The Songwriter Forum - songwriting reviews, tips and chat
Songwriter Forum => Competitions => Topic started by: PeteS on October 23, 2020, 10:52:49 PM
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Just saying!
There aren’t many Christmas songs these days so how about it?
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But Christmas is cancelled! :P
I don't listen to the radio any more so I don't know if there's been anything decent out the last few years.
I'm sure the guys and gals on the forum can come up with some suitable songs...
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It's hard to beat, or even compare to, the classic Christmas songs; Slade, Shaking Stevens, The Pogue & Kirsty McColl, Wizard etc. All thee, and many more, have stood the test of time and are still as popular now as ever before. There are a few more recent ones that I actually quite like:
Leona Lewis - One more Sleep
This has the Christmas feel - complete with jingling bells - and has a nice old time 'big' Christmas ballad type vibe.
Arianna Grande - Santa tell me
I like how this is Christmassy but has a modern pop vibe too. Slight Mariah Carey vibes in the chorus vocal
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I think the 3 best recent ones for me are:
The Futureheads, Christmas was better in the 80’s -
Scouting for Girls, Christmas in the air -
Courteeners, Winter Wonderland -
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Lots of us wrote Christmas songs last year...
http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=16902.0
Not sure how much interest there'd be in doing it again this year...I think I'd go cold turkey on the idea :P
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I wrote a Xmas song one year. It was absolutely awful! 😱😱
Standout favourite for me is Fairytale of New York!
It’s the first Xmas song many radio stations play over here on the 1st Dec - there’s a real sense of reverence around it...
K
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Last years Chrimbo songs were so good that I reckon a rest could be in order. If it were up to me I'd rather go for a leisurely TV theme tune challenge. (Which I intend to do anyway - so of course you non-grinches out there should go for a Christmas song of course and I will eat my words with my sprouts)...
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Sorry, i wasn't here last year :(
Onto the next then.
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Over the next week I think we should think about what could be the next challenge. The ‘rewrite a TV theme tune challenge’ had about four of us up for it. That would grow more if we launched it properly though.
I agree that Christmas songs need a rest this year. But if anybody has any other great ideas for something that would pull in the writers, then let’s hear them.
Then maybe we could have a vote, or discussion, on which one to go with. If @adamfarr (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20124) is doing TV Challenge, then I’d be prepared to roll along with that. We could then have a TV Game Show night on Zoom where the best song is picked. This could be based on a mixture of merit, luck and cheating, just like the Eurovision Song Contest. And the Spinning Wheel of Fate could even play a part. :D
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I saw a quote I loved yesterday...
“Always winter, never Christmas”
I thought that was a great starting point for a song...but getting anything going on the forum these days is like pulling teeth.
The spinning wheel of fate is great fun. I wonder if there’s a virtual ouija board anywhere we could try using 😀
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... getting anything going on the forum these days is like pulling teeth.
Aaaarrrgghhhh don’t remind me @PaulAds (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=20253). I have an emergency dental appointment this afternoon. I might be losing one of my old friends. I thought it might deserve a farewell song. Maybe the Pulling Teeth Challenge could be on!
On the phone, the dentist told me to wear a mask. Don’t know how that’s going to work tbh! 😉
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Oh dear...best of luck @MichaelA (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=21274)
Masks much more effective at stopping pneumatic drills and pliers getting past them than they are at stopping covid-19 :-X
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Yeah ! Best of luck @MichaelA (http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=21274) The TV theme challenge does seem to be the idea with the most traction atm although I suggest we keep it "loose" in that it can be a cover / alternative version of an existing theme or a brand new song.
That's unless anybody else has any knockout ideas ? Anyone ? What would encourage you to participate in a challenge ????
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Yikes - @michaelA I hope it's not too "heavy" as they say here.
I think the take up of the latest challenges has been pretty good really. Definitely time to do one that allows people to do their own music in their own way without too many parameters.
The TV challenge thread seemed to generate quite a bit of action so maybe it is a good one. I liked it and it sparked an idea so I am kind of started whether or not there's a formal challenge or not.
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Let's see...I am a fan of co-writing, so I would go for a co-writing challenge. Maybe have people sign up and then pair them randomly using the spinning wheel of fate? Maybe require at least one of each pair have some production skills? Or maybe not. Most of us can at least strum a guitar and sing and record that.
And/or maybe have some weird (or not so weird) requirement. For instance, I've participated in a challenge that required all the songs to be named "Mississippi Moon", another that required all the songs to have a two-word title, both words beginning with the letter P, another that requires the song to have one specific line in it--"You have no idea how much this email means to me", and a couple that required a specific chord progression somewhere in the song. Some of them had two of those requirements in the same challenge.
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So...is anybody opposed to me starting a new thread tomorrow to officially launch the TV Theme Rewrite Challenge? You would be able to redo an existing tune, or offer up your new original for your chosen historic show, as if it was being remade today. About six weeks to complete.
I’d also encourage collaborations, re Vicki’s idea.
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I'm definitely for getting the TV challenge going. I do like the idea of colabs, but @vicky I don't necessarily think an additional "left-field" requirement is helpful for encouraging participation (this time)...
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I'm new here so wasn't around for last year's competition. I have a Christmas song which I wrote and recorded a couple of weeks back which I may post in the main section sometime before Xmas if there's no competition.
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I'm definitely for getting the TV challenge going. I do like the idea of colabs, but @vicky I don't necessarily think an additional "left-field" requirement is helpful for encouraging participation (this time)...
Yeah, I s'pose you're right. Those oddball requirements kinda get me revved up...but then, I might be a little odd myself. In fact, my daughter (when she was a kid) once remarked, "I'm sure glad you're not like normal parents."
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It's a shame the Christmas idea hasn't been embraced. I wrote one over the weekend called 'Christmas Hopes' a song about both Christmas and engagement to be married. Aside from that, I've had this one In the locker for many years. I'm really pleased with it. Not sweet but fairly unique an a little dark too (not your typical,Christmas song.) From my album A Kiss Before The Winter (shameless plug)
https://soundcloud.com/pvasey1/the-ghosts-of-christmas
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Okay. So it was in the back of my mind to knock up a little something Christmassy (it was a shame there was no event for this - this would have been my entry).
Anyway, you know me... I wasn't going to write a "Jingle Bells" or a "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". Oh, no! I was going to write something really, really dark.
So... SPOILER... skip these lyrics if you don't want to feel depressed. Seriously... this song is DARK.
Well, I did warn you. So here goes:
A LITTLE GIRL'S CHRISTMAS
A little girl was sitting on her bed one Christmas night
Waiting up past midnight in hopes to catch a sight
Of Santa and his reindeer as they hop from roof to roof
This will be the night when she is privy to the truth
A little girl is waiting, counting seconds patiently
Her room is lit by moonlight as she fights to hold off sleep
But moment after moment passes by without the sound
Of sleighbells or of laughter. Only silence to be found
A little girl stands crying as the morning light appears
No Santa Claus, no reindeer, and no presents 'neath the tree
She runs upstairs to mommy but her bedroom door is locked
She cries aloud for comfort but the door remains still shut
A little girl in mourning as they lay her mum to rest
She asked them what had happened but they said it's for the best
"Your mommy really loved you, but her heart was much too weak
So now she's with the angels where she'll watch over your sleep"
A little girl grows older, every Christmas night a trial
She never opens presents and she never cracks a smile
But still you'll catch her standing, looking through the window pain
From midnight through to morning. Then she curses Santa's name
A little girl no longer... stands before her mother's grave
To ask her why she took her life and left her all alone that Christmas day
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Hi Sterix
I really like this it's a very good write and its sings very well my daughter would also like this she only writes dark and sombrous themes good luck with this, maybe you can find an outlet for this for next year.
Cheers... Merry Christmas