Songwriting with art by Alison Benson

Each year, Liverpool Acoustic (an organisation which promotes acoustic music) runs a Songwriting Challenge. The challenges are twofold: The first is that potential competitors visit a local art gallery and select a piece of art to write about and the second challenge is a time limit – there are three weeks for you to choose the art and then write the song.
In 2016 I was a finalist for the songwriting challenge and was winner of the audience vote on the night of the final. I thought I’d write my ideas about writing a song in this way because I really enjoyed the process, found the challenge exciting and wrote what I hope is a decent song!
The first stage was to select the painting and this one jumped out at me, in part because I love a good cup of tea and so was attracted to the teapot! In many ways, selection was the straightforward part of it. Then on to writing the song….

I printed a copy of the image, with space around it to write and then I examined it. I wanted to know every detail of the image and then try to build a story around it. I wanted to know why the woman on the book looked so similar to the reflection in the tea pot. I wanted to know what sad series of events had led this woman to sit alone in such a stark room. I could see a half full (half empty?) bottle of wine reflected. A story began to formulate, perhaps she was waiting for someone who didn’t expect her to be there or perhaps she was waiting for someone who had kept her waiting long enough to drink the wine they were supposed to share together. I wondered why there were no curtains and the moon shining on such a melancholic scene added a further shade of sorrow.

I pieced a story together – the woman was led along by the person she’s waiting for. She was given gifts (the black pearls she’s wearing) and promised all kinds of things only to be let down. Her sadness at what had happened turned her heart and she became mad with rage and that is why she’s waiting…she’s waiting to end the unfinished business.
I was struck by the imagery of the necklace she was wearing and thought that would make a good line in a chorus and so then I played around with words that would match, rhyme or contrast. I knew that the verses needed to tell the story and so I incorporated the story I’d made up, elements of the painting and idea about how the woman might feel. I played around with some chords and the tune fell in with the words reasonably quickly.
Having the image gave me some strong ideas about creating a story, reflecting upon the emotions I wanted to communicate and making a song that engaged the listener.

If you wanted to write a song in this way, I’d suggest the following:

• Choose a really interesting picture
• Spend time reflecting upon it, working out a story or scenario or even a mood
• Consider the kind of song that leads to – cheerful, sad, nostalgic
• Work on the music or lyrics or both to create something that draws the above points together
• Then share it with other people. It can be so hard to put a piece of yourself out there, but also such a joy!

It would be great to hear some of your art inspired songs on Original Ukulele Songs Platform. Here’s Black Pearls (Unfinished Business): https://soundcloud.com/user-34273884/black-pearls-unfinished-business