This is an article in the latest Tykes News written by the wonderful Joe Grint and based on a Facebook post of mine a few weeks back regarding songwriting. Very honoured for it to have become a published article: Facebook is a place I sometimes spend far too much time loitering around – it eats into the time that I should be spending doing more useful things – for example writing music – or even reviews...... Amongst the cat pictures, photos of half eaten dinners and strangely juxtaposed adverts for viagra and office furniture there are, however, some absolutely wonderful pieces of prose and most of those I see are written by Joe Solo - a songwriter, performer and washing machine repairman from Scarborough. Joes writing on Facebook is both hilarious and profound – often at the same time. His tales of the day job have often reduced me to near hysterical laughter and his political musings often sum everything up in a uniquely appropriate expletive. Many of Joes songs are both powerful and beautiful - though its the beauty of reality that is so mesmerising and not the fake pop sheen of some idealised fantasy world – his latest CD No Pasaran I described in another place as A magnificent creation. Now the prose and songwriting have coincided in a piece Joe posted in Facebook in late June and as soon as I read it I asked for his permission to reproduce it here. The song NO PASARAN! (The Ballad of Jack Atkinson) is available at the following link: https://youtube/watch?v=rqfomuTNJsY Joe Grint HOW DO YOU WRITE SONGS? I get asked this a lot. I usually mumble something about how they just happen and I dont really know where they come from, or something glib about how they are plucked from the air. Thats because its easier than explaining how it REALLY happens, but it never seems enough and feels as if Im dismissing what is actually a very good question.....I mean, how DO you write songs? Its easier to show you. Take this song, the one on the link. Its called NO PASARAN! (The Ballad of Jack Atkinson) and its from my latest album. It is based on a true story. Jack Atkinson was a lorry driver from Hull and a member of the Communist Party. He volunteered for the International Brigade and travelled to Spain to fight the fascists late in 1936. This much I know about him. I know too that he tried to reassure his mother that he wasnt going to get involved in the fighting and that he intended to drive ambulances. He lied. He was a dedicated anti-fascist. Hed fought them on Corporation Fields in Hull when Moseleys British Union of Fascists had attempted a rally and been run out of town by the dockers. I also know Jack was killed at the Battle of Jarama on February 21st 1937, shot through the neck and dead before he hit the ground. So theres a story to tell, and quite a lot to fit in to quite a short space. We may as well start by introducing him: My name is Jack Atkinson, and Im not afraid Ill live and die by this vow that I made. Fair enough. We know who he is, we know he is dedicated to the cause, and we know hes a narrator we can trust. Hopefully youve already started to like him. Thats the plan at least. The only good fascist is a dead one they say, And Jarama here we are. Hes letting you know he is prepared to kill and unafraid of the consequences of going into battle. He may be a little scary now. Hes pumped up. Hes overcoming any fear at the back of his mind with a little bravado. The Battle of Jarama was heroic yes, but a shambles too. By using that line And Jarama here we are over and over, hes telling us it is what it is and he will stand there regardless. When I first left Hull all them months ago I told them Id come not to kill but to cure But for an ambulance driver, my shots pretty sure And Jarama here we are. You see some of the facts I know in there. He has lied to his mother. He doesnt like lying to her, so hes told her hes there not to kill but to cure....he wants to cure Spain of fascism. Its a lie wrapped up in a truth. She knew he was lying. He knew he was lying. It just makes it easier for him to tell her if hes playing with words. Then theres the knowing wink to the listener in the third line: For an ambulance driver my shots pretty sure. Hes at war now and his old life is gone. The chorus: No Pasaran, No Pasaran, No Pasaran today! The fascists have come for our freedom And we aint gonna GIVE it away Is more bravado. The slight mispronunciation of the Spanish for They Shall Not Pass is deliberate. He has seen the words on posters and says it how he reads it. This is a lorry driver, not an Oxford graduate, and he needs to be believable as a storyteller otherwise you dont trust him with the story and in a song like this when you are trying to write a heroic character, you need to be able to trust what he is telling you, hence the bravado in his language and the re-emphasis of his intention to do whatever it takes to stop Franco. Much of the rest of the song follows that same pattern, from his assertion that: The Left way is right and the Right way is wrong And you can stick that on my grave when Im gone to the couplet before his voice is lost to us forever: You Armies of Darkness youd best do your worst Cos to win, yeah, well youve got to get past us first He is about to die for what he believes in and he is going to his death with that same strength of purpose, fearless and blessed with a conviction so few LIVE by let alone die by. Whilst he is GOING to his death in this song, that is not alluded to for the simple reason that his fight is a universal one, and I wanted the song to transcend the life of one man and become the story of ALL men and women who fight against fascism everywhere. To do that I have to immortalise Jack Atkinson and to allow him to repeat his struggle over and over undefeated. So he dies, yet he never ever does. His deeds are his victory, and HIS struggle, OUR struggle also. So thats how you write a song. You decide what you want to say and how you want to say it. You also decide what you are saying it FOR. This is important, because if YOU dont believe in what you are singing, then no bugger else will either. Jack is a narrator we want to trust so he has to speak as you might imagine a politically-active lorry driver from Hull in 1936 might speak. If you dont make him believable, then his story becomes a false one and the song has no point. He has to speak clearly and plainly, be gruff and to the point. Thats how you bring him back to life. So theres your answer, lyrically at least. If asked again, I may well revert to one of the suitably quick responses alluded to at the top of this post; but Ill only be doing that because theres no quick way of answering; a LOT goes into writing songs. Remember that when you download it for free. Hope that helps. Joe Solo
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 18:34:31 +0000
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