Song and a Chat

Episode #187: Not Here At All       (Song starts at 4:42 )

People ask me: “why do you do a podcast, Peter?” and I just say well I really, really enjoy it. Life is to be enjoyed.

Plus, I’m really enjoying rediscovering songs which I’ve written a while ago - like this episode’s song, 'Not Here At All'. It was written in the year 2000.

It’s fun to sit behind my piano and entertain as I speak. I did it for a living for years. This has more of a songwriter speaks sort of angle. It’s fun and informative, is the idea.

So what inspired this song? You know when you’re talking to someone, having a nice conversation and you suddenly realise the person you’re talking to has drifted away? This happened to me. So, ignoring passing moment of frustration, I thought: ‘Aha, here’s a song lyric idea. So I made a mental note.

I think at times we are all perhaps guilty of formulating our answer, rather than just purely listening.

There’s an art to truly listening. In fact I  find that sort of focus is precisely what it takes to compose a song,

You’re listening - intently, but not like a rabbit on alert, it’s more like you’re listening to a conversation for interesting snippets that sound original,

I say listening, because even though I’m the one making all the noise on the piano and singing, you sort almost listen and you can almost hear the next bit just before you need it. It certainly is a fascinating process.

Getting back now, to ‘not really listening’, the lyrics move on and settle on the theme I wonder if one day we’ll hear the call ..sort of a mystical awakening, through listening and observing on a deeper level, I suppose. So from someone not listening , that brought me to: are we listening on a whole other level? We all have the potential to wake up, start living in the moment, be gentle with each other and get along.

I like to think we will. I bought a paper the other day. Talk about a grim document. Yes, it may be factual, but it was so imbalanced in its views and presentation. So much good stuff is going on in the world. It just doesn’t make the news.

So that’s why I create my own news. Like this broadcast: analysing the creative process by demonstrating and asking a series of questions, of myself, of the songs. I keep the humour close to the surface. For me I find that keeps the creative process moving on.

I obviously love writing song. I’m really enjoying sharing them in this manner. If you enjoy this week’s episode - and you’re new here - thanks for dropping by. There’s another 180 odd episodes waiting for you,

I do intend to repurpose some of the content at some point ( including finishing the piano/vocal versions of the unreleased ones in upcoming albums).  For now, I’m satisfied with the form it’s in. I’m receiving some great feedback, so it’s nice to be making connections like this.

Positive, entertaining creative communication is what I’m . And there’s plenty more on the way, including video courses for the piano playing, cartoon drawing, pairing seascapes + and lots more music on the way (5 ambles nearly finished in different genres)..

All we have is here and now. Life’s a series of moments. I want to look back on a series of excellent moments.

Each 30 minute podcast episode has been that for me. After all these episodes, it’s still a surprising and fun process for me.

Here we go…some new music, some chat and piano. Enjoy!

Here’s the blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com (links to more music and art and writing).

Episode #186: Song For You.  (Song starts at 3:38)

This is a love song. Just words and a simple tune. It can be a powerful combination.

Written in 2000, song #475 sums up the grateful feeling I’d found by deciding to commit to my girlfriend who became my wife. Lucky me.

It’s been an incredibly enjoyable process - our relationship - and rediscovering songs over these last 180 odd weeks. I let the song lead the way for each episode and endeavour to try and keep out of the way of the emerging story.

I like to walk in nature (on this episode, there’s a brief recording of me talking as I go out on twilight walk). I like to see detail. And conversely, the big picture, too. Just nothing in particular. I let the scene  just wash over me -and through me, somehow.

And that is the feeling that I try to take with me into the studio. I keep my mind as clear as possible and away I go, fingers on the keys, composing.

I honestly can’t remember the last time I played and sang ‘Song For You’. There’s something about recording the take of me rediscovering the song that seems to work for these episodes.

I’m big on trying to catch feeling and a bit of magic, in the studio (instead of looking try an catch the perfect take, where you risk losing the feeling and story).

It’s all about the story - both the songs and the podcast episode. That’s what makes it interesting and not just some dry sort of dialogue about how I compose.

I’m very pleased I’ve found this song again, I must record it sometime. It’s a romantic honest sort of a ballad.

There’s a line in the song…cos you call me home with your warm warm heart and like a gentle wind you set me free.  That suits me.

You need a certain sort of freedom to be a songwriter. And you need to feel supported. It sure helps. Because it’s huge commitment, being on this creative path. All the ups and downs that it entails…ditto with a relationship - all of those things are crucial: Freedom, support, commitment.

Perhaps that helps illustrate how writing song feels like I’m writing with something outside/within myself. The muse..

I wrote the words first. After I’d written 4 verses, and read back through them, I realised this would be a simple love song.

That’s when I came up with the line with my words and a simple tune, which became the hook.

I’m pleased with the way the music has come up for this song - it’s a good fit with the lyrics.. Between a nice couple of bookends start and finish, there’s a pleasant melody and chords that roll along, with just enough interesting changes to catch the ear and keep it interesting. It flows along nicely.

It’s incredibly good for you to compose, you use so many different parts of brain.

I don’t just knock out a song for the heck of it, I’m a firm believer that any song, any style of art that is worthwhile has to start with feeling. Which this song did…

I hope you enjoy this gentle episode. It’s an absolute pleasure to be presenting a song and a chat each week.

I include an anecdote about one of the first time we ventured into the true outback of Victoria, Australia - and we sure found it…

Here’s my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com and here’s my bandcamp www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com

Episode #185: Lonely Tune (Chase Those Blues Away).  (Song starts at 3:20)

It’s been a nice few days. Yesterday was a cracking ‘blue sky day’. I was sitting outside and I decided to go inside and sit at the piano and sing a song. I picked up the old purple book, flicked it open and there it was: Lonely Tune. I thought ‘why not…’

I enjoyed singing it so much I thought I’d choose it for this week’s episode. It was also relaxing and fun to record it as I recorded the episode.

Where did Lonely Tune come from? I remember I played a song to a friend. They said “well, it sounds a bit…lonely".

So I took the constructive criticism on the chin, picked up my pen and turned the ‘lonely’ idea into a lyric.

The first verse talks about how it can be tough going: When night falls, you’re lonely and it’s all….hard.

The second verse was an opportunity to address all those lines and flip things around to the positive. Here’s some examples:

Vs 1: When day turns to night.    Vs2: when nay turns to might

Vs 1: When starlight fills the sky.    Vs2: When Aha replaces why?

Vs1:When you can’t bear the wait.   Vs2: When you enjoy the wait.

It was fun fro go back through and bring a positive sort of twist to the lines from the first verse. There are two sort of approaches to life: half empty vs half full

It’s interesting how a quiet, somewhat sad song can lift your spirits.

With the music, the melody unfolded quite naturally, along with the improvised chords, as I played the piano. I gave the lyrics a gentle lilt - In fact it just happened. A sort of quiet jazz ballad feel kicked in. It happens to me now and then. I certainly wouldn’t say it’s something I specialise in, but when it comes along, I don’t block that voice.

That’s what makes songwriting so enjoyable for me: I aim to enjoy myself. I improvise, listening for whatever is next. Being right ‘in the moment’ is the key - both with the pen in hand for the lyrics, my fingers on the keys and voice ready for the music.

As I write, as well as enjoying the relaxing performance aspect, I keep an ear out for the story as it reveals itself. It’s fascinating how the various sentences come together, where they come from, what they end up leading to.

It’s all a mystery, to be honest, after all these years. I’ve composed about 800 songs now. This one is song #573, from 2011. It’s a joy to be writing songs.

I’ve remembered: the song that my friend thought was ‘lonely’ was Lone Tree (from the Tasman Bridge album)…maybe I’ll feature it in a podcast episode soon.

As the weeks go by, I enjoy grabbing ideas and phrases and turning them into something new. Songwriting (and art in general) is great like that. It can be a very healing process.

Speaking of art, I’m working on another seascape painting. If you’d like to see it, check out my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com. There are also some ‘work in progress’ pics.

Eventually, I’ll finish my video courses I’m working on (piano, seascape painting, cartoon drawing,. etc). All in good time.

For now, it’s nice to be sharing lots of positive art and music online each week - including this podcast, it’s such a pleasure to be doing this.

I hope you enjoy 'Lonely Tune' - and the chat.

Episode #184: Strange Town     (Song starts at 4:41 & 26:00 )

If it’s your first time here, thanks for dropping by. You’ve picked an interesting one - this is a bit of a wild and whacky episode.

I’ve picked on an old song from 1987. I was a ‘piano man’ back then, Paul Dredge ( co-writer / long time buddy ) and I were performing as a duo in the evenings, presenting dining music.

But we were ready to rock out… in some sort of inner David Byrne (from Talking Heads), style - a zany sort of rock (Now it’s 2023, I still feel the same way - maybe that 80s synth rock album needs to be prioritised..)

Back in 1998, we borrowed some 4 tracking (early multi tracking) recording gear. And away we went.

We picked song #38 (I’ve now gone on to composed 800+). You’ll get to hear the piano vocal version I recorded as part of this episode  - and you’ll also hear the old 4 tracked version as well. It’s pretty lively, I can’t quite believe where we got to, given it was our first effort at producing a multi tracked recording of a song.

When you consider the lyrics..’oh steel blue eyes, see painted city scapes’, they sound pretty mellow, right?

Well, there are no rules when it comes to creating music. That’s part of the joy. You have total freedom. It’s like going on a holiday, when there are no firm plans. You roll with what ever comes along.

To be honest, the 4 tracked version from April ’98 is pretty rough and ready. We had no idea how to make the borrowed gear ‘go’. But we were determined to do it - and we were going to have some fun.

So am I embarrassed to share this in 2023?. The answer is: not even close. What you’ll hear are two enthusiastic, inspired young people. And what we caught on tape really has some merit still, today, I think.

I composed the music for this song on the piano (lyrics were written first). As the song took shape, I started to hear a band arrangement in my mind straight away. This became the vision I started with when we recorded.

Poor old Paul… he was in charge of the drum machine. I was thumping out a guide track on the old acoustic piano, calling out to Paul speed up & slow down the tempo, repeatedly. To Paul’s credit he didn’t block me and we carried on.

I glad we recorded it the way we did it. There is nothing quite like realising a vision, something you have in mind.

Here’s my blog with the lyrics, etc www.petepascoe.wordpress.com .

Here we go.. ‘from TV to office, rat race to numbness ‘, ..leave it all behind for a while - it’s time for a song and some chat - including the 80s synth rock guitar band recording -  all fun here.

Episode #183: Brilliant Sunshine   (Song starts at 4:43)

I started this song as I was travelling to piano teaching one morning. I was sitting at the bus stop on the busy road. The sun was so hot and bright I could barely read the words on my page. That is literally what the first few sentences of the lyrics say.

So pretty much, no matter where you are, or what you’re up to, it can be done. We all have the choice to focus on something creative to lift out mood.

I could’ve been sitting at that bus stop stewing about the fact that my previous train was canceled & I was a bit tired - I could’ve got scratchy about it all.

Instead, I picked a pen and got something off my shoulders by starting with some real things that are happening around me. Then I reflected on the images and feelings. And I came up with something new, a step on: some art.

It feels good to do this in the moment, and then it feels doubly good to look back and think hey I’ve got great memories of feeling good because I chose to focus and get creative.

On that note, I could be licking my wounds because of the last few years of Covid and the consequent pretty much non-recovery of the arts (as yet), here in Melbourne. Instead I’m looking back at 3 years of a heap of music and art, chat and writing on the internet which I’ve produced. It feels good.

Putting music to these lyrics felt really good too. The demo version on this episode is piano/vocal. I can really hear a full band arrangement - including and extended guitar solo ending. That’d be fun.

I’ll take you down to the beach again this week. This time I’m doing a spot of fishing. I’m glad I did. I’ve had a couple of weeks break from teaching (school holidays here) so I’m amongst the usual painting, podcast recording and blog writing, I made a point of taking some time out.

In this city of a million stories, here’s another one. Mine. I also then turn it around at the end of the singing with …let me hear your story.

Because it’s not all about me. As a lyricist, I’m inviting the listener to choose to do some work, go through some similar thought processes by following along with my lyrics, and then reflecting on how those ideas might pertain to themselves.

That’s sometimes what happens with art. It offers a tangible place for some sort of reflection and personal transformation/ growth to take place. Or - at the very least - perhaps the listener might think: ‘Hey, that songs got a nice beat. It’s lifted my mood’. The lyrics might not even be delved into to any degree - and that’s fine.

That’s the beauty of songwriting, I think it’s an inclusive domain - both for the listener and for the songwriters.

That’s why I’m sharing how I write a song. I’m not telling anyone how to write a song.. on these episodes, I’m just sharing some ideas about how I do it.

I’m finding sitting at the piano as I chat is working well, because I can demonstrate something musically, easily. Then go back to the chat.

Or I can take off on musical tangents….eg a new bridge for a song like last episode, or perhaps an improvised piece, as I did towards the end of this week’s episode.

I hope you some new music. Perhaps Paul Dredge and I might include this one on a folk rock album. We are 9 songs into our new folk rock album. You’ll hear more about that (here) soon.

To keep up with my art and music ( and two read the lyrics of the songs on this podcast, check out my blog. www.petepascoe.wordpress.com there are a 180 odd posts there now, including lots of cartoons, seascape paintings, creative ideas, photos and links to lots more music.

This podcast is such a pleasure to produce. Thanks for the great feedback, folks.

Here we go… enjoy ( the) brilliant sunshine.

Episode #182: Hit The Sun   (Song starts at 6:00)

Where did 'Hit The Sun' come from? Well, as soon as I read through the lyrics, like a poem, it took me right back to the day I composed it.

It was a beautiful Spring day. I went outside to hang out some washing ( my cat followed me, waiting for his customary ride in the washing basket, back inside).

Then I sat on the front porch and started writing about what was around me. Lines like: ‘Ice blue sky, pastel neon sphere, riding high ….Black birds fly, concrete lies grey and old and pitted’.

Then I went back inside, sat at the piano and composed the music.

It’s very satisfying thing to write a song. I make the time to write when those ‘moments’ come along.I’ve learned to sense them. It’s a feeling that comes over me, a gentle nudge, to pick up the pen and paper or to sit at the piano and let my hands fall on the keys.

When I write the words, I work one sentence at a time, this leads naturally on to the next as the story unfolds. When I pause, I’ll read back through the last couple of lines. Sometimes, while thinking of a word to rhyme the last word of a sentence, a new series of images and thoughts come to mind - and away I go again.

With the music, it’s largely the same process. When I pause, I go back and play a few lines to get back in the flow, so whatever I write next fits with what’s just been written. Sometimes it comes with a rush. Other times it’s a bit more stop/start, as I experiment with different chords and melody ideas for a line. When it just feels right, away I go again.

In terms of images and feelings, One song can be like a photo album to me. You don’t get many words in a song lyric, so you’ve got to pack a lot in - layers are the key. Otherwise you can get wordy pretty quickly.

So I find myself in 2023 with 800 songs, which Is like 800 photo albums. It’s nice to be sharing them here on this podcast, offering insight into what the lyrics are about, what I was thinking.

But often it doesn’t matter too much what the lyricist had in mind. The words can bring different ideas to the listener. The song might come to mean something completely different to what the composer originally had in mind - and that’s all good.

So a song has legs, that’s the beauty of art. It carries on of its own accord, it has momentum.

After all these years, I ‘winged’ a new bridge for this song as I recorded this episode. A song is wide open until it’s recorded (and you can always reinterpret it again later on).

I hope you enjoy this gentle song, it’s an old demo, recorded in 1991, in the piano bar, after hours.

I’m glad I picked up a pen on that beautiful spring day all those years ago. It was fun to take a look at it on this episode.

On reflection, 'Hit The Sun' is a strange sort of name, really. I was thinking about hitting the beach I suppose. Can you hit the sun? Written in 1987, this is song #57.

Spring sure is here. I include a recording of me, down at the beach. So you can join me beside the waves on this episode. I get out into nature to fill the well. It’s an essential part of the creative process. Taking time out and forgetting all about it from time to time.

You can find the lyrics (and the skiing frog I mention on this episode ) on my blog www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

This has links to www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com where I have 12 albums solo and recorded with others. Plus there’s my YouTube channel Pete Pascoe Art and Music. Enjoy.

Episode #181: Gone Too Soon  (Song starts at 4:12)

Here’s one from 2014: song # 620, 'Gone Too Soon'

It was inspired by a neighbour who lived across the street from us. She always had just the right amount of time to chat. She wasn’t one of those you’d have to duck and run from, (through the fear of losing 15mins). Nope. She was positive & interested in what you were up to, bright in the eye and in voice and spirits.

Consequently, I chose to write this song for her in an up sort of manner, which I think is a reflection of her character.

The version on this episode is somewhere between a ballad and something more (Piano vocals). If it were played in a band, you could push it along with a bit more energy and groove.

It’s interesting to me how these sort of songs about mortality all seem to be coming to the surface for me right now. Perhaps it’s like when you buy a certain brand of car with the right colour and then you start seeing them everywhere…or maybe it’s something I write about more than I perhaps imagined.

It’s not a subject I’m going to shirk away from. It’s as much part of life as anything. And lives need to be celebrated - the good bits carried on with.

I think that’s a great way to help make sense of someone close to you passing away.

I think a song like this can be a comfort someone. It was for me this week. I’m glad I found it in my songbook.

This was another ‘words first, music second’ sort of song. When I composed the music, it was fun singing along to the chords that came through as I sat at the piano.

The opening line of the song is:

Summers come early, it’s that time of year… the temperatures rising with the early birds tune.

It’s a great way to wake up, listening to the dawn chorus.

Speaking of birds, I sat outside having breakfast a the table in my back yard. It was so peaceful…except for the lorikeets ( mall Australian parrot) I include a snippet of audio, so you’ll join me at the table.

Then we see where the song 'Gone Too Soon' is going to take us.

I’m looking forward to recording this one properly one day.

‘Why wait for tomorrow? do it today'. Is another line in the song. I can still hear my neighbour saying this. I’m glad it’s in this song.. her voice, in a sense.

As I look at how the song came together, sitting at the piano with the mic, I really enjoy demonstrating the changes, the bits of melodies and talking about the way they came through. All you need is the feeling and a start, really - and away you go.

And away we go…so here’s another song & lots of chat. I hope you enjoy this episode.

You can read the lyrics on my blog: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com, plus there’s links to more music and my art. Enjoy.

Episode #180: Crossroads  (Song starts at 4:04)

I wrote crossroads, Song #119, in 1989. When I saw the title of the song in my old green songbook, I remembered it was based on an old memory.

Reading through the first verse, a vivid scene sort of played out in my mind, like recalling a dream:

I was I about 3 or 4. My mother and I had gone to visit an old lady. We sat in her lounge, and cups of tea were served (not for me).

My eyes wandered along the old mantelpiece, past the old ticking clock which occasionally chimed. My gaze fixed on a toy car sitting there.

got to play with these cars as the adults talked. The old lady kindly gave me the car to take home.

All the details are clear as if it were yesterday. That’s the power of art. It can convey so much.

The first verse was about the old lady and her room. So for the 2nd verse, I moved on to an (imagined) old man carrying his bags home.

That’s when the word crossroads came through my pen, and I thought Aha - that’s what this song is about.

The 3rd verse was like an imagined scene from the distant future: the bright sun sinking behind the darkened sign posts, the road disappearing into the fast approaching night.

Yep, the cross roads.

This was a ‘words first , music second’ song.  It’s often a surprise to me, when I analyse the chords and melodies of these older songs. They quite often appear to break all the rules of theory, the harmonic changes, the way the melody dips to unexpected slightly unsettling notes and then back to more expected ones.

Shooting from the hip like this with the words and music  (which both come through very quickly) is fun and natural for me. I think the result is something almost disarmingly real at times.

It’s based on something real, then it becomes something more, ultimately returning to the image of the dark unknown of the crossroads. Which road is right?

And creatively speaking, which road is right? You just go with instinct. I let the fingers fall on the keys and the I float your voice up to wherever the feeling takes me.

It’s like being in a woken dream, writing a song. It was fun to rediscover this one, as I ‘winged’ the version on this episode. I improvised a piano instrumental section on the fly.

It was definitely the feeling from that afternoon that came to me all those years later.

Join me now and we’ll find out where crossroads came from . Perhaps you’ve got a cup of tea handy? A mantlepiece? ….

Here’s my blog. www.petepascoe.wordpress.com You can read the lyrics there + there’s lots more music and art to be found here.

Enjoy.

Episode #179: Can’t Sing You A Song   (Song starts at 3:38)

I had a bit of fun with the demo on this episode. Earlier today, I was supposed to be recording some piano for a song. The session got cancelled at the last minute.

Turns out I was really in the mood to record, so what started out as a piano/vocal take ended up having the kitchen sink thrown in ( strings, guitars, bass, Rhodes - all done on the keyboards. Good fun.

Can’t Sing You A Song is a different style for me. Every now and then I write something left of field. I never block ‘the voice’.

Songs do come along that I can’t ever see myself singing - perhaps this is one of them (on the other hand, now the demo has been completed, maybe it could end up on a solo album of mine).

It was fun to compose in this sort of groove based song. It did write it on the piano, but after just a few bars,I realised the sort of song it was going to be.

So I kept the beat firmly in mind and I phrased the vocals accordingly, emphasising certain syllables. Also, I didn’t introduce any unusual chord changes, in fact I did some repetition 2 chords, three times in a row, this would generally suit a guitar/ band more than just the piano.

So I wrote this song with a certain intention - that was suggested very early on. I didn’t fight it.

I wrote the words first, then the music just flowed easily, around the feel and the chords that came through.

The gist of the lyrics is: I can’t sing you a song or paint a picture without the feeling being there in the first place.

And the song is saying: I can show you I’m having fun - and I hope you do, too - but it’s not my place to tell you how:

Can’t make you laugh, it’s not up to me

But I’ll show you a path where there’s loving free

Everyone’s on their own journey, so it’d be wrong of the lyricist to try and twist the listeners arm.

This song is about love, first and foremost - the idea that we’ve really just started on this next phase of humanity: connectedness as a species, to proceed.

We’ve analysed things so much over the centuries and as a result, we’ve dis - integrated.

So I think art and music are the key…laughter, connectedness and healing and that’s what this song is about. It’s a happy song.

As a songwriter There’s a real joy when the full circle happens and an audience responds positively .

On the episode, I didn’t end up talking about how I produced the demo too much. To create an arrangement like the demo (full band sort of sound), I started with a basic piano track and guide vocal, recorded to the drum beat. Then I added bass on the keys, muted the original piano and replayed a more precise simplified piano part, leaving room for the other instruments (recorded in this order):

Rhodes piano, guitar pad L, guitar pad R , nylon string guitar, lead vocal, 2 backing vocals and then the strings, which I added afterwards to bring it all together. I thought the strings would suit the song.

So this is the very first demo. Eventually, the parts would be recorded on real instruments, dropping elements in to give the arrangement some space.

Perhaps the tempo is a bit quick. If it were just a bit slower, there’d be more groove and that would also make it easier to get a few of those lyrics out.

I describe how I came to play the blues in a piano bar. Then it occurs to me this song might work in that sort of style , so I demonstrate that, on the spur of the moment.

Picking a style and arranging a song..it’s actually a big part of the process. But most often I think it helps to have the song finished in it’s own right. If you’re recording it, you’re going to be listening to it a lot. 

Also, as this song says, there has to be feeling and message in my art and music. Our days are few, when also said and done - and we need to have fun along the way.

Here we go…let’s find out where and how can’t sing you a song came from…

Episode #178:  Inside   (Song starts at 4:21)

This episode’s song is #630, written in August, 2015. It was one of those ‘words first, music second’ sort of songs.

It’s interesting this song should float to the surface for this episode…this week I had a bit of a wobbly moment, we all have them: I was wondering how much would it really have changed things, had I stayed in NZ  (at 30 I moved to Melbourne and started again).

Self doubt was the feeling that caused me to pick up a pen in 2015. A couple of things happen when you’re in the creative flow. The worries fall away, any murky worrying feelings seem to lift. On this occasion, an answer appeared on the ether, ‘inside’.

So the answer can be found within - that’s been said many times. I was just thinking of the great movie Shawshank Redemption, how the small rock pick was hidden inside the bible. Brilliant ..freedom lies within.

I’m not one to jump on a soapbox and speak my mind to one and all. I’m far more inclined to drop big themes into my lyrics in a more laidback manner.

Which is why, for these words, I thought I’d pick a key that would suit a quietly finger picked guitar.

Mid way through, t sort of came the full circle, back to piano, when I improvised a far more keyboard sort of a bridge, with counter bass. Notes with strong harmonies…perhaps they’ll be vocal harmonies

Most often the chords come to me intuitively. I was doing my usual thing, when I came to the point where the chorus needed to happen.

I’m very pleased I stopped and checked my ‘relative chords’, which I’d written down before I started the music. The chord G# minor had net been used yet. So I stopped and matched a melody note with the chord and put the sung note right on the first count of the bar.

It’s all a learning curve, life. We are all going to have our doubts, this song is suggesting the listener might consider go ing within to find some answers.

When I was a youngster, I took a less trodden path. A creative one. And I’m pleased I did. I’m still on it. If I’d taken a more expected path, (There’s a line in the song:) ‘would the lone cry of nature still call to me?’

Leading a creative lifestyle, being fully reliant on the arts to make a living, sure has its uncertain moments. It keeps you on your toes. You’re effectively ‘living in faith’, I would say.

So I find peace when I go out in nature - and when I go within. So that’s the quiet message in this song… you know, so if you’re in pain, life’s not going great for a moment, go for walk at the beach or sit down and just breathe easily, freedom awaits…

I hope you enjoy this episode. I certainly enjoyed recording my thoughts and I had fun rediscovering ‘Inside’, as I recorded the piano vocal demo.

Here’s my blog: www.petepascoe.wordpress.com you can read the lyrics here, plus there’s lots of art  -and  way more music, each week…. Enjoy!