Original Song: The Flame

An exciting development for the 48th month: true collaboration on The Flame! As the song-a-month process has gone on I feel that I have broadened my abilities, but not nearly as far as I’d like to, so the obvious answer was to look to other more talented folk to assist in the performance of the songs. While originally it was about writing and playing all the instruments on the song each month, I feel comfortable making my part more about the creation of the song than the performance. For The Flame, I wanted a nice piano track – nicer than I cold ever produce – so a chat with one of my new work friends, the scarily talented Stephen Morel, has resulted in the performance here. I sent a drum track, a vocal track and a very simple keyboard “guide” track to him (in Adelaide), and he came up with the perfect piano track. What’s more, another extremely talented friend – Will Berryman – is working on some bass and string parts for the track, but that will be posted later. I plan to do a lot more of this kind of thing this year, and hopefully you’ll be as excited with the results as I am on this one!

THE FLAME
© 2015 Chuck Smeeton

Cm
The tragic waste of brutal youth
Fm
That hides behind the sting of truth
Gm
Blinded by the painful sight
Gm
Of hope trapped by a moonless night

Long days that bring torment and trial
Not disguised by that crooked smile
Still prepared to read your mind
But terrified by what you’ll find

(Chorus)
D#
The flame still flickers
G#
And the last light glimmers
D#
Days of slumber,  Days of dread
G#                   A#
Days of conflict over what you said

Because of all the wine you drank
Your mind decides to draw a blank
You might say your tongue is tied
But it won’t disguise what you’ve tried to hide

Still flirting with disaster
Your fear’s become your only master
Not all good things come to an end
Feels like breaking but can only bend

(Chorus)

(Instrumental break: Fm Bb)

The cloak of alibi is weak
Can’t hide the truth that you still seek
The forbidden path you chose to tread
Tears apart all you have said

A crime of passion never pays
The knowledge in that vacant gaze
Your claim of false intelligence
Is not a legitimate expense

(Chorus)

About the original songs
In January 2012 I commenced a goal of trying to write and record at least one song from scratch each month – sometimes it comes easily, sometimes it’s a real challenge, but I love the discipline it creates. I managed to complete the year, but it was so much fun that I’ve decided to keep it rolling for as long as I can.