VEGANGELICA

AwwSugar!

Thanks for reading my "Skin" song and giving feedback! I just posted new lyrics (for "Squeal," about pigs...not a sexual topic this time! ) when I saw your reply. I thought, WOW, does she ever read fast! Then I realized you were writing about "Skin."

Yes, the corny-factor is a problem with my "Skin" song, I agree.

"Non-existent soul" is what I put into the song because as an atheist I get so tired of singers singing about people's souls in love songs, because I think there are no souls, so those songs always lose me somewhat when they start going on about souls.

Heh heh...it IS graphic! I actually first wrote, "I want to get under your skin," but that has been used in several other songs, so I tried to find alternate wording, which led to, "I want to slip beneath your skin." I would prefer to use "I want to get under your skin" because that sounds less sexual and more emotional to me, since "to get under someone's skin" means that you start to have meaning and importance to that person (and the sexual interpretation is secondary). I just feel so guilty using wording others have used...and a common phrase, at that! But I think I should revert to my original wording, since that makes the sexuality a little more ambiguous, I feel.

No no...you are completely right...it IS supposed to be emotional, but I think the sexuality of the rest of the verse makes it seem purely physical. I'll change the lyrics to tone down some of the sexuality, since my original intent was to make the song more emotional with just some sexuality included, rather than more sexual with less emotion.

Thanks so much for your feedback, Amandria! It has been helpful to me. I had similar concerns about the song as you, but it is good to hear them from someone else other than myself. I meant the song originally as a very serious song, but in trying to avoid the often used "get under your skin" I ended up becoming more sexually playful with it. I'll try reverting the song back to my original wording to try to tone down the sexuality part, and see how that reads.

Thanks again! You even read it though it rhymed!! (SNIFF!) That was me wiping a tear of gratitude.

Oh, and I ALWAYS like to mention you, Sugar! (Did you see I mentioned you in the "Your Day" thread, too?)

~ Erica

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Arya Stark

I actually wasn't thinking sexuality when I thought about "slip beneath your skin."
I like sex in songs.
I guess being under anyone's skin is just a creepy thing to hear, in a way.

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MB Journal.
Azucar y Especia. My blog.

VEGANGELICA

Hmm...so it evokes kind of a Silence of the Lamb feeling, huh? Yeah, I wouldn't want anyone to slip beneath my skin like THAT!

Well, I operated on the song and got rid of "slip beneath your skin," thanks to you, Sugar, so now except for in one place the song just talks about wanting to "get under your skin."

...preferably not by using a hunter's knife and finishing off the cuts with some pinking shears!

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Arya Stark

You're sick. xD
Oh, I wrote a poem. I'm not going to post it, but I can message it to you or something.
It's political, and I'm not really into politics, but it was for a project.
I thought you'd appreciate it. [=
I thought about you while I was writing it.

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MB Journal.
Azucar y Especia. My blog.

VEGANGELICA

I'd love to see your poem! Please PM it! I am flattered to think you thought of me while writing a poem, AwwSugar.

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Arya Stark

Sending it [=

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MB Journal.
Azucar y Especia. My blog.

VEGANGELICA

Hi MBers,

Here's a vegan song I wrote after being inspired by my relatives who raise cattle, participate in rodeos (calf and goat roping and tying), hunt all sorts of animals (including shooting songbirds for fun), and teach their good Christian values of mercy, kindness, and slaughter to their children.

I haven't shared the song with them yet. If you read it you'll probably see why!

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"COUNTRY" by Erica

You like to rope calves at rodeo.
You’re glad you won a prize
terrorizing animals in a show.
You wrestle pigs and wear a leather vest
trying to look like the cowboys
who used to live out West.

You go out trapping muskrats
so they drown in the lake,
but you never say you kill,
only “harvest” or “take.”
You see all creatures of the world
as a natural resource.
I see you willfully killing them
without remorse.

Now, nature can be cruel,
I agree that’s true,
but that don’t mean you
gotta be cruel, too.

Oh, you dress your kids in camouflage
and photograph them holding up
dead pheasants by the hunting lodge.
You take their picture with dangling fish,
and here Bobby finally shot a deer.
Says Dad, “I got my greatest wish.”

See the boy and doe,
blood tricking from her nose,
his weapon displayed
on her flank so it shows.
He’s holding up her head,
light reflecting from her eye,
and he’s grinning ‘cause he’s
the one who caused her to die.

Oh, you like to think
you’re a flock of God’s sheep,
but you’re wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Your predator runs deep.
Like cats with their prey,
you feel killing is fun,
and your culture condones eating
almost every animal under the sun.

You believe creation’s at your mercy,
and that’s the way you think a god
planned for it to be.

Oh you’re so glad ya’ll get to be country.
I’m so glad I never have to be country!

You sing your pretty songs
of country love,
of romance in the corn
and the sweetly cooing dove.
But the corn you feed to pigs
you roast with spits through their head,
and the mourning doves, well,
you like to shoot them dead.

You practice animal husbandry
and sell your helpless livestock
to the "processing" facility
since you were told
we need meat to grow strong,
but it never occurs to you
your parents were wrong!

Oh, you’re wolves in sheep’s clothing
who think they’re sheep,
but your life is based on slaughter:
your predator runs deep.
Like cats with their prey,
you feel killing is fun,
and your culture condones eating
almost every animal under the sun.

You believe creation’s at your mercy
and that’s the way you think a god
planned for it to be.

Oh, you’re so glad ya’ll get to be country.
I’m so glad I never have to be country.

Oh, you’re so glad ya’ll get to be country.
I’m so glad I never have to be country.

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Sljslj

Thanks for that, Veg, that's a good one. The only thing is (and maybe it's just the way I'm reading it or something): you're saying that these people are controlling manipulative killers, but then you say they think they're sheep, that seems contradictory to me. Also, eating meat does have many positives, the problem is the amount at which we consume animals in this country.
Damn, I wish I could collaborate on a song like this with you, we could make something great. (I hope you don't find that statement "stalkerish" haha.)
Keep writing, Vegangelica....

VEGANGELICA

Thanks for reading, Sljsljslj.

The song "Country" is about the contrast between how *I* view the people (my relatives) who scare, raise, and kill animals as part of their country lifestyle (I see them as "controlling manipulative killers," like you wrote), and how *they* view *themselves*. They view themselves as good Christian sheep following Jesus, who, of course, asked for people to be merciful and kind, which they are not toward the creatures over whom they have dominion. They see nothing wrong with how they treat animals. They could slice the throat of a lamb, or shoot a songbird out of a tree for fun, without a flinch of guilt or self-questioning.

I agree eating meat does have positives (it *is* nourishment and it can taste good), and that people in this country consume far too many animals. Where you and I probably differ is that I feel the issue of raising and killing animals is an ethical issue (I see it as ethically wrong). I think that you don't have the same negative response I do to people killing even just one pig or cow or chicken.

No no...not stalkerish! Much. I think we have anger in common...though we may not be angry about all the same things! I think our anger comes out differently in our lyrics, too. Yours sound to me to be very spontaneous and expressive (with all the expletives). To me, my lyrics sound very controlled with the anger somewhat contained, since I'm not being spontaneous with the structure of my lyrics.

I don't know which is scarier: an anger that flares out? Or a cold, controlled anger mixed with hurt, which is mine. I've been meaning to write some more spontaneous lyrics that I don't brood over as much, picking each word. So, I think I would probably benefit from some of the freedom that I see you have with your lyrics.

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VEGANGELICA

How's it going, MB people? I hope you are well.

Today I'm sharing lyrics for a folk song, "Bloom," that I wrote over the last 2 weeks, partly inspired by MusicBanter. Three sources of inspiration for writing this song were the following:

(1) Zevokes and I were chatting over in his songwriting thread about the dreams children have for their future. This made me think of writing a song about childhood dreams and what happens when they aren't fulfilled.

(2) The saying, "Bloom where you are planted." I always liked this saying, which I think is a good life philosophy, but it raises the question: what happens when you know the place you are planted doesn't provide as many nutrients or sunlight for you to bloom as well or as fully as you know you are capable of doing? Vanilla was talking about hardships in life and how people deal with them, so this made me think about the limitations of the lives into which people are born.

(3) I wanted to use a line from a poem I wrote after the end of a relationship over ten years ago: "I made love to you in dreams I dreamed of having but didn't, and you still held my hand, even when you knew." So, I ripped this line out of the poem to use it in the song, "Bloom."

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"BLOOM" by Erica

Sweetness hovers around me like nectar
from the lilacs I planted by the window,
but in the distance I can see
the forest beckoning to me,
and I am trying not to go.

In my fenced-in garden herbs are thriving.
I can watch them flourishing, nourished by the sun.
And I enjoy the sight of them
although a lovely garden
was not a thing I wished for when young.

Now I make love to you in dreams
I dream of having but never do.
I give birth to children from my empty womb.
Stand still by you in photographs
while I move a thousand miles away
from where these prosaic lilacs bloom.

I have practiced good companion planting:
beans by corn by cucumbers and yellow marigolds.
Funny, after all I did,
what I really wanted
isn’t what this lovely garden holds.

I have done my best, given my choices,
to surround myself with beauty, making my life full,
but sometimes what you most hope for
is someone with whom you feel more
of a thing intangible.

I thought carefully through all my options,
considering which characteristics to assess.
Funny, what I miss sounds small.
I never wanted a garden at all.
I just yearned for some wilderness.

Now I make love to you in dreams
I dream of having but never do.
I give birth to children from my untouched womb.
Stand still by you in photographs
while I move a thousand miles away
from where these prosaic lilacs bloom.

Oh I made love to you in dreams
I dreamed of having but didn’t.
I gave birth to children from my untouched womb.
Stood still by you in photographs
while I moved a thousand miles away
from where those prosaic lilacs bloomed.

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