In December, I took part in Song Studio‘s Song Call songwriting challenge, which was to write a song based on the prompt “shadow.” Be sure to sign up to their newsletter to get notified about upcoming challenges.
Research and inspiration
When I first thought of the word shadow, my mind went to a book I read as a student called In Praise of Shadows by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki. The book talked about space and light in architecture, and also as a metaphor for the contrast between Western and Eastern philosophies. I didn’t have access to, or the time to, read the book again, so I found a video online that summarized the book well.
The next step for me was to get the video transcription. It’s one thing to watch and listen to a video, but having access to the text gave me a way to focus on specific phrases and imagery. A quick prompt in Google Gemini later, I had a transcript of the video.
Songwriting process
I decided to write the verses as haiku poems. That is, 3-line verses with 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and 5 syllables. This was a lyric writing technique I’ve used a couple of times in the past – here and here. My chorus/refrain would be only three words; a simple statement that encompassed Tanizaki’s philosophy. I maintained overall ideas of tranquility, silence, and stillness in developing the song and the production. The chords and melodies were simple, without strong contrast lines. In the production, I used simple pad, bass, and synth string sounds with minimal percussion. I was striving for a smooth and gentle listening experience.
The greatest contrast is the sudden fade away from music to the sound of falling rain, giving the listener a strong feeling of absence and contemplation. I deliberately held the silence until it felt like it was too long, and then extended it a little further.
Feedback from other songwriters
Feedback from the Song Studio sharing event and our Song Talk Meetup were both constructive. I was encouraged to open the song with the rain sound, so it wouldn’t such a surprise suddenly dropping into it later. Further feedback made me make a few lyric tweaks, including softening the final verse which was conceived to be a resounding criticism of mobile device obsession.
See the Google Doc I used to develop the lyric from the video transcription and listen to the conversation about the song on an episode of Song Talk Radio.
