It was a good session today for round three at Donegan. I was prepared by pre-writing some material for today. I had no luck trying to start from scratch on the song, but was able to gather some ideas and basic words to work from: hurricane, draught, solar and wind energy, etc. So, I was able to craft three couplets and quatrains to work from and it worked well for what we have to do to perform something in two weeks.
I used the scarves for a warm-up: movement, emotions, accessories (a new one) and a brief Jelly in the Dish. I then brought out copies of my lyrics and we dived in, line by line, in trimming out the extra words, while giving me an opportunity to work on the melody and chords. As it turned out, by getting the kids to work on individual lines in repetition, they started to sing them out loud. All to the good.
The couplets were based on the negative effects of climate change, each starting with “Turn on the news”, “Turn on the weather”, “Turn on the radio.”
The quatrains (and chorus) reflected what can be done: solar, wind and tidal. I left off the final line in each of the three verses and we worked hard on writing the last line. We got the first done and will work on the other two next week. They will be prepared for the process and I feel we can wrap it up in time for our show.
Title: to be determined…
Turn on the news, see forests ablaze. Em / D
Smoky Lehigh Valley skies for days and days. Em / D C
Let’s make a change – start with you and me. G / C
We can make a change in our community. D / G
Solar power can be stored in a battery. G / C
And that’s what really matters to me. D / G B7
- Turn on the weather, see a hurricane. Em / D
Our weather is wild, things don’t seem the same. Em / D C
Let’s make a change – start with you and me.. G / C
We can make a change in our community. D / G
Windmills catch the wind and makes electricity. G / C
…. tba
- Turn on the radio and we hear that things are really dry. Em / D
There’s a heat wave going, feels like a hundred five. Em / D C
Let’s make a change – start with you and me. G / C
We can make a change in our community. D / G
The tides go in and out, and we can store that energy. G / C
…. tba
I envision using the scarves after we sing the song. Have the kids run out into the audience with the scarves while I play the refrain on stage, and then, when they return, we’ll do a ‘super-star’ at the end. I think this will be pretty cool.
I learned that the kids don’t have to do all the work and that they’ll pick enough from the modifying, singing, rehearsing and the limited writing to get something valuable from the process. That’s my lesson.