I have been writing song lyrics since I was a teenager but, for many years, they got written and then just placed into folders or stuffed into drawers. Does that sound familiar? I reckon there are a lot of people out there who love music and love writing but don’t have the musical background (or acquaintances) to see those lyrics translated into songs.
My life as a lyric writer changed when I stumbled upon a website called www.Kompoz.com. It’s a music collaboration website and enables lyric writers to team up with singers, guitarists, drummers, triangle players … Kompoz is a perfect example of how the Internet can be sooo amazing. I love that it’s bringing people from across the world to work together. And some of the musical results are outstanding!
Since then, I’ve also collaborated with musicians on the MuseSongWriters website, FAWM, and the 50 90 Challenge. All great sites!
Here are a few of my lyrics that you might like to check out. I’ve included snippets from each (just so as not to make the page too long) but have also linked to the full lyrics and (where applicable) to the finished song.
C’mon Emma
As a big tennis fan, I’ve been captivated by this year’s US Open and especially by the amazing exploits of 18 year old Emma Raducanu.
So I decided to write some lyrics about her. There’s a couple of special mentions for other British tennis players – see if you can spot them.
C’mon Emma
(Verse 1)
She’s the new girl on the scene
Hardly puts a foot wrong
She’s an inspiring teen
Deserves her own song
(Verse 2)
She’s the new New York queen
Hasn’t even dropped a set
How is she so serene?
Never seems to frown or fret
(Pre Chorus)
Hit the ball on the rise
Never give up
Fight ‘til the death
To get your hands on the cup
(Chorus)
All those dreams of glory
That played out in your mind
All those dreams of glory
Now it’s time to shine
C’mon Emma, yeah
C’mon Emma
You can win it, yeah
C’mon Emma
(Verse 3)
We’ve waited so many years
Finally Andy came along
Suffered hardships and tears
Can’t believe Elena’s gone
(Verse 4)
But now that’s all in the past
We have found a shooting star
Headed for the top so fast
Snuck up just off the radar
(Pre Chorus)
Hit the ball on the rise
Never give up
Fight ‘til the death
To get your hands on the cup
(Chorus)
All those dreams of glory
That played out in your mind
All those dreams of glory
Now it’s time to shine
C’mon Emma, yeah
C’mon Emma
You can win it, yeah
C’mon Emma
Written by Simon Wright
(September 2021)
Trouble’s Coming
I wrote this in September 2020, so long before the riots that the world witnessed when pro-Trump crowds stormed the Capitol. However, the lyrics’ reference to ‘riot trouble’s coming’ sounds quite prophetic now. I like to think though that no matter which side people may be on with regards US politics, they would sympathise with the plight of the guy in this song, as the riot that’s headed his way is his angry wife!
Italian musician Michele Panciera has created music for my lyrics, so we are now looking for a singer to help us progress the song!
Trouble’s Coming
(Verse 1)
Well, there’s a hard rain falling
I’m propping up the bar,
No point in going home
So I’ll have another jar.
The bar man knows my name
And he knows what I like,
Knows more about me than
My mama or my wife.
Especially my wife …
(Verse 2)
There’s a TV in the corner
Got the latest news,
Says riot trouble’s coming
Everyone’s on a short fuse.
So I’ll have another jar, barkeep
Just line them up for me,
Looks like I’ll have to stay the night
But I don’t need to sleep
(Chorus)
We got bar food
We got bottles of beer
We got the good times on tap
All the guys are here
I don’t need no troubles that are building up outside
This bar can be my bubble, it’s a good place to hide!
(Verse 3)
Then there’s a drop in the noise
A chill runs through the crowd,
I know who’s standing there
Before I even turn around.
The bar man knows my wife
And tips me the nod,
He’s a good man
I know he’ll say a prayer to his God.
(Verse 4)
I say the TV in the corner’s
Got the latest news,
Riot trouble’s coming,
Everyone’s on a short fuse!
So I have to stay here, darling
It’s the safest place to be,
Didn’t want to stay the night
Heck, I guess I’ll get no sleep.
(Chorus)
We got bar food – (We got burgers and wings)
We got bottles of beer (Ice cold beer)
We got the good times on tap
Everybody’s here – (Yeah!)
We don’t need no troubles that are building up outside
This bar can be our bubble, we need to stay inside
(Spoken)
And that’s how the riot started, yer honour
(Chorus)
We got a bar fight
With thrown bottles of beer,
My wife’s a damned tornado
Get the army in here!
Turns out the trouble that was building up outside
Has blown in from the streets looking for a fight
Yeah, Trouble’s coming
The fuse has been lit,
Trouble’s coming
I’ve been scratched, punched, and bit.
Yeah, Trouble’s coming
The fuse has been lit,
Barkeep, I’ll need a whiskey
When I’m through with this!
Written by Simon Wright
(September 2020)
Full Lyrics: Trouble’s Coming Document (kompoz.com)
Gallifrey (co-written with Elizabeth Auzan)
Gallifrey
Gallifrey
My planet, my far-flung galaxy
War caused you to be blown away
Oh, my hearts beat for Gallifrey.
Endlessly,
Move through time and space elegantly
Fellow castaways accomp’ny me.
Seem doomed to wander endlessly
But, Who am I to cry.
I always Regenerate
Though Daleks hunt me
Shrieking Exterminate
Gallifrey
Oh, you seem forever lost to me
But I can dream of what yet might be
My hearts still beat for Gallifrey
But, Who am I to cry.
I always Regenerate
Though Daleks hunt me
Shrieking Exterminate
Gallifrey
Oh, you seem forever lost to me
But I can dream of what yet might be
My hearts still beat for Gallifrey
Written by Simon Wright & Elizabeth Auzan
(May 2020)
Six Foot Six Jimi
(Verse 1)
Down in the boneyard
Pickin’ through the ol’ cars,
Searching for a nickel
In a world of steel.
I tell you life’s so hard
Scraping broken jam jars,
Making do with nuthin’
When you need a meal.
(Chorus)
Six foot six Jimi
Begs for sticks,
So he can make a fire
For its warm glow.
Full lyrics: https://www.kompoz.com/music/collaboration/698703/file/698707
Finished song: https://www.soundblend.com/store/release/796446
Isabella Belladonna
(Verse 1)
School days spent on riverbanks
We’d walk to that old church,
Its walls were falling down
Grounds reclaimed by oak and larch.
Our faces painted
What a sight,
To set ‘fore that old God;
We talked like we didn’t care
But we cared a lot.
(Pre Chorus)
Hanging at the graveyard
Picking petals,
Whilst listening to corroding
Heavy metal. (Brief guitar feedback sound?)
We didn’t need no school lessons,
To understand the true essence,
Of love and life
And wrong and right.
(Chorus)
Oh Isabella Belladonna
Tell me what have you done?
I thought I was the weak one
You were always so strong.
Full lyrics: https://www.kompoz.com/music/collaboration/794664/file/794671
Ghosts
(Verse 1)
With hands crossed on chests
In coffins of wood,
In graves marked and honoured
Buried in their suits.
That’s how we bury our dead
That’s how we buried our dead
When they came to our town.
(Verse 2)
With limbs bloodied flung
In pits in the ground,
Spat on pi**ed on
Piled high in a mound
That’s how we bury their dead.
That’s how we buried their dead
When we came to their town.
(Chorus)
Ghosts that haunt us
With whispers at night
Ghosts that reproach us
With innocent eyes.
Full Lyrics: https://www.kompoz.com/music/collaboration/719512/file/719513
Finished Song: https://www.soundblend.com/store/release/801909
Always in my arms
(Intro)
Looking at old photographs
Like well-trod paths marked out on maps,
Remembering sweet moments shared
It’s hard to think they’re in the past.
(Verse 1)
I can see
You’re still there,
Always in my memory.
I can feel
You right here,
won’t let go of this reverie.
(Pre Chorus)
But I don’t believe you’ve
Gone so soon,
Too good for this world.
(Chorus)
How can I go on now
When you’re not here?
Hold you close
Always in my arms
Never let you go.
Full Lyrics: https://www.kompoz.com/music/collaboration/715092/file/715093
Finished Song: http://www.soundblend.com/store/release/747492
Peace wall
(Intro)
Ragged city
Graffiti on a wall,
Barbed wire hearts
Ensnare us all.
Two kids kicking cans
Separated just by chance,
Dirt engrained under fingernails
In this embittered land.
(Chorus)
Yeah, I think it would be nice
If I could knock down your peace wall,
It would be really nice (really nice)
If these barriers could fall.
(Verse 1)
We don’t have to build with bricks
When we could build our friendship tall,
You don’t have to hide your face
Just let me bring down your peace wall.
Full Lyrics: https://www.kompoz.com/music/collaboration/713636/file/713894
Finished Song: https://www.kompoz.com/music/collaboration/713636/file/715406
Portraits of war (Co-written with Justin Serrano)
(Verse 1)
I sketch a calloused face
Those eyes still glint despite the pain,
Mud runs like mascara
Tear drop tracks made by the rain.
The bombs explode like fireworks
As we shoot the jolly breeze,
Young Johnston’s in the corner
Looking like he’s just asleep.
(Chorus)
Portraits of war
Portraits of war
Life, the bloody canvass
Stained crimson to the core
Portraits of war.
(Bridge)
As the fires burn
And the dying cry,
I sketch worn faces
Under a darkening sky.
As the pages turn
My pencil blunts,
I look back at all the names
What feels like years,
Has been just months.
Full Lyrics: https://www.kompoz.com/music/collaboration/773039/file/779914
Finished Song: https://www.soundblend.com/store/release/782872
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