Songwriting Challenge #9, #9, #9, #9, #9, #9, #9, #9, #9

It's a new year and maybe the world is ending, but either way 2012 sounds pretty momentous. The year of the dragon also just started, so somebody told me. And it's a leap year. And don't anyone forget the Olympics! Basically what I'm trying to tell you is NOW is that moment you've been waiting for. Seize it! Answer the call of the songwriting challenge. Tell your friends and lazy spouses (no, I don't really think you're lazy, my sweetheart) and most importantly yourself to get wid it.

The challenge this time is simple. Write a song entitled "Heart Meet Brain" or possibly "Heart Meat Brain" or if this means anything to you, feel free to also try "Heart Mete Brain."

Keep the recording as simple as you can, and ship it off to rocktastica at gmail dot com by the end of February. I'm serious about deadlines this time because I'm having a freakin' baby in March and I'm not going to deal with this stuff. Also you have an extra day anyway this year. Seize it.

Winner!

Looks like "Barber Shop Maria" is the winner. Yeah, we had very few votes, and I know my sloth is partly to blame for this, so sorry for being a jerk-face. Anyway, it was a charming song, and that makes back-to-back wins for THAT guy. Congrats--you're on fire! I don't know if it's fair to win your own prompt, but there's no rule against it.

Vote for your favorite "advertising" song

Yes, it is beyond ridiculous how long it has taken me to upload the latest entries. Would you believe I was in a submarine accident? Suddenly the water was coming in and it was just so bubbly that it reminded me of a bubble bath I once took at the tender age of seven and how the fear of water moccasins coming through the faucet (I had heard stories--we lived in Texas then) and slipping under the bubbles so I couldn't see them gave me a panic attack. So, in the replay of the panic attack that was happening in the submarine I started running and slipped and banged my head on a pipe and that's all I remember until that tick-tick of my heart monitor woke me from a coma six weeks later.

Anyway, here are the entries. Listen and weep (in a good way, or maybe a bad way cause you done lost, fool).

Find all of the entries at the Songwriting Challenge 8 page on soundcloud.

Entries are in

We have five entries for the latest challenge. Expect them up sometime soon.

Challenge #8: The Advertease

As described by the previous winner:

The subject of this challenge is advertising. Take it wherever you want to go. Write a jingle. Use a classic line of advertising in your song. Sing about an offensive billboard you once saw. Or do something like this. Whatever, you are only limited by your own imagination (kind of like the Green Lantern).

Send your production-free recordings to rocktastica at gmail dot com by fall equinox, just because I am all about the equinox. As always, winner gets to gloat and pick the next challenge.

Advert:

So I was thinking about advertising, mainly because our last winner was also thinking about advertising and my job is to share his thoughts as custodian of the Songwriting Challenge blog, preferably in a way that gets everybody fired up to be musical. But since at this point I got nothing, I'll share with you what I learned about the word "advert." May it brighten your day.

From Merriam Webster:

You may be familiar with the noun "advert," which is used, especially in British sources, as a shortened form of "advertising." That's one way to use "advert," but it has also been used as a verb in English since the 15th century. There's a hint about the origin of the verb in the idea of "turning" the mind or attention to something; the word derives via Anglo-French from the Latin verb "advertere," which in turn comes from Latin "vertere," meaning "to turn." "Vertere" is the ancestor of a number of words in English, including "controversy," "divert," "invert," "revert," and even "versatile." In addition, we'd like to turn your attention to one particular ''vertere" descendant: "avert," meaning "to avoid." Be careful to avoid mixing this one up with "advert."

Challenge coming soon

We have a winner!

Congrats to the writer of "Visitor" as you are deemed the one who rocked the hardest for this contest. I know that my toddler voted for this song, as she found it the most sing-a-long-able of them all (she really did try and imitate the infectious "ha-ha"). It is also hard to ignore the raw power of such lyrics as "I don't know if we're genetically compatible but I know my emotions."

A secondary congrats is due to "When an Alien Offers to Take You Home With Her." This song was clearly written by an alien as manifest in the very pro-invasion stance it takes as well as the sheer other-worldly prettiness.

For the non-winners, you should know that you are all truly winners. And I don't mean that just in an "every time you try you win" sort of way--thought that is true. I mean that we had some seriously creative entries this time. I know I personally was torn between three possible choices. And I have to give a shout-out to "Pale Winnebago" which turned post-apocalypse into a fantastic alt-country-ish anthem of laziness. Gems like that are why this contest is worth having. And I'm just too tired of writing this to do any more shout-outs but I haven't even mentioned the song my own husband voted for and touted as pure brilliance--he has a point. Okay I'm done. Go forth and sing. Or whatever.