lullabye
May 10, 2020
thejosco
Lullaby
For “Lullabye,” i borrowed the melody from the bridge of Plush by Stone Temple Pilots. Plush came out in 1992 and I was born in ’93, but my dad used to tell me that plush always reminded him of coming home to me as a baby, so I figured bending the rules might be okay. The chords are just G, C, D, C with a capo on 2, which I also borrowed from a Fall Out Boy song—one of the first songs I learned to play on guitar when I was 15 or so.
i think this is the first song i’ve ever written and recorded, so that’s pretty cool!
Looking for feedback on
I'm not the most skilled guitarist, but I did try to pull off a little percussive picking effect here. Does that work at all? I think this could probably benefit from a little variation from both hands, I'm just not exactly sure where I should start with that. Any tips would be appreciated!
Discussion
juliapiker May 12, 2020 1:37pm
Hi!! Being the most skilled guitarist I feel isn’t the most important. I really enjoyed this. The picking works nicely! I was more focused on your song!!! Welcome to Ncbc!!!
Tengo May 11, 2020 10:08pm
First song, hell yea! I dig it
nurphgun May 10, 2020 10:16pm
This is lovely. The lyrics and your singing are great—really playful and sweet, it sounds like a real lullaby or kids’ song. I think letting the chords ring would give it more of a soothing feel. “Plush” is such a great song, I’ve listened to it a thousand times, and still would not have recognized the melody if you hadn’t disclosed it. So fun to hear it in this very different context.
Sam Pearce May 10, 2020 9:11pm
Welcome, Chef Joey! Yeah, playing the chord on 1 and hitting the strings on 3, like you do, sounds great (and I second Ryan’s suggestion of arpeggios as a good next thing to try). I listened to “Plush” a few times, and I do hear where you got the idea for the melody, but it sounds and feels different enough in the context of your lyrics and the chords you use that, to me, your song feels very much like its own song. This may seem trivial, but I’ve listened several times and now I just need to know – what is the word you sing between “fall” and “over”? I think I hear “out”, but I’m not sure. Great work, man. Proud of you.
nick May 11, 2020 10:12am
I agree, I don’t think I know you, but I am definitely proud of you for writing your first song! Great use of Plush’s melody here, and I love the lyrics.
Ryan May 10, 2020 8:05pm
Certainly nailed the catchiness of a lullaby—well done! In terms of varying your guitar playing, I’d say choosing a few spots to arpeggiate the chords (let individual notes ring out) instead of only playing the whole chord at once might yield something interesting. The back-beat works well. You could play around to see where you might be able to get away with leaving that out for an intimate suspended moment, as well. Cheers!