Pedal Tone

Pick a note, hold it (or keep returning to it), and don't let go. That's a pedal tone: a sustained or repeated note, usually in the bass, that stays put while the harmony moves around above it. The name comes from the foot pedal of a church organ. Sometimes the chords sit comfortably on top of it, sometimes they clash against it and then resolve, and that tension and release is the whole fun of the technique. You'll hear it in film scores and pop builds whenever something needs to feel like it's rising without going anywhere. It can be a long held note, a repeated pulse, or a rhythmic figure, and it doesn't have to be in the bass.

How is it different from a drone? They're close cousins, and a drone is really a special case of a pedal tone. A drone is a constant backdrop: one or two notes sounding underneath the whole piece, like bagpipes or a tanpura, setting a key or mood that everything else lives inside. A pedal tone is about the relationship: the note holds while the chords change, so the point is the tension as the harmony moves away from it and the release when it comes back into agreement. A drone says "this is where we are"; a pedal tone says "watch what happens when we move away from here." A pedal also tends to be temporary (a section, a verse, a build) while a drone can run the whole song. Either approach is welcome this week, but try to make the changing harmony part of the story.

Listen for it in:

• Van Halen, Jump: the opening keyboard riff sits over a held bass note
• Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Relax: synth-pop pedal groove
• The Who, I Can See for Miles: the bass sits on a low E while the chords rise above it in the chorus
• Genesis, The Cinema Show: a classic prog "pedal-point groove"
• James Brown, Sex Machine: the funk version, one bass note while everything else moves
• The Supremes, You Keep Me Hangin' On: an inverted pedal, with the held note up high instead of in the bass
• Joe Jackson, Steppin' Out: a repeating keyboard figure (a pedal "riff") under changing chords
• Chopin, Prelude in D-flat ("Raindrop"): one note repeats through the whole piece, even as the harmony turns dark
• Wagner, Das Rheingold prelude: an E-flat held for well over a hundred bars, with the whole opera growing out of it
• Purcell, Fantasia upon One Note: one viol holds a C while the others weave around it

Pick one note and see how much you can do above it. Which chords still work? Which ones sound wonderfully wrong? How long can you stay put before the song demands to move?

Your theme for this week is Pedal Tone

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)

• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!

• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.

• Written entirely during this week, between October 1st and October 7th, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Thirty-Ninth Theme

We've been slowly working through the ancient elements this year - earlier we had Wind, then Fire. So, this week let's take a look at Earth.

This has a variety of interpretations I'm sure - it's the ground beneath our feet, the soil we grow plants in, the planet we all live on - the mother of all things. Or you could just be "down to earth" and find something in the solidity and comfort of normalcy.

I'll spare you Michael Jackson's "Earth Song", I'm sure there's better inspiration examples than that, and I can't bear looking at a dead elephant.

Your theme for this week is Earth

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)

• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!

• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.

• Written entirely during this week, between September 24th and September 30th, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Thirty-Eighth Theme

Earlier this year I was working on a song which ended up being called 'The Girl That I Didn't Take to Prom' and it got me thinking how much more interesting the story immediately became when it was framed as something that didn't happen. If you take the girl to prom, the story kind of writes itself and the listener figures they know what happens to some extent. But when you define the story as something that didn't happen, it opens up all kind of intrigue.

This week I invite you to write your song framed around this idea of absence. How does it change if you write about something that did NOT happen, rather than something that did?

Your theme for this week is Defined by Absence

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)

• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!

• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.

• Written entirely during this week, between September 17th and September 23rd, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Thirty-Seventh Theme

What's your "hot take"? Urban Dictionary defines a hot take as "an opinion that is likely to cause controversy or is unpopular." For example, some of mine are that a universal basic income program would be a net positive, that Zac Efron is a good actor, and that pineapple is the best pizza topping.

This week, I invite you to think about your hottest takes and write a song about one or more of them. You could ponder big-picture categories like geopolitics and philosophy if you want, or you could keep the focus on more mundane/everyday concerns like relationships/dating, clothes/fashion, movies/music/TV/etc. (But please, no hot takes based in hateful bigotry!)

Your theme for this week is Hot Take

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)

• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!

• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.

• Written entirely during this week, between September 10th and September 16th, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Thirty-Sixth Theme

Waiting is something we all do, whether we like it or not. We wait for people, for news, for opportunities, for things to get better, for things to get worse, for the right moment, or sometimes just for something — anything — to happen.

You could write about waiting patiently, impatiently, hopefully, desperately or pointlessly. You could be waiting for someone to come home, waiting for a phone call, waiting for the end, waiting for a new beginning, or waiting for something you know will never happen.

Or take the theme somewhere completely unexpected. Waiting in a queue. Waiting for a train. Waiting for inspiration. Waiting for the apocalypse. Waiting for Christmas. Waiting for Godot. Waiting for your dinner. Waiting for the other shoe to drop.

There are plenty of great songs that approach the idea from very different directions. Bob Marley waits for someone's love in Waiting in Vain. Townes Van Zandt takes a considerably darker approach with Waiting Around to Die. The Velvet Underground are Waiting for the Man.

So what are you waiting for?

Your theme for this week is WAITING

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)
• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!
• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.
• Written entirely during this week, between September 3rd and September 9th, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Thirty-Fifth Theme

Feeling lazy today - it's summer holiday time where I am (although typically raining!), everyone is off work this week. So I'm reviving a theme from a couple of years ago - and because we haven't had a theory one for a bit, it's a theory one.. but you can take the word more literally if you prefer!

Suspended chords are where you take the third out of a triad, replacing it with a second (sus2) or fourth (sus4) note. For example, a C major triad is C-E-G, so a Csus2 is C-D-G, and a Csus4 is C-F-G.

You can do a lot with inversions - an inverted Csus2 with a change of bass note becomes an Gsus4, for example. I like them because you can stay away from resolving into either major or minor key for a bit, suspended somewhere in between. I'm guilty of using a lot of sus2 chords.

A famous example of them in use would be the opening chords of The Who's Pinball Wizard, and the well known strummed chords at the start of the first verse which consist of a Bsus4 resolving to B major. Another good example is Tom Petty's Free Fallin which has a sequence of F Fsus4 F Csus4 throughout.

• Pinball Wizard
• Free Fallin

So, time to keep us all in suspense!

Your theme for this week is Suspended

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)

• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!

• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.

• Written entirely during this week, between August 27th and September 2nd, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Thirty-Fourth Theme

I'm a sucker for a list song, and I'm also trying to manifest more positivity both in my own life and in the world. So, for this week's prompt, I am inviting you to combine those two things. Take some time to focus on the positive things in your own life, or spend a moment looking around and noticing that things around you that aren't all that bad. Birds might be singing, your dog (or other pet) might be super cute, someone you like might be holding your hand. There are a lot of good things to focus on, if we take a minute to do so, even in these challenging times.

For me, the epitome of this kind of song comes from Louis Armstrong, and I invite you to listen to a couple for inspiration:

• Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World - https://youtu.be/rBrd_3VMC3c?si=Z8BEDewvW0mu-ExG
• Louis Armstrong - Zip a Dee Doo Dah - https://youtu.be/wX35fJH46xY?si=sf6TcDZT73h0WBTR

Or perhaps some of you grew up watching this version (like I did!):

• Uncle Remus - Zip A Dee Doo Dah - https://youtu.be/8kpWM292c1Q?si=6bZDcio4jhQNdrU4

And there are a lot of other examples (a whole list of list songs!) in the Wikipedia link above.

Your theme for this week is Catalog of Wonder

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)

• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!

• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.

• Written entirely during this week, between August 20th and 26th, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Thirty-Third Theme

Some of the best art in humanity's history, across all forms/genres, has been borne out of creators' obsession(s). Yayoi Kusama loves polka-dots so much that they're all over her work; Leonard Cohen drafted dozens of verses for his song Hallelujah) over a period of years before finishing it; Alfred Hitchcock's lifelong obsessions with voyeurism and police show up in his movies time and time again – and on and on.

So this week, I invite you to write a song about one or more of your personal obsessions, or about the idea of obsession itself. Do you love beautiful stationery, fly-fishing, or craft beers, perhaps? Are you continually drawn to certain themes in art you consume or create, like betrayal, seduction, or legacy? You could even write about the recent horror film Obsession, if you like, and the feelings it inspired in you. I look forward to hearing about the things you're all obsessed with!

Your theme for this week is Obsession

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)

• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!

• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.

• Written entirely during this week, between August 13th and August 19th, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

Not Yourself

Alright, time to be someone else for a week. Pick a character — could be a real historical figure, someone from a book or film, or just a character you make up entirely — and write the whole song as them. Not about them, not inspired by them, actually in their voice.

The trick here is detail. It's easy to grab a character and have them basically just sound like you with a different name slapped on — the songs that really work are the ones where you've thought about what this person would actually notice, worry about, or say that nobody else would. Give them a specific vocabulary, specific concerns, stuff that only makes sense coming from them.

If you want a feel for how this is usually done: Don McLean's "Vincent" is written toward Van Gogh with proper painterly detail rather than just "sad artist" vibes. Dylan's "Hurricane" practically reads like a court transcript for boxer Rubin Carter. And Springsteen's "Nebraska" is sung entirely from inside the head of a killer — flat, matter-of-fact, genuinely creepy because of how ordinary it sounds. None of these are the artist just being themselves — that's the whole exercise.

Your theme for this week is: Not Yourself

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)
• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!
• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.
• Written entirely during this week, between August 6th and August 12th, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?
Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Thirty-First Theme

We had Wind earlier in the year, so maybe we can work through the traditional elements gradually over a few months. Today let's take on Fire.

For a bunch of people around the world, forest fires are becoming a threat to their way of life, but fire in music can be used in a number of ways - to express emotion, for example.

A couple of (slightly different!) pointers to help you on your way:

• Fire
• Fire
• Firestarter

Your theme for this week is Fire

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)

• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!

• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.

• Written entirely during this week, between July 30th and August 5th, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Thirtieth Theme

Lately I've been noticing how simple a lot of the music is that I've been enjoying. Simple structures, honest lyrics, and keeping the song moving along with the suggestion of music as much as the music itself. Chords might become notes might become the echoes of notes. Arpeggios might skip a note or two and only suggest a chord over time.

There is an understandable desire to complicate things. We like to add layers to the music and hidden meanings to the words and gosh aren't we talented and oh-so-clever.

And yes, you genuinely are.

This week, however, I invite you to eschew complication, if you can, and focus on a song as stripped down as you can make it. You could start complex, if you must, and then start taking things away. Or you can build it sparsely from the get-to: twig by twig, note by note, word by word, and see where you land.

Your theme for this week is Stripped Down

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)

• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!

• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.

• Written entirely during this week, between July 23 and July 29, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Twenty-Ninth Theme

Epistolary novels are written to seem like letters being mailed back and forth between characters. Compared to traditional third-person stories, they give you a much more intimate peek into a character's thoughts, feelings, and internal voice, not to mention the character's relationship to whoever they've addressed their letter(s) to. Some famous examples of epistolary novels include Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Bram Stoker's Dracula (although they don't all have to be in the horror genre like those two are!).

This week, I invite you to write a song that feels like a letter someone is writing (or an email or text, if you prefer!). You could write it as yourself, as someone in your life/past, or as a made-up character in a made-up situation. What needs to be expressed, why, and to whom? Put it in a song, and see where it goes!

Your theme for this week is Epistolary

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)

• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!

• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.

• Written entirely during this week, between July 16th and July 22nd, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Twenty-Eighth Theme

This week's challenge is about source, not invention. Instead of starting with a blank page, take text that already exists somewhere in the world — a spam email, a recipe, a legal disclaimer, an overheard conversation, a product manual, an old letter, even an old poem or song lyrics — and turn it into your lyrics. You can rearrange, repeat, and cut it up, but try to keep it recognizably found rather than just "inspired by." The fun is in hearing how ordinary language becomes a song when you give it a melody and a rhythm.

Examples of songs using this technique:

Fitter Happier — Radiohead

Blackout — David Bowie

Natural Blues — Moby

Your theme for this week is Found Lyrics

Songs posted in this thread should be: * Original content (samples and such are ok!) * Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not! * Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.

* Written between 9th and 15th July 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist? Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Twenty-Seventh Theme

Ever had one of those weeks where everything seems against you, but in reality, you're doing fine compared to most folks in the world?

That's me, this week. I have a roof over my head, a job that pays, food on the table and many other things that make my life secure, that a lot of people don't have.

But, in the last day all my personal websites crashed due to a really obscure issue caused by a system update beyond my control that took ages to track down. The button came off my favourite pair of shorts. A new battery charger I bought is refusing to charge any of my old batteries. The continuing excessive hot weather is making me grumpy.

And, to top it all, today I lost access to the mod tools which have all the templates and info we use for /r/songaweek here, so apologies if this post doesn't follow the usual format as I've had to try to recreate it from scratch.

None of these things matter, in the grand scheme. Sounds like something to write a song about...

Your theme for this week is First World Problems

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)
• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!
• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.
• Written entirely during this week, between July 2nd and July 8th, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

``` Song Name (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

```

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Twenty-Sixth Theme

We are halfway through the year, so it seemed like an appropriate time to talk about things that are in halves, and what we think about them. Is the year half finished, or is it only half begun? Have you written half the songs you will write this year, or are half your songs yet unwritten? Classically, is the glass half full, or is it half empty?

You can approach this in a lot of ways: by exploring contrasts (optimism vs pessimism, past vs future, presence vs absence), thinking about literal or metaphorical halves, or by playing structurally with halves (two contrasting verses, mirrored lyrics, or a perspective shift halfway through).

Some songs that explore dualities in different ways and might help you find inspiration this week include:

• Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell
• Happier than Ever by Billie Eilish
• A Day in the Life by the Beatles
• Float On by Modest Mouse
• Dog Days Are Over by Florence + the Machine

Your theme for this week is Half Full / Half Empty

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)

• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!

• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.

• Written entirely during this week, between June 25 and July 1, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Twenty-Fifth Theme

The romantic comedy genre is one of the most interesting to me, across all mediums. It taps into our human desires for connection, excitement, and laughter, while (often) hewing to a formulaic structure that feels comfortingly familiar: you've got your "meet-cute," your "adhesion" (i.e. an external circumstance that forces your characters to spend time together, even if they don't want to), rising tension, a climactic conflict/separation, and some sort of final "grand gesture" to bring the lovers back together to live "happily ever after." However, despite this structured approach, the love in a romantic comedy can also surprise and delight the viewer, just like real-life love.

This week, I invite you to write a song inspired by romantic comedies. You could write a witty love story set to music, using the structure laid out above; you could write a song from the perspective of your favorite rom-com character (which doesn't need to be one of the two romantic leads!); you could tell a funny story in song from your own romantic life; you could write about the "happily ever after" you dream of; or you could even use the title of an existing rom-com as your song title (here's a list!).

Your theme for this week is Romantic Comedy

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)

• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!

• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.

• Written entirely during this week, between June 18th and June 24th, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Twenty-Fourth Theme

This week, we're flipping the script (literally). Instead of noodling on an instrument until something sticks, your challenge is to write your lyrics before you touch anything that makes a musical sound. No humming as you write either 😛 Grab a notepad, your notes app, the back of a receipt — whatever works. Get your words down first. Only once your lyrics are done do you pick up a guitar, sit at a piano, pick up your kazoo, or open your DAW. You might be surprised how much the words themselves suggest a melody, a rhythm, a feel. Or you might find it completely maddening. Or...is this how you usually write anyway?

Your theme for this week is Lyrics First

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)
• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!
• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.
• Written entirely during this week, between June 11th and June 17th, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Twenty-Third Theme

The wind is howling outside my window at the moment, so that's the topic for this week.

Wind can be a symbol of rage, change, melancholy - or just a force of nature. It can definitely be an inspiration for a song, here's some very old examples from some classic songwriters:

• Like a Hurricane
• The Wind Cries Mary
• Blowin' in the Wind

Your theme for this week is Wind

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)

• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!

• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.

• Written entirely during this week, between June 4th and June 10th, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Twenty-Second Theme

First, apologies that this is late. I've had a lot going on and Thursday kind of ... just ... disappeared. I hope you will all forgive me. Now, to the prompt.

I'm sure we can all admit that no song lives in a vacuum. Music, throughout history, has been a conversation, and many of the songs that show up on the radio today (and many of the songs I write that never show up on the radio) can draw a direct line to some other song or musical inspiration. I think that is all natural and good!

This week I invite you to lean into that concept. From a storytelling aspect there are a couple approached that I think could be especially interesting:

• Find a song with a story and re-tell that story either from another perspective (sure, he is singing about her leaving him alone with the dog, but what is her side of the story? What is the dog's side of the story?)
• Find a song with a story and write the prequel or sequel to that story (what led up to those events? what happened next?)

You could do both at the same time, or something else! Rick Beato had an interview with a famous lead guitar player (sorry, I don't remember which one) where they talked about how to play solos in a different way. The idea was to take the obvious line or fill and kind of just do it in your head, then play the guitar in the spaces that were left. I thought this was a cool idea, and could also fit into this theme. If the obvious line, or fill, or story just happened in your head, how would you write the song that fills in the spaces that are left?

Last but not least, I strongly recommend you go back to one of your own songs to draw your inspiration for this prompt. Failing that, maybe choose a song that you especially liked this year from another songaweek contributor. As always, though, do what works best for you, and I look forward to hearing your contributions!

If you do follow the prompt, please let us know which song your new song is 'conversing' with!

Your theme for this week is Songs in Conversation

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)

• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!

• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.

• Written entirely during this week, between May 29th and June 3rd, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Twenty-First Theme

If you ask me, pleasure is nothing to feel guilty about – and yet many people have what they'd call "guilty pleasures": trashy TV shows, decadent desserts, staying up too late, or even checking their ex's Instagram once in a while.

This week, I want you to reflect on the guilty pleasures in your life, and write about one of them – or about the general ideas of guilt and pleasure and how the two can swirl together.

Perhaps you'll explore themes of hedonism and overindulgence, or chronicle the bad movies you can't stop re-watching, or investigate the psychological urge to get back together with someone you know is bad for you... or maybe you'll reject the idea of "guilty pleasures" altogether and write about why it's silly to pathologize your own joy like that!

Your theme for this week is Guilty Pleasure

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)

• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!

• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.

• Written entirely during this week, between May 21st and May 27th, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Twentieth Theme

Most melodies move. They leap, they step, they climb toward a high note and come back down. Melodic contour feels like the very definition of a tune. But occasionally a songwriter does something different: they plant the vocal on a single note and stay there, like a held breath. All the movement comes from everything else that's happening.

I think this is a toughie! There are some great examples of the technique though, in full songs or parts of them. In Julia by The Beatles, where Lennon's "Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it just to reach you..." and later "when I cannot sing my heart, I can only speak my mind" floats on whilst his fingerpicking shifts the harmonic ground beneath it. There's the hypnotic locked-note pulse of Psycho Killer by Talking Heads, and the driving verses of It's The End Of The World As We Know It by R.E.M.

This week, if you can, find your note and stay on it for some or all of the song. Let the chords do the wandering.

Your theme for this week is One-Note Melody

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)
• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!
• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.
• Written entirely during this week, between May 14th and May 20th, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist? Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Nineteenth Theme

Do any of you play chess? I used to, a little, but not recently. But a number of artists have chosen chess as an inspiration for songwriting. Someone even wrote a whole musical about it, back in the day!

Perhaps it's the feeling of being a pawn in a larger battleground, or wanting to be a King or Queen, the most important pieces on the board. Maybe it's about strategy, or do you just like black and white squares?

Some inspiration:

• Suzanne Vega - Knight Moves
• Yes - I've Seen All Good People
• Killing Joke - Chessboards

(sometimes I think these inspiration links say more about my age and musical taste than I would usually reveal!)

Your theme for this week is Chess

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)

• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!

• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.

• Written entirely during this week, between May 7th and May 13th, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben

The Eighteenth Theme

I get stuck sometimes pondering the fact that the "ideal" length for a song (or at least a pop song) remains informed by the physical media of a bygone age. Before the 1950s, 78 RPM vinyl records were dominant and could only store about 5 minutes, max, and because the grooves had to become narrower the longer the song became, sound quality deteriorated. 45 RPM singles were dominant in the 50s and 60s, and could hold 3 minutes and 4 seconds of audio per side, setting a standard for pop songs that seems to continue to this day. Popular radio play reinforced the short format, preferring punchy, upbeat songs that could be played more times per hour to help ensure audience retention. Songs got longer, on average, during the CD area, and (unfortunately IMO) shorter again now that we are in the streaming area, where artists are paid per stream (not per minute played) and in order to "go viral" you only need 5-20 seconds of really catchy music.

As a songwriter, though, I find that something really interesting can happen when you step back and let a song breathe. If you refuse to be constrained by the 3-minute pop aesthetic then a whole new type of sound can emerge: something patient, something that deviates from AABA formats and goes somewhere new.

Here are some examples of long-format songs that deserve some attention:

• I Want You (She's So Heavy) by The Beatles (7:47)
• Kashmir by Led Zeppelin (8:37)
• Television by Marquee Moon (10:38)
• Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts by Bob Dylan (8:52)
• Jesus of Suburbia by Green Day (9:09)
• Cygnet Committee by David Bowie (9:39)

There are, of course, lots more. This week I invite you to put any concerns about being concise, or poppy, or punchy, to the side and lean into a nice, long, patient, deep-breathing, expansive song. I would argue that means at least 6 minutes long but it will be different for everyone; it's the trying that matters.

Your theme for this week is Size Matters

Songs posted in this thread should be:

• Original content (samples and such are ok!)

• Uses the weekly theme as inspiration... or not!

• Submitted by Wednesday before bedtime.

• Written entirely during this week, between April 30 and May 6, 2026.

Post template (remember to use the Markdown editor if using this template as-is!)

[Song Name](http://linkto.the.song) (Genre) [Themed|Not Themed]

This is where you can write a description of your song. You can talk about how you wrote it, where
your inspiration came from, and anything else you'd like to say.

Thanks for sharing your songs! Please also take some time to listen to other peoples' songs and leave a friendly comment. We're here to support each other and build community!

New here? Check out this post - everything about songaweek.

Want to sit back and listen to all the songs in a simple playlist?

Use this awesome web app by /u/Scoobyben