PA5020 Songwriting CW2 - Written portfolio
Embracing whom you are, believing you are powerful and seeping soul from the depths of your soul. Characterise the main qualities that lead me on my creative journey. Music for me if life, it is all I eat, sleep and breathe. I am unapologetically myself because of the artists that have not only influenced me but encouraged me to chase my dreams the way they did. To follow in the footsteps, that moulded me into the woman I am today musically, physically and emotionally.
Growing up having dural heritage was a struggle, I never really knew my identity. My Father was Black-British and denied his Caribbean roots and my Mother was White-British, therefore as far as I knew I was Bow-Bells-Born Cockney. This was the case until an artist called Corinne Bailey Rae emerged. I felt as if her first single “Put your records on” spoke directly to me. The lyric “Got to love that Afro Hairdo” made me feel seen, I was always told that my hair looked scruffy and outlandish, and straightened hair was more presentable for the people I had around me. “if you have curly, afro, textured hair…You're not trying to make yourself bigger, this is just the room you take up."(Song Facts, 2006) I soon felt as if these characteristics defined me as opposed to dividing me. Not only did Rae’s words call to me but her smooth melodic Soprano vocals spoke volumes. As I listened I felt my worries and confusion drift away. She was like me, and it was ok to be me. She sang so beautifully and was happy, therefore I can be happy.
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The production of the song reminded me of a summer's day with the bird sounds in the background and lyrics like “Summer came like cinnamon so sweet” her storytelling was so descriptive. Rae showcases her knack for vivid imagery and clever storytelling throughout the majority of her songs (NPR Music, 2010) I would imagine walking down the street and feeling carefree with a feeling of purpose. The first thing I needed to do was “let my hair down” both physically and mentally. It helped me to understand myself more and want to dive deeper into the origins of my identity. Earlier generations of black writers who allowed the confluence of racism, rationality, and systematic terror, accept that the modern world represents a break with the past, not in the sense that premodern, “traditional” Africanisms. (P.Gilroy1993 p222) The arrangement of bass notes and drumbeat made you want to grove and sway. The harmonised backing vocals and the built-up guitar riffs and plucked harp notes created suspense that lead you dramatically into the chorus, Rae Brough out a sense of euphoria within me and encouraged me to want to explore other parts of my heritage because now it seemed cooler opposed to different.
Similarly, Alicia Key's music encouraged me to want and to be better, she helped me find my inner strength. I not only wanted to hear what she was saying I wanted to feel it and embody it. When I heard the lyrics I am superwoman…even when I’m a mess, I still put on a vest, with an ‘S’ on my chest, oh yes…I’m a superwoman” It gave me faith that there is hope beyond my current situation. My torment was circumstantial not permanently fixed. I could change the narrative if I believed In myself. I was now turning into a young-women and I stopped observing music and started to make and sing my own. I would often sing along and study her soothing tone alongside her rich mezzo-soprano voice. Although “She often reaches…outside her comfort zone in chest voice… resulting in strained sounding belted notes…” in the mid-fifth octave”. (The Range Planet, 2020) This for me added to her rawness she was real and her imperfections only humanised her for me making her even more relatable. My vocal range expanded when I emulated her songs, Key’s made me a better singer, the more I developed my voice and used her songs as covers. I was also influenced to share her love for playing her iconic “keys”. Playing the piano not only anchored me musically but helped me create a soft tone through my use of mimicking and echoing scales and notes I played.
Eventually sharing her vocal range Mezzo-Soprano. She reminded me that no matter what her lyrics encouraged young women to say “yes I can, and yes I will” which gave me faith in the hard times, not only did she tell me in her songs but she showed me with her actions. By embodying the very topic she sang about. She was not only singing about women’s strength and their worth she was empowering and employing her dream team, with a female tour manager and a women mixer and engineer. Key’s proved herself to be a “Superwoman” because she single handily makes her music herself. “I create the beats, I arrange the vocals and I arrange the music”(Bahamas Studio 2021, 0:12-0:27).
As much as I started to fall in love with R&B music and the singers that resembled me physically and complimented me vocally. I started to develop my musical taste further by listening to many different genres of music depending on my mood at the time. Rock music soothed me. It gave me strength and helped me find meaning, purpose and comfort. I realised I can sing my problems away and use this medium as a direct outlet of my own.“When people say you are soulful…you have to have experienced things...to be able to pull that from deep inside” (Staying True, 2020 5.10-5.26) I stopped my silent screams of frustration and embedded them into my tone, my vibrato is my natural sustain peddle and the grit and grain you hear and feel is my physical pain freeing itself from my aura. An artist that stands out in my mind is Alecia Moore also known as Pink, I resonated with her story and felt the layers of her craft. Pink does not belong to a particular genre but is recognised for her pop/ rock music. Pink makes the music she feels in whichever genre she finds fit at the time. Being non-genre-specific gives you no ties to structure and endless amounts of room for expression.
She gets inspiration to write when she is in a heightened state of emotion. “I need to feel extreme emotion to sit down and write a song…whether it’s happiness, sadness or anger” (Staying True, 2020 12.08-12.20) Pink writes from personal experience and tells a story, she uses her pain as a catalyst to project and reflect upon her experiences. A song I found interesting and could relate to based on the emotions she projected rather than her lyrical content was “Who Knew” Pink’s powerhouse singing caught me by surprise, her soulful grit, she delivered vocally, was so unpolished with her natural huskiness. Paired with the distorted bass guitar and heavy drum kick was absolute magic. The song kept transitioning from soft and melodic to loud and harsh with distinctive rock features.
Music is timeless the impact it can have can be life-changing. Who I was back then and the person I am today is completely unrecognisable. I used to hate being black it was unbearable to have traits and features within myself I did not relate to however, now I am a proud black woman who embraces all my separate counterparts. Music gave me that freedom and vision I just needed the tools to find myself.
Bibliography
Inside Alicia Keys’ Bahamas Studio with Swae Lee and J. Cole 2021
NPR Music |Corinne Bailey Rae 2010
https://www.npr.org/2010/01/21/122767014/corinne-bailey-rae-finding-solace-in-the-sea
The Black Atlantic - Paul Gilroy1993
Pink Staying True - Full Documentary| All I know 2020
Song Facts |Corinne Bailey Rae 2006
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/corinne-bailey-rae/put-your-records-on
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