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’!
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.
MelissaBianco.com 