the chords, sliding halfway through.

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Will it ain't no thrill? I've come a long way, I've got nothing to say.

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Now notice the come a long way, and this is funny, and I want to address this, and I don't know why we do this as a young person, but we all do. And that is comment on your life story when it hasn't even been lived. And what am I, 23 at the time, and I think I've come a long way. That's why I thought it was hilarious that Eminem was doing his life story and he hadn't made it out of his twenties yet. What life story? But it was more about the scene at the time and his breaking in, so it was cool. But anyway, I get my first verse and I look for my next one, and I come up with another not really sure line, if you will, but it answers the first. I say, I'll just do what I will. And I don't know where these next two lines came from, but it's a line I still believe.

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I said, And let everyone around me feed me to the punch. It's gonna get hotter, but I won't feel the crunch.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

And I have lived by that, never worrying about who's doing this or that in songwriting or screenwriting or anything else, but just doing my thing, honing my craft, and not feeling out of it. I can hang. So I got the first part of the song, and it goes like this Will it ain't a who thrill?

SPEAKER_00 15:13

I've come a long way, you've got nothing to say. I just do what I will, and let everyone around me be to the punch. It's gonna be holla, but I won't feel the crunch.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

And notice how I'm rhyming thrill with will, and come a long way, nothing to say, and punch crunch. I found something, you see, so I'm probably gonna stick to it. But now I gotta come up with a change in the song, and I'm automatically led somehow into a chorus right away, and I simply answer why I won't feel the crunch. And again, it's my motto today. I say, Ain't nothing gonna stop me. And I seem to automatically know to sing it to F major seventh, but I add an extra low C on the fifth string to give it full body. So I come out of the verse and go, Ain't nothing gonna stop me. And now where am I gonna go? Well, I jump up and the C major seventh seems to be just waiting for me, and I repeat, nothing gonna stop me. Nothing gonna stop me. And I do it two times. And I'm not gonna just repeat that four times. So after the second time, I slide back into F major seventh without that extra note, the chord from the verse, and again answering my lyrics why nothing's gonna stop me. Because I write, This time I won't go down like a fighter. And as I do, I slide to that third fret and G major again, but add a low D on the fifth string to give it more body. So it's This time I won't go down. I'm using the adding the note technique in two different spots in the song already. Uh then I sing nothing gonna stop me again twice. Nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me, and follow it with what I think is a cool line. You might just see a little frown.

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So it's a nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me, you might just see a little frown.

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And now I have my first verse into chorus.

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So altogether it's well it ain't no fail. I've come a long way, you've got nothing to say. I just do what I will. And let everyone around me beat me to the punch. But I won't feel the crunch. Cause ain't nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me. This time I won't go down. Ain't nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me. You might just see a little frown.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

And I'm off to the races, and it's really never occurs to me to interrupt what seems to be a driving song with a pre-chorus. You know, that little change after the verse that leads up to the chorus, or even a bridge, which is what we call the welcome interruption in a song, uh, but very hard to do well. You can't just put anything in there, it really must complement. And again, at the time I'm writing this, I'm not at all skilled enough to write a good bridge. So I keep cruising on and rhyming in away, and um, I'm gonna just follow the same chord variations. And now I can talk about love for a moment. So, keeping that rhyme scheme from the verse in my head, I'm thinking how clever I can get with it. So I write in the second verse, I don't see the reason of running with the feeling when you know you'll be leaving. Again, I just say it like it is, and I'm being truthful, which Sting said, you have nothing to fear if you're being truthful in your songs. And to me, I never saw the point of starting relationships when you knew it wasn't going to last. And why?

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So I sing, I don't see the reason of running with the feeling when you know you believe in.

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Then I answer that line with with, and this is almost one of those jet moments when I wrote it, uh, but not nearly as strong. I answer the line with it's a brand new season. It's a brand new season. And hear the way I sing season. I was so happy because it reminded me of one of my favorite singer songwriters growing up, Carol King. If you're not familiar, I'd strongly advise she's the best with songs like It's Too Late Baby It's Too Late Now Darling and uh I feel the earth move under my feet and then uh you don't talk to a man with a shotgun in his hand. And there was one called Sweet Seasons.

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It went talking about sweet seasons on my mind.

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And you hear the way she sings seasons. I love the way she hangs on it with a touch of vibrato. When I sang seasons, I thought instantly of hers and thought, yeah, cool, I got close to Carol King. Yeah. So the two verses together go like this. I don't see the reason.

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Running with the feeling when you know you'll believe in it's a brand new season.

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And now I've got to answer that. So it's a brand new season. A brand new season to do what? Well, to move myself around and live on my own, right?

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So it goes, it's a brand new season to move myself around and live on my own, and then I get Bold and say, I know I need the love, but I'd rather be alone.

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And now I'm heading back into the chorus, and I already know I'm gonna say nothing gonna stop me two times, but how about the other half? Again, I respond to what I was just singing about, and I even get a little bolder. So after nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me. The first time I say that includes love.

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So it's Ain't nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me, that includes love.

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Then I sing nothing gonna stop me a second time, nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me, and simply say, This time I'll rise above to sync up with love.

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So together it's nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me. That includes love.

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And now I'm also gonna have to do that with the lyrics because the chords aren't gonna change. So I put on the tough guy attitude in the third verse, and I write, I won't feel the pain. And again, always if you're gonna make a statement like I'm bad to the bone, then you better say why. And again, I talk about my life.

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When things that I find get a hold of my mind. So it's I won't feel the pain. When things that I find get a hold of my mind.

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And now here comes the behind the eight ball line, which kinda in my opinion lets the listener know that I ain't got it all together. So I write, Life is always the same. Then talk about how to make the best of it as I slide the G major with you live it while you can and do you best in the fight.

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Then together it's I won't feel the pain. When things that I find get a hold of my mind, life is always the same. You live it while you can and do you best in the fight.

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And how am I gonna end that?

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With the double entendre, if you will, even if it means lying in the night.

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You know, not telling the truth, lying, or lying in bed with someone. So it goes, I won't feel the hood pain.

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When things that I find get a hold of my mind, life is always the same. You live while you can and do your best in the fight, even if it means lying in the night.

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And then I hit the chorus, and I just need two outlines after nothing gonna stop me. Nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me. Two outlines to sew up this last verse. So after the first set of nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me. I go back to that stumbling through life and write, This time I won't fall down, instead of go down, like in the first verse.

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So it's nothing don't stop me, nothing gonna stop me, this time I won't fall down. Then I finish it with nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me, I might just get a little down.

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Which hints to frown.

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So it's nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me. This time I won't fall down. No ain't nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me, I might just get a little down.

SPEAKER_01 26:35

So now again the third verse into chorus altogether goes, I won't feel the pain when things that I find get a hold of my mind.

SPEAKER_00 26:48

Life is always the same. You live while you can and do your best in the fight. Evil ever means by in the night. Cause ain't nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me. This time I won't fall down. No ain't nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me. I might just get a little down.

SPEAKER_01 27:21

And now let's play the whole song, and I want you to see how I go out at the end because I really like it. And when I recorded it, I think it was one of my drummer's favorite parts, but I didn't really come upon that type of ending till much later, if I'm not mistaken, when I learned to color things in music a little better, if you will. Uh so hold on to your ears. Here we go. A song called Nothing Gonna Stop Me.

SPEAKER_00 27:55

No thrill. Come a long way. You've got nothing to say. I just do what I will. And let everyone around me be me to the punch. It's gonna get hotter, but I won't feel the crunch. Cause ain't nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me. This time I won't go down. There ain't nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me. You might just see a little frown. I don't see the reason. Run with the feeling when you know you'll believe it. It's a brand new season To move myself around and live on my own. Do I need the love, but I'd rather be alone Cause ain't nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me. That includes love. Ain't nothing gonna stop me, nothing gonna stop me. This time I rise up above. I won't feel the pain. Things that I find get a hold of my mind, life is always the same. You the white cabin, do you best in the fight? Nothing means lying in the night. Cause ain't nothing gonna stop me, nothing gon' stop me. This time I won't fall down. No ain't nothing gonna stop me, nothing gon' stop me. I just get a little down. Cause ain't nothing gon' stop me, nothing gonna stop me, nothing's gon' stop me, nothing gon' stop me, nothing's gon' stop me, nothing gon' stop me, nothing's gonna stop me, nothing gon' stop me. No no no no no no no no no no no no no And there you have it. As you can see I did the little Ain't nothing gonna stop me no no no no no no and I really love the way I ended up coloring it at the end like that, as I said, and recorded it that way.

SPEAKER_01 30:58

I think when I was first playing it, I would just fade out on the doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo but then came up with a new ending. A song is like that, it can continue to evolve, if you will, in little ways after you got the core. The magic of music. And now you can see as I sing the song and what's bound to happen, I may switch a word or two. It just happens. Instead of see a little frown, it's get a little frown or fall down, go down. Those words can get crossed. As long as I stay in the general vicinity, I'm okay. I don't change the point of the verse, if you will. And I'm glad I get to do this because um what you're getting here is how it happens. A guy sitting around in his room with a guitar. Uh, you're lucky if you get a whole band sitting around you. So I hope you got the feel for how I go about it as well. And that's the great thing about guitar. You can take that thing anywhere, on a hillside, at a beach, in a car, and create at will. And once again, uh this song is only three chords F major seventh, G major, and C major seventh. Not too shabby. And for having nothing to say at the time, I basically came up with an anthem song for me. Because nothing gonna stop me is still my motto today. I live by it, I swear by it. For me, it's about the last man standing. How much lambasting I love that word, how much lambasting can you take about your art and still keep creating? You must love to do it, my friends. So if you love doing it and you love hearing how others do it, hook up with me on my next episode. And this is a good one. I'll show you how I wrote my third song. And this one came out of me and my two musician friends having a contest, if you will, to see who could write a George Michael song, believe it or not. Because he was huge at the time. And I came up with a cool one. Matter of fact, I think I won the contest. So check it out. In the meantime, thanks for checking out my podcast. Much appreciated. Hope you got a little inspiration, maybe an idea or two. Just keep plugging away, trying to find your voice.