"I Should Be Writing": The Song

This song was commissioned by author Mur Lafferty as the theme song for her podcast of the same name.

"I Should Be Writing" is a pay what you want single (that also includes a solo acoustic version of the song). If you're broke, you can still get it for free. Just click the Buy button on the player above and enter 0. More than anything, I want you to enjoy my music, even if you can't pay. If you can, by all means, throw me a few bucks. :-)

You can also click here for the download: "I Should Be Writing"

"I Should Be Writing" is dedicated to everyone who writes. Whether you write novels, articles, blog posts, comics, or songs, I think everyone has occasions when they doubt what they are doing or are easily distracted. Hopefully this song will help.

I hope you enjoy it,
John Anealio
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I Should Be Writing
by John Anealio

I work eight hours
steaming milk and sweeping floors
I come home and take a shower
and steam the coffee from my pores

I sit at my computer
and I open Firefox
I play a first person shooter
and then I open Google Docs

But there is nothing there
I'll guess I'll get to work

But I should be writing
I should be working on my craft
I should be writing
I should be submitting my next draft
But I'm sitting home watching Doctor Who

I stare at Google Reader
and I read a how-to blog
You've got to dig much deeper
to write convincing dialogue

so I search for inspiration
deep within the iTunes store
but there's no application
that will help me to ignore

the fact that Doctor Who is on TV tonight

Chorus

Why do I do this to myself?
Why can't I relax?
I want to see my name up on that shelf
on the spine of a paperback.

Chorus

Update! The Triceratops Song Version 3.0

The Triceratops Song (Version 3.0).mp3

Here is another set of verse lyrics, supplied by Kate Sherrod. Kate's lyrics have a completely different impact than those of Z. of Hipster Please. I like 'em both. Which got me thinking; I like the current form of the song, perhaps we can have many different versions of this song with different sets of verse lyrics. It happens with old folk songs all of the time. Soooo ...

I'm going to start recording a proper version of this song next week. My plan is to record one version with Z.'s lyrics and one with Kate's lyrics. If you still want to submit a set of verse lyrics, please do. I'll try to record as many different versions of this song as I can. Once again, submit your lyrics in the comments sections of this post, e-mail them to me at 27summers@gmail.com or Tweet them to me.

The Triceratops Song (Version 3.0)

This isn't the first time we've seen a childhood mem'ry change.
First brontosaurs all got renamed. Apatasaur still sounds strange.
Up in the sky a planet we all learned to call Pluto
Is now a rock, no consequence, just far away and slow.

My fav'rite dinosaur is a Triceratops
And now it is no more,
It's just a younger version of a Torosaur
It's not a sep'rate species

I think I've gotten to the root of this conspiracy.
Those textbook companies have got to sell to you and me
Or they'll go under, so they need to keep it all brand-new.
At least that's how it looks to me. How does it look to you?

At least they're keeping the name
But to me its just not the same
I hope they don't take my Pterodactyl away

As I start recording the song next week, I plan on recruiting some of you musical types out there for some help.

John Anealio,
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Update! The Triceratops Song Version 2.0

The Triceratops Song (Version 2.0).mp3

We now have some verses! The fabulous Z. of Hipster Please and Wired Magazine's GeekDad Hiptrax sent me these verse lyrics earlier today. I bashed out the melody this afternoon and I'm really happy with the way it is all fitting together so far. I'd be happy to put out the finished song as it is right now.

If you'd still like to bring something to the party, it is not too late! Take a listen to the verse structure of Z.'s lyrics and feel free to write additional lyrics or a completely different set of lyrics that fit this melody and rhyme scheme.

Here are the current set of lyrics:

The Triceratops Song

I can't believe the things they say, I don't want you to go /
I'll hold my tri-horned memories because my heart says so.
Won't listen to the awful things they're sayin' on the news /
Cause you're my favorite dinosaur, and I won't be refused.

My favorite Dinosaur is a Triceratops
and now it is no more
it's just a younger version of a Torosaur
It's not a separate species

Images in school books and the sheets upon my bed /
Your orange beak on my t-shirt, an image in my head.
Finger-painted pictures of you charging through the mire /
And me atop your saddle as the mountains utter fire.

At least they're keeping the name
But to me its just not the same
I hope they don't take my Pterodactyl away

Once again, you can contribute your lyrical suggestions in the comments of this post, send them to my e-mail 27summers@gmail.com, or tweet them to me with the hashtag #SciFiSong.

John Anealio
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The Triceratops Song: Crowd Sourced Song Project, Day 3

The Triceratops Song.mp3

If you are just checking in, click here to read about this week's Crowd Sourced Songwriting Project.

There were lots of great suggestions for topics to write about this week, but the clear winner was this week's story about the Triceratops being reclassified as a juvenile version of a Torosaurus. The name Triceratops will remain but this story has provoked a response that was similar to the reaction to Pluto being declassified as a planet a few years ago.

Click here to read an excellent article on the subject by Matt Stags: Suvudu Triceratops Post

So far, I've come up with music and lyrics for the chorus and break of the song. Take a listen to the MP3 at the top of the page. Here are the lyrics.

The Triceratops Song

My favorite dinosaur is a Triceratops
and now it is now more
it's just a younger version of a Torosaur
it's not a different species.

But at least they're keeping the name
But to me it's just not the same
I hope they don't take my Pterodactyl away

Now we need to come up with verses. I'll handle the music part of it, but I'd love some help on they lyrics. A couple of things, please be aware of meter and rhyme. Some sort of a,b,a,b or a,a,b,b form usually works the best.

In terms of lyrical content, perhaps we can write about our experiences going to museums, playing with toy dinosaurs, fictional pterodactyls like Slag from the Transformers; let you imagination run wild.

You can submit your ideas in the comments sections of this post, to my e-mail 27summers@gmail.com, or tweet it to me with the hashtag #SciFiSong.

Looking forward to seeing what we come up with,
John Anealio
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Crowd Sourced Song Project, Day 2

If you are just arriving, click here to read about this week's Crowd Sourced Songwriting Project.

We need to decide on a topic for our song today. Here are some of the interesting suggestions that you've contributed so far:

1. Def Con 18: The Hackers Conference
2. The Cooling System problem on The International Space Station
3. Mars Getting Closer to Earth
4. iPhone 4 is Jailbroken
5. Navy Works to Laser-Proof Its Drones
6. Geek-A-Week Trading Card
7. Paranormal Romance
8. Triceratops "Never Really Existed"
   

Any of these topics can inspire a great song. Here's what I need you to do today;

• Suggest another topic from your Geeky or Sci-Fi blogs, or
  
• Vote on one of these 5 stories

Once again, you can suggest a topic or vote on one of the existing ones by posting in the comments section of this post, e-mailing me at 27summers@gmail.com or Tweeting me with the hashtag #SciFiSong.

Thanks to everyone who has already contributed,
John Anealio

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Help Me Write A Song This Week!

This week, I'm attempting to organize the writing of a novel, crowd-sourced song. I'm asking all of you creative types out there to contribute your talent to this project.

Here's the idea: by the end of the week, I want to post a MP3 or video of myself singing and playing a brand new song that we wrote together. How will we do this? I'm glad you asked.

First off, I want this song to be ephemeral. It should be relevant to what's going on in the Sci-Fi/Nerd world right now. This song might not mean anything in a few weeks, but that's part of the fun. Here's how I think things should go this week:

1. Go to your favorite Sci-Fi/Nerd/Technology Blogs right now. Try to find some sort of interesting meme that will make good fodder for a song.
   
2. After we decide on a good topic, I'll come up with a melody and some lyrics for the chorus section of the song.
   
3. I'll then ask all of you to contribute lyrics to the verses and break of the song.
   
4. Depending on how musical/techie some of you are, I may ask for some beats or other musical devices.
5. By the end of the week, I'll post an MP3 or video of myself playing and singing the finished results.

As you come up with ideas and lyrics, you can post them in the comments area of this post, e-mail them to me at 27summers@gmail.com, or Twitter them to me with the hash tag #SciFiSong.

This should be fun,
John Anealio
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