Monthly MeFiMu Challenge thread - May edition

Thanks to everyone who submitted a tune for the April Challenge! If you have any thoughts on it, points you'd like to make, whatever, feel free. Also welcome here: ideas for future Challenges. Also, I'll go ahead and post the May Challenges (two this month) here, and they'll also be in the usual spot very soon. Looking forward to hearing what everyone comes up with for this next round. Fire up the recorders!

May 2009 Challenges:

Challenge #1: 'cover,' so to speak, the very first song you ever wrote, or if you can't remember which one that was, one of your earliest songs. Take the song and update it with your current skills, sensibilities, instruments and recording capabilities. And if you just happen to have an older recording of it, post that in the same file, or on a nearby or consecutive day, so we can compare! Please tag your submission: "remake", as well as the usual "mefimusicchallenge". --- suggested by ORthey (with some slight additions from flapjax)

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Challenge #2: make... chase scene music! Please tag your submission: "chasescene" and/or "chase", as well as the usual "mefimusicchallenge". --- suggested by Hoopo

posted by flapjax at midnite (19 comments total)

I think we should all cover Seven Nation Army.
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 3:39 PM on May 1, 2009 [5 favorites]

These aren't exactly easy peasie fosheezy japoneezy, but hell, it's Friday night and I have a 12pack of PBR! Woo Hoo! Ya never know what might happen!

Karlos, thanks for reminding me of that. I couldn't check it out at work today.
posted by snsranch at 4:40 PM on May 1, 2009

I like these ones. I'm guessing this will be another good month.

Dagosto recommended this idea, and I thought I would pass it on. Recording outside (or maybe just in an unconventional location?) would bring out some really neat stuff, I think. Plus, it'll be Summer next month.
posted by Corduroy at 4:41 AM on May 4, 2009

Oh man...it might be too embarrassing to cover the first song I ever wrote, which was a crude, sing-songy takedown of all of my jr. high school teachers. The couple of lyrics I recall are pretty painful.
posted by orville sash at 2:46 PM on May 4, 2009

The couple of lyrics I recall are pretty painful.

Gotta suffer for your art, man.

But then, should we have to suffer for your art as well? Hmmm...as Johnny Caspar said, "an innerestin' ethical question."
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:11 PM on May 4, 2009

The couple of lyrics I recall are pretty painful.

It's all in the delivery. Make it work!
posted by dobie at 8:24 PM on May 4, 2009

which was a crude, sing-songy takedown of all of my jr. high school teachers

Um.... I really, really want to hear this.
posted by ORthey at 10:46 AM on May 5, 2009

I hooked up a tape player to my line-in and digitized my high school band's album last night. It's both better and worse than I remember. I might make entries to both challenges this month.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:06 AM on May 5, 2009

Oh, OK, in that case, I'm done.
posted by NemesisVex at 1:12 PM on May 5, 2009

Oh, man. I posted my first song before (and jesus, that was almost three years ago?), but never sat down to re-record any time after what was like 1998. I should maybe sit down and give it an honest go at a rework.

It's hard singing old, wow-yikes lyrics.
posted by cortex at 10:47 AM on May 6, 2009

Hahah, everyone needs to listen to the original recording of cortex's first song! Oh my goodness. I feel like you shouldn't ditch the noises!
posted by Corduroy at 11:19 AM on May 6, 2009

I am kind of tempted to re-record it. But how the hell do I explain the lyrics to my girlfriend or anyone else that might hear them? And how could Metafilter ever look at me the same again?
posted by orville sash at 11:46 AM on May 6, 2009

Ah, fuck it. I'll do it. Gimme a week or two.
posted by orville sash at 11:46 AM on May 6, 2009

Yay!
posted by cortex at 12:46 PM on May 6, 2009

Okay, so, in my garage right now, somewhere, is an old cassette of a song I did at 3am on the floor of my Chicago apartment, trying not to wake my roommates up, using all of their equipment (because I had none of my own), and singing lyrics I made up line-by-line (pausing the tape in between) in an intentionally bad voice. But it was compelling, because it was so in the moment. I think maybe, with all my experience and practice and whatnot, all I'd end up doing is creating something far, far worse, for being overthought.

And so maybe I'll do it. Maybe.
posted by davejay at 2:11 AM on May 10, 2009

Did I mention it was the first song I can remember writing, if you'd call it that, and that I still remember a few of the lyrics, sixteen-odd years later, at least? The first verse, just to give you a glimpse into the awful:


The candles left a waxy stain
I followed you out in the rain
You said that this was not the time
I sung you songs by Patsy Cline


Oh, and I was dating goths at the time. I may have been influenced.

hangs his head in shame
posted by davejay at 2:16 AM on May 10, 2009

davejay, you dropped Patsy Cline's name in your first song. Take that head hanging in shame and HOLD IT HIGH!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:20 AM on May 10, 2009

Okay, just posted one. Man. It's amazing how differently you remember stuff after several years.
I mentioned that my remake came out sounding a bit Gordon Lightfoot-y to me, which just occurred to me as appropriate because this whole challenge is sort of what Lightfoot did with his 1975 greatest hits album Gord's Gold, for which he re-recorded all his old 60's hits because he didn't like them anymore. He was the proto-Lucas/Speilberg, turning guns into walkie-talkies.
posted by chococat at 9:33 PM on May 14, 2009

I just finished one, and I'm quite pleased. It was weird because I have alway made looping sample music so I remixed one of the only old songs I could find. I wonder if any of the music I uploaded in the days of mp3.com still survives anywhere...



I hope not.
posted by fuq at 11:41 PM on May 16, 2009