This was my first serious attempt at songwriting and was composed for a post-lockdown revue show, performed by my local amdram society in 2022. I played it live with my Faith acoustic, mic’d through a PA. Images were projected on a screen behind me. Nerves and the multitasking effort of both playing and trying to sing got the better of me, so a good few bum notes. I promised myself I’d find time one day to record a more polished version and here it is for your amusement and enjoyment.
Justin’s tips for Chords in Keys came in really handy to build a chord progression and I reckoned that the key of G would be manageable for my voice, such as it is. Having a well documented subject matter, the lyrics almost wrote themselves. I wanted to give the tune variety in terms of pace and structure. Hopefully, I managed to achieve that. Balancing humour and pathos was also important for me, and is not always easy to achieve.
I’ve been promising myself to try to get to grips with GarageBand for some time and having a purpose definitely focuses the mind. I decided to use my PRS Hollowbody ii Piezo, which has easier playability than my Faith (the onset of arthritis doesn’t help), in addition to providing some pretty good amplified acoustic tones. I found getting the timing of vocal and guitar phrasing a bit of a challenge, so opted to record three tracks for the guitar parts plus a vocal track using a Shure SM58 mic.
Finally, I should confess to having turned 70 in 2023 after 60 years of on/off cowboy chords (mostly off, apart from school assemblies) until I rediscovered justinguitar.com in 2020 after a hiatus of @14 years. Wow, how things have progressed! I should have got this serious long ago.
Anyway, enough waffle from me - over to the music. I hope you enjoy …
You’ve captured the moments of our covid experience, written a clever lyric and a great tune. Reminded me of the topical / comic songs of Richard Stilgoe and Victoria Wood. Well played!
Hi Chris,
Welcome here and I wish you a lot of fun and your first song here is a lot of that , and also nice to listen to with guitar and singing
Greetings,Rogier
Welcome aboard, Chris, and cheers for all the memories
Congratulations on finally grabbing your instrument by the neck after so many years of on/off treatment. Writing and recording original songs can be so satisfying, and you did a good job on this.
I can’t place my finger on exactly who it reminds me of, but the fact that it does is a tribute to you.
Well-played and sung, with fun lyrics and even matching visuals to boot.
What’s not to like?
Not only, did it remind me of a pre-lockdown Covid song I wrote (which could definitely do with rerecording), but it also alerted me to the our moderator’s original that I missed
I’ll have to set that record straight now…
Look forward to following your progress
Hi Chris, I’m glad to see you have shared this in the Community and are already receiving some deserved encouragement and praise for your efforts. Bravo!
@beejay56 One of my sons thought it was like Billy Bragg meets Bill Bailey! @brianlarsen Brian added others to that list. You can thank @Richard_close2u (as I do) for encouraging me to share it here. @roger_holland I’ve not had so much fun in ages @Alan_1970 Considering my music master at grammar school told me to only mime during the Christmas carol service, a compliment on the singing has really made my day! His knockdown stuck with me for nearly 60 years.
that was a fine crafted piece of music you’ve written! Glad you finally shared it with us! Also well done on the production side, the way you put the video up to match the song was great!
Despite the kind of serious topic and the not-so-positive memories on all that you also made me giggle here and there.
Very well done! Looking forward to hearing more of you.
Thoroughly enjoyed every moment of that! You had me laughing - the lyrics might not make so much sense to people who are not familiar with the British covid shenanigans that went on, but they’re historically spot-on, and musically it was great.
Hi & thanks for your appreciation. It was indeed a difficult time and some suffered much more than others. If there’s a plus, it’s that it indirectly brought a lot of people together and I’m glad that my song is contributing to that in a small way. I hope you enjoy your day and your own music & guitar journey as much as I am.
@Lisa_S @twistor59
I really appreciate you sharing your enjoyment of my efforts. Retaining some semblance of humour even in the darkest times can help see us through them. As for the Brits, it seems we perhaps do shenanigans in style, as well as making the best nana bread!
and your first song here is a lot of that 
, and also nice to listen to with guitar and singing 
Also well done on the production side, the way you put the video up to match the song was great! 