New Song

I'm writing a song for someone else. This is a first. I've completed the first draft today. The verses are a bit inadequate, but I'm putting most of my energy into the chorus at this stage, so I'm not too worried.

It'll be interesting to see what the band who commissioned the lyric think of Version One. Once I've established boundaries with them I'll see about publishing the lyrics here. At this point my only copy protection is a statement of copyright in the file and a copy saved to Google Docs, so I'd quite like to publish my progress on here, so there's absolutely no doubt of any rights I might hold over the piece.

This isn't a paid commission. I'm doing it as a learning experience. However, I want to ensure that any publication by them, be it recorded or written, credits me appropriately and remains intact. That's important to me. I'm planning to operate under the Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works CC licence at this point.

LYRICS: Seeking Me 1.1

I need freedom from my mind
Please come to me with relief
Come inside and bring the sky
Crawl right on in and unleash
A heart and soul gone all awry
Please come give me release

Come into me and wander through
See what it is that you can see
Come tell me what I can do
To be a little less like me

I can't see solace in this world
I look out gagged and bound
My mind's a gaol for my soul
My liberty as yet unfound
I really want you to come in
And find out my fatal flaw
Come into my mind please
And open wide all the doors

Come into me and wander through
See what it is that you can see
Come tell me what I can do
To be a little less like me

Come into me and wander through
See what it is that you can see
Come tell me what I can do
To be a little less like me

Please come into me
Please come rescue me
Please
Please

[discuss]

POEM: Olives 1.0

Surviving ravages of fire and snow
And centuries of winds that blow
Count the decades of fruit and oil
The legacy of the ancient soil
Trees that clothe the limestone face
Of this timeless and calming place
The place we come to to hear trees sing
Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring

A little trite, but true nonetheless.

[discuss]

LYRICS: Seeking Me 1.0

Come into my head and see
What it is that you can see
Tell me what I can do
To be a little less like me

I don't think I'm contrary
Though there's a little bit of that
Just when I think I'm in synch'
Conversation will fall flat

I'm seeking some guidance
Come in and try and find
Just how my self is broken
Please come and sooth my mind

I don't think I'm lonely
Just a little alien
Come step inside my mental cell
And play Pygmalion

I don't think I'm a fool
I have moments when I'm clever
But when I'm around strangers
The seconds take forever

I don't fit in with people
I'm always a little odd
I like to get to know people
But end up feeling a sod

I'm seeking some guidance
Come in and try and find
Just how my self is broken
Please come and sooth my mind

I really want you to come in
And find my fatal flaw
Come into my head please
And open all the doors

I'm seeking some guidance
Come in and try and find
Just how my self is broken
Please come and sooth my mind

Please soothe my mind
Please
Please

This is a low-tempo ballad. It's meant to be sad.

[discuss]

LYRICS: Enduring Freedom 1.2

I love my life so very much and everything I do
Every aspect of it is dedicated to you
When I do what I do I do so in your name
In my sparkling world there is no place for blame

To get blood from a stone you must put water in
When I do what I do I battle great sin
To ensure freedom we must play this game
Without ensuring freedom I would go insane

There is a brutal art to doing what is right
I am just a soldier fighting the good fight
I may enjoy the whimpers more than I should
But who else will take it on for the greater good?

To get blood from a stone you must put water in
When I do what I do I battle great sin
To ensure freedom we must play this game
Without ensuring freedom I would go insane

I hope this Freedom never comes to an end
Losing this Freedom would put me round the bend

To get blood from a stone you must put water in
When I do what I do I battle great sin
To endure freedom we must play this game
Without enduring freedom I would be insane

Lest we forget
Lest we forget
Lest we forget
Lest we forget
Best we forget

[discuss]

LYRICS: Enduring Freedom 1.1

I love my life so very much and everything I do
Every aspect of it is dedicated to you
When I do what I do I do so in your name
In my sparkling world there is no place for blame

To get water from a stone you must put water in
When I do what I do I battle great sin
To ensure freedom we must play this game
Without ensuring freedom I would go insane

There is a brutal art to doing what is right
I am just a soldier fighting the good fight
I may enjoy the whimpers more than I should
But who else will take it on for the greater good?

To get water from a stone you must put water in
When I do what I do I battle great sin
To ensure freedom we must play this game
Without ensuring freedom I would go insane

I hope this Freedom never comes to an end
Losing this Freedom would put me round the bend

To get water from a stone you must put water in
When I do what I do I battle great sin
To endure freedom we must play this game
Without enduring freedom I would be insane

Never forget
Lest we forget
Best we forget

MUCH better! It was a bit too much like propaganda before. Now it's more the sociopathic statement I wanted it to be originally.

[discuss]

LYRICS: Enduring Freedom 1.0

I'm not a bleeding-heart liberal. I'm not a hippy. I'm most especially not closed to new ideas. What I am is completely against certain practices engaged in by certain nations. I've written (very quickly, while relaxing in an idyllic setting, funnily enough) some very angry lyrics. This should be a high-tempo, hard rock piece, but since I'm not musical someone else will have to take care of that bit:

They're all so alien and so very enigmatic
Dealing with them I must be pragmatic
Anything goes in my little workshop
All I do is denied by those at the top
Nothing I do can really be called a crime
Because I'm working with such limited time

[To get water out of a stone you must put water in
I bend and snap them to counteract their sin
The ends I gain will justify the means
When I'm fighting against the extreme
To endure freedom they must play my game
Without enduring freedom it'll never be the same]

They're so foreign and so very primitive
Getting all that I can is utterly imperative
I have to innovate when it comes to my tools
The United Nations are a nation of fools
Never judge me from your lily white level
These godless people are the very devil

[To get water out of a stone you must put water in
I bend and snap them to counteract their sin
The ends I gain justify the means
When I'm fighting against the extreme
To endure freedom they must play my game
Without enduring freedom it'll never be the same]

I'm not really a heartless man
I give them succour when I can
I try
I try
I try and save them
But sometimes I can't save them from their dogma
And that's when I have to make use of the aqua

[To get water out of a stone you must put water in
I bend and snap them to counteract their sin
The ends I gain justify the means
When I'm fighting against the extreme
To endure freedom they must play my game
Without enduring freedom it'll never be the same
To endure freedom they must play my game
Without enduring freedom we will never be the same]

This first draft is blatant and in your face. I plan to rework it into something more insidious and subtle. I'll post more as I have it.

[discuss]

Gone Fishing

Yeah :)

The Big Test

I've dabbled with free-form lyrics and writing new lyrics for a previously lyricised song, so now it's time to see if I really have any ability. I'm going to to find an instrumental piece and either write new lyrics for it, or adapt one of my existing pieces for it. I'm looking at Apocalyptica's stuff for something to work with. I'll post when I've got something worth sharing.

LYRICS: Muse 1.0

Out there painting a new world
Urging me to grow and unfurl
Perfect forms I see clear as day
Enabling me to have my say
His sparkling words come out of the dark
Driving me to perfect my art

Beautiful images flame in me
Vivid colours I really see
I strive to ignite a similar fire
To paint for you and the choir
All that my muse has inspired

Imagine a web shimmering with dew
Warming air gently breathes right through
The dark ember lying cracked under the pyre
The brisk wind whipping it back to fire
Look back into the dripping trees
With curling ground mist wafting free
Look up through your sharp mind's eye
See the bright cerulean sky

Beautiful images flame in me
Vivid colours I really see
I strive to ignite a similar fire
To paint for you and the choir
All my Muse shall inspire

Good and evil in equal share
Balance is needed to be fair
Where there's joy there should be pain
Whoever has lost should see a gain
Without any darkness light is flat
Without light the dark is just black
Contrast and depth is required
So I weave in a bit from each side

Beautiful images flame in me
Vivid colours I really see
I strive to ignite a similar fire
To paint for you and the choir
All my Muse shall inspire

Out there painting a new world
Urging me to grow and unfurl
Perfect forms I see clear as day
Enabling me to have my say
His sparkling words come out of the dark
Driving me to perfect my art


[discuss]

This is, to put it simply, about Till Lindemann.

LYRICS: Ice-Breaker - Dalai Lama Version - 2nd Draft

It rides upon a sea of souls
The ship of stone above the shoals
Bearing dark and lurid dreams
So clear yet never what they seem

All on board have parts to play
To evoke feeling their own way
The living sea carries us all
In thrall

Swells bisected by our prow
Chimeras flit across our bows
The Tillerman plots the course
His mind an infinite source
Your world will soon seem exotic
Cruel, dark, and erotic

Painting forms on your minds' sky
Brave old ideas redefined
The stoker keeps the driving beat
Controling tides that move your feet
Everyone just wants release

Swells bisected by our prow
Chimeras flit across our bows
The sea will surge as we dictate
Hard rhythms you can't escape
Emotions timed by our refrain
We will keep the sea contained

Driving tunes from heaven and hell
We ride the cusp of the swell

[Painting forms on your mind
Brave ideas redefined
The sea
is free
but always submits
To the
will of
the crew of the ship]

We show evil as well as good
We make ourselves misunderstood
Our sea can feel what is true
To the rest we can't get through

Swells bisected by our prow
Chimeras flit across our bows
Currents flow out from our beat
Pulsing through from head to feet
Emotional control is complete

It rides on a sea of souls
This stone ship above the shoals

[Carrying dark and lurid dreams
Clear yet never what they seem
The sea
is free
but always submits
To the
will of
the crew of the ship]

It rides upon a sea of souls
Our stone ship above the shoals
Carries dark and lurid dreams

Swells bisected by our prow
Chimeras flit past our bows
The sea will surge as we dictate
Hard rhythms you can't escape
We sail


[The sea
is free
but always submits
The sea
is free
but always submits
The sea
is free
but always submits
To the
will of
the crew of the ship]

[music][discuss]

This song is adapted now to be sung to the music of Dalai Lama, by Rammstein, and is about them and their fans. The choral parts in square brackets are the fans, while the rest is the band.

LYRICS: The Spark 1.3

There's a stain in the water
And it's spreading with the tide
Giving off vaporous fumes
The tainted waves subside

Like nothing will ever be the same
The soul starts to lose its way...

Defiant surges roll it deeper
Dark curls tinge the depths
Enclosing with hard fingers
The heart and mind feel kept

Like nothing will ever be the same
The soul starts to lose its way...

There's no hope for salvation
The poison works to prise apart
All the gleaming pieces
Making up the beating heart

Like nothing will ever be the same
The soul starts to lose its way...

Noxious fumes cascade in fire
New waves run across the face
Swells are brought back to life
The dark miasma is replaced

Like nothing will ever be the same
The soul starts to lose its way...
Until the scintilla came
Cleansing with searing flame

Sparkling waters as before
Warm beams plumb the soul
Clarity has been restored
Heart and mind are whole

Like nothing will ever be the same
The soul starts to lose its way...
Until the scintilla came
And cleansed with searing flame

[discuss]

Welcome to Camilla's Lyrics

I've been working on a project writing English lyrics based on Till Lindemann's lyrics over at LILT, and have ended up writing some original lyrics, which have been well-received by those who've seen them. As a result I've opted to separate the two. This is for my own work, and LILT will continue as ever. I'm using my LILT forum for this site as well, in the Non-Rammstein forum section. I hope you'll enjoy what I'm doing!