Fallen Angel

When writing a song to perform as part of my assessment, I thought long and hard about what to write and how to show how far I've come since starting the module. Obviously I needed to write a piece that would suit my voice and also sound nice when played on the guitar however the main thing was that it was difficult to start. I found finding inspiration a tricky thing. You can be influenced by everything and anything around you however it is only when you're in a certain fame of mind that you can start writing a coherent piece as opposed to writing jumbled gibberish.

"The clearer your concept, the more professional your song" (Citron, 1985, p. 17)

When I first came up with the title 'Fallen Angel', I wasn't feeling particularly good about myself and was quite lonely, and I just started thinking of phrases and putting them to a tune. I first came up with the first bit of the chorus "And and all of the love, and all of the hurt will pass" (later changed to subside). I tried different ways in which to sing this and the one that ended up fitting, was the one I used. 

From there, I started coming up with other phrases that I thought sounded good and were more poetic in which the words didn't outright say the message, but the connotation behind it was open to interpretation by the listener. "Liquid amnesia" was a phrase that I was quite proud of because it comes from the saying that you drink to forget therefore, using those two words in that way, gave the song a bit more of an 'Ed Sheeran' lyric ring to it, proving how his lyrics inspire me.

Guitar wise, I chose to use simple plucking and a bit of finger picking in the bridge as a way to show off my newly honed skill but also an attempt to write such a piece. I think it also helps to create a peaceful and beautiful type of melody to add to the tone of sadness. It marries well with the idea that the song is heartfelt and the lyrics are there to be listened to and thought about, as opposed to a riff being memorised that means nothing. 

Finally, I wanted the piece to almost personify the journey of someone battling with the demons inside their own head. The song starts with simple plucking (C, F, G chords) which carries through to the bridge. At the bridge is the finger plucking bit which then builds into the final chorus of strumming which uplifts the piece and shows that climb to a happier state of mind. The bridge where I finger pick helps to represent how things have to get worse to get better, which in terms of music, as opposed to the several strings being plucked at one, it goes to just one at a time (the worst point in our lives) to strumming all the strings, a climax in the song representing the good things to come.