Tag: Behind the Song

Behind the Song: “We’re Still Here”

~ Melissa Bianco ~ Leave a comment

Man! Where did the time go? This is the last song on the Across the Frequency album (well, mostly, I have one more but it’s a dance mix version of Masquerade, not a new song, so it doesn’t really count does it?) and this wraps up my SECOND album.

I feel like I’ve been drinking from the firehose on this whole songwriting / AI / YouTube / Social Media journey, but it’s been sooooo informative and super fun. I’m going to miss this 80s’inspired style for a bit. Don’t worry, the 80s will never die! As I move into my next three albums (yes, I’m actually working on my 5th album right now!) the tone will change between them. Why? I like cohesive album wrappers. Is it a decade? Is it a style? Is it a personal journey? Stay tuned to find out!

Now onto the song:

This song is two-fold fun. It’s an anthem rock song in the – oh so surprising – style of the 1980s so high energy and lots of guitars and drums. The other part is the attitude behind it.

As a Gen Xer (or “forgotten generation” – that’s just mean!), I wanted to capture this feeling: I’m not 25 or 30 anymore, but I’m still here, showing up and giving it my all every day. This particular Gen Xer doesn’t obsess (tooo much, let’s be real, we all think about it a bit) over others’ opinions over aging.

Sure, I want to look good, but I don’t fixate on getting older. This came to mind when my mom told me she sometimes felt invisible as she aged. That struck me. I wanted this final rock song on the album to be a rock anthem to say: we refuse to be invisible. We’ll do our thing and make our presence known. If society expects us to fade away, we’re saying loud and clear: that’s not happening.

So basically the song is about doing your own thing and refusing to go quietly. (Maybe it resonates with other generations, but the only one I’m in is this one.)

All the links: https://hyperfollow.com/melissabianco

Behind the Song “Masquerade”

~ Melissa Bianco ~ Leave a comment

I love writing. I’ve been writing as long as I can remember. Nothing great, mind you, but just stuff. I was just chatting with my bestie from grade 6 (grade 6!!) and she remembered a poem I wrote for her for her 11th or 12th birthday and she quoted my own poem back to me, word for word. I was floored.

The poem was terrible, but it rhymed, so I have that going for me. Anywho, once I hit double digits and started going to high school, I kept writing. Nothing fancy. An entire story dedicated to meeting Davey Jones (yes, from The Monkees, I had a crush.) to other just ridiculous stories.

But I also wrote a few poems. So when I was on my High School Annual (Canadian version of a Yearbook) Committee, I had an opportunity to GET PUBLISHED. Hey, published is published. I’ll take it.

Since I was in high school and everything was a big deal, I wrote some incredibly angsty poem about hiding behind smiles and living in cages of making everything seem perfectly okay (please note: this is an Easter Egg. Continue listening to my music to see a reference to this phrase…someday.)

So I thought, you know what? I’m gonna write a song about how we all hide behind these masks in some way. And that’s where the song came from. . Throw in a catchy 80s new wave vibe and we’re cookin’!

So now you know.

The one link to rule them all: HyperFollow Melissa

Behind the Song: “Pack It Up”

~ Melissa Bianco ~ Leave a comment

From the Album, Across the Frequency, an 80s-inspired album, this song is a simple one: don’t live in the past. I, as much as anyone, have a tendency towards nostalgia, even when it’s not warranted.

To help give you an idea of nostalgic I can be, I was less than ten years old and I’d save gravel from the alley behind the house so I wouldn’t forget where I lived. I wrote my diaries in block letter so I’d be able to read them when I was “old”. Yep, that’s the brain you’re dealing with. 🙂

Anyway, I was also a bit of a pack rat. I may or may not (fine, I still have them) every letter and card I received during the 80s. Like, every one. I’m sure they’re falling apart by now. I kept notes and letters and drawings my old boyfriends gave to me. Finally, after many years, I went through most of them and said goodbye. In some cases, it was an easy decision because I’d stored them in the garage and, ah, rats got to them. (Sorry!)

So sometimes weather pushes along the need to move forward and not live in the past. As we’ve moved over the years, it’s been a great opportunity to “out with the old in with the new” and I’ve taken a last look, smiled and remembered what these things meant to me at the time, and said goodbye.

That’s it. No real moral of the story. Just an example of how sometimes if you’re so busy lived in a past (that seems to somehow get “better” with age), you’re not living in the present and appreciating all the amazingness that it has to offer.

kthxbye!

P.S. If you enjoy the song, please do me a favor and (yeah, I’m going to be that broken record — apparently it matters to YouTube), LIKE my song and – if it pleases you – SUBSCRIBE to my channel. I’m trying to build it up. (But not my ego! Don’t worry!) Seriously, it’s abysmal. Maybe I’ll hit 100 subscribers (I have small social ambitions.)

As always, you can find me all over the dang place:

HyperFollow Link: https://hyperfollow.com/melissabianco

Behind the Song: “Fight for Love”

~ Melissa Bianco ~ Leave a comment

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?

Behind the Song: “Be Kind, Rewind”

~ Melissa Bianco ~ Leave a comment

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:

  1. Very 80s phrase
  2. The THINK acronym (more on that in a bit)
  3. 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.

All the ways you can see the same thing:

https://hyperfollow.com/melissabianco

Ok bye.