Week 5 Choosing the Right Setting to Express the Emotion of the Lyrics

 

Here’s my souncloud link and the lyrics are there. http://snd.sc/10DpfFm

 

I had the week off from work.  Since spring persisted on staying asleep, I enjoyed myself by songwriting  and reading some cool science.  Who would have thought that songwriting, biochemistry and epigenetics had so much in common? Let me take this opportunity to explain.

 

In week 5 we studied how emotion is expressed differently depending on how the lyric is set in the bar (stable, strong beats versus unstable, week beats) and in the scale of the song (stable tonic, 3rd and 5^th versus unstable 2^nd, 4^th, 6^th and 7^th).

 

In the book Biology of Belief, Dr. Bruce Lipton makes the case that whether a gene expresses itself or not depends on its environment, or its surroundings.  Sound familiar?  While there are some diseases that are clearly genetically determined (eg. Hemophilia) the vast majority of diseases that have a genetic link do not always materialize.  The genetic “hand of cards” we are dealt is not as important as the way we play them. 

 

I had 4 eureka moments in this book.  The first was an experiment where cells had their DNA destroyed through radiation.  They didn’t die.  If fact, they continued doing everything they usually do (metabolic processing, seeking out positive environments and avoiding toxins) except they could no longer reproduce or repair themselves.  Dr. Lipton concluded that the cell nucleus, which holds the DNA, is not the “brain” of the cell, as was previously believed, but rather the gonads.  (This misunderstanding that the DNA is the brain of the cell is understandable, since most of the research to date has been done by men who have had a long history of thinking with their sex organs.) The second eureka moment came from an experiment with 2 sibling agouti mice.  Agouti mice have genes which “make” them turn yellow, grow very obese and become diabetic.  One mouse was fed a diet rich in vitamins while the sibling was not.   Surprisingly, the vitamin-fed mouse did not turn yellow, become obese and develop diabetes like its sister.  And, more importantly, neither did its offspring, although genetically, all still had the genes of agouti mice. Dr. Lipton concluded that it is the environment which makes a gene express itself or stay silent, both in this generation and the next. How genes interact with their environment is the science of “epigenetics”. 

 

Our week’s study was on the “epigenetics” of songwriting. The environment for our song lyrics had a rhythm component (what beat in the bar) and a melodic component (what note in the scale). If we get the setting right – the environment right – the right emotion is expressed fully. If we get the environment wrong, a different emotion is expressed, perhaps one we don’t want in the song. Pat Pattison says we get to choose those emotions.  But can we choose our genetic destiny as well?

 

Using biochemistry and epigenetics, we can make the right environment for “good” genes to express themselves loudly, live long, repair themselves and reproduce perfectly, and “nasty” genes to stay silent and hidden.  Everything we are exposed to and everything we do turns to chemicals in our bodies.  Certainly good nutrition, exercise, and rest are important.  Dr. Lipton has been researching emotions, and in particular, what beliefs do to the chemical environment that bathes our cells.  The third eureka moment was when a patient, diagnosed with an inoperable terminal cancer, died three weeks after diagnosis but the autopsy revealed no cancer.  Why did he die?  Because he believed he was dying? The fourth and biggest eureka moment was an experiment where cells were exposed to different hormones.  Adrenaline, the “flight or fight” chemical, trumped all the others.  So, even if we eat super diets, sleep well, exercise, breathe clean air and drink perfect water, the chemicals produced by our beliefs and our emotions can “win the day”.   

 

Our emotions are processed chemically. Our cells produce receptors to bond with excess chemicals. I don’t completely understand the process but it is how we get rid of the chemical residue we create in ourselves with our emotions.  We all know a person who is always negative.  They win $50 and are happy for an hour, and then they start complaining about something else, like what a pain it’s going to be to go claim the prize.  This is because their cells are so full of receptors to deal with negativity that they (the cells) are craving that chemical, so the brain produces it for them by choosing to dwell on the negative.  It’s a chemical addiction.  How does this relate to songwriting?

 

We can create the same chemical addiction to positive emotions, creating more healthy environments for our cells –  and we don’t have to adopt one of those annoying “bubbly” personalities.  “Positive” doesn’t mean “happy” (but “happy” is positive).   Psychologist Barbara L. Fredrickson, in her book Positivity, identified ten common positive emotions: joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe and love.  (Gratitude, by the way, is the most important emotion for building relationships. Fredrickson says the regular expression of sincere gratitude is key to long-lasting, happy marriages.  In addition, many top executives say the fastest way to climb the corporate ladder is with gratitude. )

 

Ok – back to songwriting.   How many of these positive emotions do you get from being creative? I get all of them. So, let’s tie it all together.  We write a bit everyday, we create these positive emotions which creates a happy environment for our cells and “nasty” genes stay silent and hidden away. The more we write, the more we create receptors for positive emotions, creating a chemical dependency for them.  So, our brains have to keep coming up with creative ideas to feed the receptors.  The result? We live, long, healthy, rewarding and fruitful lives. We choose the setting for our lyrics to express emotions.  We choose the setting for our genes to either express or be silent.  I need to wallow in joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe and love.  Sounds like more songwriting to me!

 

Ok, now here’s my assignment:

 

Passion Rodeo

Box 1
a woman arrives at a rodeo dance by herself
she's "bubbly", well-dressed
she's lonely and she's here to pick-up a "winning" cowboy

Box 2
cowboys are drinking and getting rowdy
she turns heads on the dance floor because she's a knockout!
she's the kind of woman they're looking for tonight - no commitments and a real good time

Box 3
she knows she's lived a loose life with too many one-night stands
she's like these cowboys who can't seem to stay away from the rodeo, even though it's just a matter of time before one event busts them up forever or kills them
she knows this lifestyle is bad for her but like the cowboys, she's attracted to risk

 

Rodeo

perfect: romeo, hello, show, flow, follow
additive: ghost, float, hope, rope, toast, boast, lone, close, roam, colt, control, tone, overload, lone

tumbleweed

perfect: need
family: meet, breeze, believe, weak, meak, sleep, need, treat, please, ease, knees, tease
subtractive: free, plea

rustler

subtractive: rust,bust, thrust, buster
"er" rhymes: rider, roper, laughter, flirter, tinder, cinder, glimmer, glitter, warmer, ginger, winter, after
additive: whirl, twirl,turn

hazard

perfect: hard, card
family: mart, heart, cart, dart
"er" rhymes as above for subtractive/assonance
"d" consonace rhymes: friend, red, head, led, dead, wayward

passion

perfect: apprehension, suspicion, tension, attention, mention, run, imagination
family: rhythm, symptom, tedium
subtractive: pass, lass
subtractive+additive: past, last

best

perfect: fest, crest, chest, guest
subtractive+family:lonliness, emptiness, mess, openness, closedness
family: dressed, blessed, guessed

  

http://snd.sc/10DpfFm

 

Passion Rodeo

VS. 1.

She’s bouncin’ in like Texas tumbleweed
Bright eyes, champagne woman
She doesn’t really trust the city
The air is grey and the trees are weak

CHORUS

She’s come to win her one of the best
Of the Passion Rodeo
Lookin’ to lose a little loneliness
At this Passion, Passion Rodeo

VS. 2.

Riders and rustlers and limping bronc busters
Downing shooters with serious impatience
Reptilian eyes paint her on the dance floor
She’s that sugar plum they’re all looking for

CHORUS

VS.3.

She’s not too proud of the life she’s led
She doesn’t want to die in a cheap hotel
She takes too many chances,  she knows it well but
Like these cowboys, she’s got a taste for hazard

CHORUS

©2013