#skirmish #songwriter #meta What a fun skirmish! I literally have several envelopes stuffed with restaurant receipts, 3x5 index cards, torn pieces of notebook paper, etc. that have accumulated for decades. There's probably a reason the lyrics were abandoned at the time, and with the daily news providing more than enough inspiration, no need to go back, right? I also have cassettes and floppy discs with file formats that no longer open. Somewhere in all of this, there's a song. So, finish those fragments! Verse 2 strung together several fragments, but I had to go #meta on the song-writing process to tie it all together. And this is the right (and probably only) audience that could appreciate it.

Addendum (90 minutes later) Demo posted, but it's not quite right. One take vocals. Maybe too slow. And not enough thought into melody or chord changes. Also thinking about using a more rhythmic beat (Bo Diddley inspired) or even a hip-hop approach. Add this to the #bad song file for now.

Finish the fragments! ©2026 raspberry33

Verse 1: There are five brown envelopes in my desk D G, D With scraps and scribbling, mostly Kafkaesque D G, A Clipboards, spiral notebooks and mild regret Em G That not one single idea made it onto cassette. A A

Prechorus: Searched my hard discs for files tagged “never used” G G Some with extensions that have me confused A A7 Grabbed unpolished lines, and incomplete takes G Bm Threw them all together to bake… A A7

Chorus: There’s a song in here, somewhere, hiding in plain sight D G,D On 3x5 index cards scribbled late at night D G, A On lined legal pads, in brown shopping bags Em G There’s a song, in here, somewhere. A D

Verse 2: A little bit different, but mostly the same You’ve got to be kidding, no that’s just insane My mind’s so polluted, I must let it drain You’re breaking up, sounds like you’re on a subway train

Prechorus: Who said thoughts should be cohesive G G Solid drums and bass will be the adhesive A A7 With the right hook they’ll still sing along A A7 I think to myself; yeah, we’ve got a song! A A7

Chorus: There’s a song in here, somewhere, hiding in plain sight D G,D On 3x5 index cards scribbled late at night D G, A On lined legal pads, on brown shopping bags Em G There’s a song, in here, somewhere. A D

Chorus: There’s a song in here, somewhere, if I can open this file Though it’s software I haven’t used in a while Is it MIDI or ADAT or MP4A There’s a song, in here, somewhere -

Outro: So many stories, how many are true? Patch things together with Super Glue Why were these abandoned, I think I know There’s a song in here somewhere, so let’s go