Stacking Theory - Escape the Grid

from SpinTunes 18 Round 2 by Spintunes

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The challenge for this round is to play with tempo. In SpinTunes 17 I wasted far too much time thinking about how to creatively meet the challenge instead of focussing on writing a song. So this time I tried to write a song first, and find a way to meet the challenge later. While a coda might not be the most creative way to play with tempo, it is a solid and reliable one.

I started with another super-slow and angry/sad piece, 58bpm of descending minor chords about someone tapping out of life. But then I got the judges' feedback from round 1 and noted that across the board there was concern I was too slow and too grim/dour/nihilistic.

So I decided to step way outside of my comfort zone and get my jangle-pop on. I dialled the tempo up to 166bp, shifted to a major key and strapped myself in. The coda shifts back down to 78bpm

The end result? 'Escape the Grid' is a reflection on modern life - the way we get stuck in our daily/weekly/yearly patterns of living (the Grid), and go nowhere (to paraphrase Wilde, we exist but we do not live). The Grid is also a reference to sub/urban infrastructure, the streets and systems that shape our experience fo days, and I think we are all desperate to get out of here sometimes - especially so for those of us in Melbourne, who have been living in the most locked down city in the world for the past 18 months or so.

For the coda, I allowed myself to fail back to my Sad Beach Music, referencing and drawing heavily from an old SongFight! track called 'Long Story Short' which was written near the start of my Sad Beach Music awakening. The coda is a reverie on my favourite escape; a trip to the ocean to cleanse myself with waves, wind, and sunsets.

When I am in the waves and when the waves are on me, I have escaped the grid.

lyrics

There must be some kind of way out of here
free from the anger and the hate and the fear
not everything in life should be so grim
yeah there’s gotta be room for some hope and some joy and blind optimism

There must be some kind of mistake here
i’m trapped by all the precious things I once held dear
All my useless measures have become my weights
And they’re dragging me down turn my smiles into frowns and I’ve got to escape!

I’m trying to escape the grid
because I don’t like the shape I’m in

There must be some kind of lever to use
I’ve got a broken system that I’m desperate to move
I need to find a way to break the patterns in me
just give me some length and a fulcrum and maybe call archimedes

I’m trying to escape the grid
because I don’t like the shape I’m in

But now I’m standing by the ocean - it makes me feel alright
the sun is setting and a seagull glows in the golden light

I escaped the grid
i found a new shape to be
i escaped the grid

credits

from SpinTunes 18 Round 2, released October 18, 2021

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Spintunes is a semi-annual songwriting contest. Every other week, the competitors receive a challenge and a week to meet it.

Each album on this site contains the responses to a single challenge.