Original Song: Canals

And so we get to month 57 of the original-song-a-month project. I’m quite purposely putting this up in quite a raw state simply because that’s the way it was created. On a mini-holiday last week we had one day where we just chilled in the beach house we were at as the rain fell outside and I kept the fire stoked inside! I’d brought along an acoustic guitar and the little electric Traveler guitar I have. In the morning I’d started writing some somewhat strange lyrics, and within an hour or so they felt as close to right as they’d ever be. Within the next couple of hours, I’d found a chord sequence and recorded the whole thing. You can even hear the birds outside at one point!

Yep, it’s rough but I like the fact it captures a few short hours of creativity from start to finish without all the fine-tuning that you can do in Logic. It may well get some revision in the guise of The Compañeros – which would be cool to see where it ends up – but for the time being it is what it is!

CANALS
© 2016 Chuck Smeeton

Em                                                     D
I’ve decided there aren’t enough canals in my home town
Am7                                                                     Bm7
It’s not as though we need them but they’d be nice to have around
Em                                                                         D
You see there’s something about the water that always makes me smile
Am7                                                      Bm7
I guess it’s not crucial but they’d be really nice for a while

(chorus)
C7                                G
I know, it might seem crazy
Am7                 Bm7
But it’s just the way I feel
C7                                 G
I know, it might seem crazy
Am7                   D7
But sometimes crazy seems so real

I’d like to live in a house on stilts that’s in the canopy
Cos existence in the treetops is about more than what you see
The separation from what’s below is all that I do seek
Decompression’s so much easier in a place that is unique

(chorus)

(bridge)
C7                                                               Em7
Once you’ve slept on an island, you’ll never be quite the same
C7                                                                     Em7
And walking in the pouring rain gives the focus to reclaim
C7                                                                     Em7
When flames and waves are side by side in your viewing pane
Am7                                                        D7
While sitting in the morning glow at ease in your domain

I’ve decided that rocks might be severely under rated
Of all of nature’s gifts they are the ones that are not feted
Yet strength and silence are the traits that so many do desire
You’d think that there’d be more like me for whom the rocks inspire

(chorus)