Some songs come easy, like last week’s song. Some songs are hard-earned.
This song was easy yet difficult to write because it forced me to go back in time and re-evaluate in living color some uncomfortable truths about myself back then.
There’s always that one person you could have done better by. In this case, how I’d handled myself as a girlfriend when I was a teenager. I suspect that most of us are dopes back in our teens, but it still can be touchy to go back evaluate these things, even as an adult.
Wow, vague much, Melissa? (I’m not trying to Carly Simon anyone here, I’m just respecting the past.) Only one getting hit by a bus is THIS girl!
Oh self-reflection, you are a cruel mistress!
Anyway, not a lot of details on this one other than to say that obviously I’m not the person I was back then. I’ve grown up. I’ve matured. I know how to be in a relationship and all those great things. But when you decide you’re gonna write a ballad about yourself, better be prepared to open up an emotional vein. Even if it’s describing a time from decades ago.
Just in time for Valentines Day! (Which neither my husband or I are particular fans of so we usually celebrate date night on a different day.) I mean it just make sense, doesn’t it?
Anyway, on the dawn of Valentines Day, this is the second of two male vocals for this album. Let’s see if I can explain this. I wrote this song for my husband as if he wrote it for me. (It really makes more sense when you hear the song. Truly.)
Anyway, a few easter eggs in the song:
The first day we met he saw my smile and well obviously it was over for him (I swear, he likes my chubby cheeks)
North Star is a reference to my coming from Canada
The line, “I’ll slay your dragons, one by one” is a reference to a story he wrote me when he proposed to me
Some songs fall out of my brain straight onto the page. This was one of them. I’m not going to say how long it took, it’s a pretty simple song, but it came quickly.
By the way, he liked the song. I know I did it right if I see some tears in his eyes. (I got me some tears.)
I normally design my own covers, but since this one was for him, I let him contribute to the cover.
The ASL (American Sign Language) sign for “I Love You” is front and center. (It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek since it’s a hair band 80s ballad so that’s why you see the long hair. And normally guys are all, “Yeah, man! The horns, baby! The horns!” Since Ron and I are Christian, that was out, so we added our take instead. Actually, I thought it was pretty clever. Again, that was his idea.
The shining star does double duty — one is a reference to the North (it’s north on the album cover), but also since Jesus is our guidepost, it’s a nod to his guidance as well. (That’s why you see “I swear to Heaven above” — we married and made a commitment to each other.)
We’ve been together for over 25 years and, man, time flies! Needless to say, this one is dedicated to my husband, Ron Bianco.
Happy (almost) Valentines Day, everyone!
If you’re all, “Bah humbug. People are horrible.” Uh….then Happy Friday the 13th?
This one was a fun one to write. If you remember anything about the 80s it’s the phrase, “Be Kind, Rewind” at the video store on the videotapes. Having worked at a Video Store back in the 90s, I definitely appreciated when people took the time to rewind their videos; otherwise, we’d have to do it. (Otherwise, customers would complain.)
So needless to say, I couldn’t resist using it for not one but THREE reasons:
Very 80s phrase
The THINK acronym (more on that in a bit)
Gee, it sure would be nice if people were nicer (i.e. Kind) AND thought about things before they post on the internets (i.e. Rewind)
Okay, so it’s not super deep, but I really did like the focus of the song, which was: “Hey, before you post that post — do you reeeeeeeally need to?” (Reeeeallly?) I’ve many-a-time been mid-mad-fingertype when I just stopped myself and said, “Will this change anything? You may feel better for the moment, but is there any nutritional value to what you just said? Like….at all?)
And that’s where the song idea came from. Modern problem with an 80’s reference and musical vibe. I was definitely channeling “across the frequency” on this one! Old and new! I thought I was being super clever.
Ok, back to THINK — and I’ve had to use this a few times on myself because I will cop to the fact that I have gotten into ridiculous arguments with strangers that bore zero fruit and just got me so frustrated, I decided social media was just not worth it. Too much vitriol. And, thus, I left for several years. Now I just don’t feed the trolls. And, really, does anyone sleep better knowing how I personally feel about things?
I want to entertain, not debate. So the acronym goes like this: (there are variations I’ve noticed, but this is the one I remember):
Before you speak (post) is it:
T – True H – Helpful I – Inspiring N – Necessary K – Kind
Actually, that was something I learned when I was working in hospice and in that environment especially, those are words to live by. People have enough on their plate, they don’t need us/me/you adding to it.
So that’s it. The whole kit and caboodle. I went with the 80s catchy pop tune vibe , a nice amuse bouche from Marathon Girl which was pretty hard rock / hard hitting. So this is a nice palate cleanser. But, again, in the vibe of The Go-Go’s — strong message in the lyrics packaged in a fun, catchy pop tune. (See what they did there? That’s using the noggin’!)
Fun Fact:
I have not one but TWO videos going out today for this release. The first is the Official Lyric Video (I do that with all my releases), but the second is the Official Music Video (see below) Through trial and error, and many head bangs on my desk, I conceptualized and executed my own storytelling cinematic video. I think it turned out pretty well for my first stab at it.
Let’s just say, SkyNet? Not today. Still, I discovered many many tools at my disposal and only used one (reversing footage) in the music video. It was soooo fun – until I ran out of free credits. It took a good while to make it happen and I WISH I’d saved some of the AI “imagining” bloopers – some were pretty hysterical.
After I got into the groove with my Chance of a Lifetime album (BTW, all those songs have Lyric Videos on YouTube now!) , I got it in my head that I really like doing this writing thing! I can just write a song to tell a story! Bite-sized, just like me!
So after some thought I decided, “I’m gonna write me an 80s-inspired album!”
I wanted a good cross-section of songs from 80s ballads to new wave to — duhhhh — rock. And so I plotted it out. After a few weeks of writing, I had my ten songs.
I’ve been doling out the songs, one per week, for the last three weeks. And, it’s been FUN! I have learned so much about writing (the first few singles I did – don’t listen, they’re terrible – were kind of random and meandery), licensing, distribution, and how to format YouTube videos and why it’s good to have consistency, etc. etc. etc.. But that’s a topic for another day once I’ve learned more. For me, it’s about getting what’s in my head into a song. So that’s what I’ll focus on.
I don’t want to bore my Facebook friends with details they maybe don’t care about so I thought to myself, “Well, uh, you dolt, that’s what you have your own website for! Sheesh!”
So here we are!
The Album is called Across the Frequency (comes out April 10th! But I’m releasing singles under separate covers because making covers for each song is kinda fun) and like I said, it’s 80s inspired. Mostly I wrote about time back then, but I have a modern song or two but with an 80s sound. So it kind of crosses the timeline a bit. I felt the title worked nicely.
Here’s the album cover that I’m really excited about.
I wanted to go for the 1980s vibe, but not the crazy colors and pop kind of covers like Queen’s Hot Space or Talking Heads’ Remain in Light or Elvis Costello and the Attractions’ Imperial Bedroom. No, I wanted more simple like The Cars’ Candy-O (some of my single covers will give that vibe, I hope.)
But the image above was born of me wanting a Frank Frazetta style cover without the girl in the metal bikini riding a tiger. So I thought, ok, lose the girl, keep the cat. Panthers are cool. So if you look, his musculature is exaggerated in style. And I wanted old world meets new. Which Frank also did. So you see the Barbarian kind of style and his futuristic style. I wanted to combine the two in a very subtle way.
Note the hanging vines and foliage around the sides and ground (old) and then the cosmos in the background (future) — hence, across the frequency. And, if you’re paying attention, there’s a little easter egg with the frequency symbol near the panther.
I’m fairly positive that I’m the only one who cared about all these details, but at the end of the day it looked just plain COOL and — to me — very 80s.
So far a few singles have been released — I release one per week on Fridays:
This super silly fun (assume 80s in everything I write about style) pop song is about growing up as a kid in the 80s with the iconic games and toys and just hanging out with friends. It’s really not meant to be deep. There’s also a reference to Generation X, which I am apparently a member. Forgotten Generation? I guess. Remember this song. This album has a purpose in each song. 🙂
Now this one is a wonderfully classic anthem rock song. Simple message, hard rocking beats, and lots of heart. I wrote this for my husband who struggles with MS and never ever gives up, no matter what he does. So I wrote this in maybe five minutes. There are some fun battle / sports references. It all counts, I’m sure. Look, I kept it simple, ok? Sometimes I’m really not that deep. Anywho, along with this hard rock anthem song – I went with a male vocal. It’s only one of two times I went with a male vocal on this album. The second one will make sense, too, when you hear it.
This is another rock song, hard-hitting, great beat. It’s about running. Sometimes we think if we keep moving enough, those things we don’t want to deal with will go away, but they don’t. While I didn’t write this about me, I do feel that way back then, I’ve done a little running in my day. Emotionally. Situationally. You name it. This one probably will ring a bit true for all of us.
….and that’s where we leave it, as of today.
Next week, I think I’ll do a post for the next song on the list. It gives me an opportunity to go a bit deeper. (And I don’t spam my Facebook friends.)
(All my links are down below via this one DistroKid one if you want to support me on this crazy journey I’m on.)
I’ve been in a reflective mood lately. After many years in the game industry, I’ve reached a place where I can turn my experiences as a developer into something creative and uniquely personal.
I ended up shaping some of those thoughts into a small music project — less a release and more a way of saying thank you. A love letter of sorts to City of Heroes.
If you’ve ever heard of I Can Only Imagine (the song) or seen the movie, you’ll see just how talented these guys are. This is one of my favorite videos and recently I was surfing and discovered it again.
MelissaBianco.com 
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