Life is but a dream; it’s what you make it.
Hello, I’m Dave Earley. I have just completed a podcast called “I always wanted to be.” It’s about 18 minutes long and can be heard if you click on it below. It’s about trying to make your dreams come true. At the start of the podcast, you hear Henry Hill, the character from the film Goodfellas, say he always wanted to be a gangster. Unlike him, most of us don’t want to be gangsters, but we all have dreams.
I hope to make a series of podcasts about people’s efforts to achieve their dreams and hear about the highs and lows of their journey. I will call it “I always wanted to be.” I will include some music that may have inspired them along the way. It will be about Real people with real stories, and I am one of them. So here is my story, as I always wanted to be a successful songwriter.
I’ve always enjoyed listening to music. When I was young, I suffered from asthma, and I would often be sick at home during the school term. I would lie in bed, listening to the radio that was on downstairs, while my mother did the housework. I remember listening to the BBC Light programme and hearing a great
selection of music. There was no pop music then, but I still remember some of the songs and tunes, classical pieces by Bach, Puccini, and lots more, and that’s where my love of music started.
Some years later, I saw the film Magnificent Seven and was amazed by the theme music. I enjoyed the music as much as the film.
That music was written by Elmer Bernstein, who, strangely enough, if he had fulfilled his childhood dream, he may not have written film music at all, as he wanted to be a concert pianist. That great movie theme would have been lost to us. It’s a funny old world.
The Beatles
The next big musical event for me was the arrival of the Beatles. I enjoyed listening to Elvis, Little Richard, and others, but the Beatles were a real game-changer.
I remember listening on my transistor radio as the Beatles released one great song after another. They caused a great stir and wrote their songs, different from Elvis and some of the other big stars of the time.
I recently conducted a Vox pop and asked some students who their favourite songwriter was. I was happily surprised that the Beatles got a mention.
The Guitar Arrives
In my late teens, I got a guitar, but after a short while, it ended up in the wardrobe. Then, in my early twenties, I got married, started a family, and life became serious; I worked long hours, and the guitar was pushed further into the wardrobe, and I had given up the dream.
Then, after many years of working, my home life changed; my children were now working, and I was on my own. I ended up retiring in my fifties on health grounds. I remember reading about the great songwriter Carol King and wondered again about being a professional songwriter. Was it too late?
Carol King
Carol King worked in the Brill Building in New York, a one-stop hit factory in the fifties and early sixties. The songwriters were going into the building, like a standard 9 to 5 job, and they were writing songs in small rooms with a piano and a few chairs. This job was perfect for me, but I had difficulties, like most things.
Burt Bacharach said there was tremendous pressure to write hits in the Brill Building, and having your songs rejected regularly could be depressing.
So, the guitar came out of hiding, but I had forgotten most of what I knew. I tried to write songs and managed to complete one. It’s called Adieu.
Adieu
I didn’t think it was good, but the fact that I had completed my first song felt great, so I recorded it, and then it went into my record collection, basically unplayed for about ten years.
Anyway, recently, I saw an interview with Death Doula on TV. A death doula is a companion who helps people through dying. She said many people who were dying told her they had regrets about not having done what they wanted to do in life. This motivated me to try again.
I joined a sound recording course to learn how to compose music on a computer, but the COVID-19 pandemic stopped that. After COVID, I missed out on getting on a music course.
I have now applied again for a music course starting this September, so I hope to get a place this time, as I know the clock is ticking.
Songwriter Feedback
I recently contacted some songwriters, sent them a recording of my song, Adieu, and asked them for feedback. Two of them are still in shock, but three did get back to me, and you can hear what they said in the podcast below.
The three songwriters were Curtis, John, and Sean. All three are successful songwriters, and I thank them most sincerely for taking the time to give me feedback. They gave me great advice, which I will take on board. We started with Curtis, who talked in general about songwriting, then I played a bit of Adieu, and then we heard from John and Sean.
John and Sean gave technical advice. Sean was a little more complimentary, but both didn’t like the song’s name. They said the story was confusing, it needed more melody, and the verse and chorus were too similar. So, there is plenty of work to be done, or I might just start working on a new song. It might be the best option.
Final Thoughts
You know, the world would be a very dark place if songs were not written. Songwriting is beneficial for both the writer and the listener. If you think you might be interested in giving it a try, I wrote another article that includes songwriting tips, which you can check out on the webpage.
And it is so much easier to write songs now. Just imagine: When John Lennon and Paul Mc Cartney started writing songs, they couldn’t even record them. If they could remember the song the next day, that was a sign that it was a good song.
By the end of the podcast, I have yet to reach the end of my story, but I will keep trying.
I hope you find the podcast interesting. Thank you for listening. Hopefully, I may have inspired someone to follow their dreams. Until then, I wish you the best of luck and adieu.
