Songs with song titles

I have love of the clever songs that authors slip things inside their songs. One I would point to is “Outta Love” by John Prine who wrote a whole song blending beer ad clichés into the song. Art Thieme was also good to mix terrible puns into songs. For some reason I was inspired to try to put song titles into songs. I guess it started when I wrote a song about Rose River. I was trying to write a song to introduce our new band, Tim Kolek, Paula Pryzowski, and me and I used the verses to talk about songs we covered. The song just ended up a little boring. I tried to change it to a more dramatic beat, but basically shelved it.

Then one night I took an alternative way home along the Minnesota Mississippi River Highway 61. (Yes, it is the same highway Bob Dylan revisited.) When you drive along unfamiliar roads, it’s a great time to watch for inspiration. You might see a barn setting, a peaceful ravine, a rusted old automobile, a hitch hiker, and the list could go on. That night armed with a piece of paper to scratch a note at 65MPH, I saw a sign for Cedar Creek Road. The road sign sounded like a fast upbeat folky dance song to me, and it had those “Cr” sounds that made it fun to say.

Ok so how did it move from a folky dance to a rock song with song titles mixed in?

Well I had shell of a chorus when I got home, and I believe a party needed people and things they were up to during the party. Pierce Pettis said to make songs progress from one verse to another. So what happens during parties, some are in the own world, and then there are groups to do things, and then the party ends. Well I wrote two verses, and emailed it to my advisory group. My thought it was a throw away; just another throw away to learn how to write songs.

To my surprise, Tim Kolek showed up with a demo of the song. He put a great rock melody to the song, tightened up the rhymes, and highlighted one line as the title. (Eight is Midnight is a rewrite of a line from Pat Murphy’s Wake ---“they turned back the clock so that Mrs. Murphy thought it was Nine O’Clock.”)

Here are the lyrics, and I’ve underlined the song titles hidden inside it.

Eight is Midnight by Kolek/Schipper © 2005 Rose Riversongs.

Tim tells his sad tale to some bad scotch
Margaretville, is all Dave’s got
Paula has a 5 O’clock blonde attitude
So crank up the sound and get in the mood

Follow the Mississippi moon shadow
Down Little Creek Road for dancing tonight
There’s a keg of the king so get down low
We’ll push back the clock, so eight is midnight


Adeline is fine for sweet cherry wine
But Sue’s on the edge cause it’s quittin time
We’ll drink Lynnie’s Lakewood Blues and be
Back to the keg king and good company

Chorus

Our Ramblin Boy stops by with a friend
With guitar in hand and songs he penned.
So turn down the sound, and grab a chair
He’ll paint you a dream and take you there


If you want to listen to this masterpiece go to www.myspace.com/roseriver