Listen:
Hello, ny name is Sigurd Brørs. Here’s my contribution to the Strong Songs Outro Theme:
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Read:
I Suck At Syncopated Jazz
I’m a Norwegian guy who really loves Kirk Hamilton’s podcast show Strong Songs. Recently Kirk made the theme song available, and then I got the idea to musically demonstrate my admiration for him.
I walk a lot in the woods these days (with my 4 months old baby at my chest), so the first couple of days I kept my mind busy improvising a melody and some lyrics over the solo part of the song.
But I got very puzzled by the repeated syncopation in the song. Especially after the beat falls away midway, my mind always wanted to start the melody one beat too soon (around 0:58). I incorporated this problem – plus the fact that I always feel either irritated or inferior when I need to count beats to get music right – in these final lyrics, sung with a corresponding hick-up in the melody:
. . .
Kirk v3
Every other week
I’m enjoying Kirk Hamilton’s
show «Strong Strongs»
And I count along
to each one
including Kirk’s own strong outro song
But I get it wrong
In my simple mind I prefer
a simple time signature
and I suck at syncopated jazz
Must’ve missed that class
Here comes one part where I always lo… lose my time
It happens every … I’m
confused when Kirk is playing with my mind
(syncopating it)
Still I keep coming back, so thank you, Kirk!
Ah, you’re such a jazz jerk
But you’re my jazz jerk
Keep up the good work
. . .
But then something strange happened:
When practising the lyrics on my following wood walks, I suddenly got the timing, without counting, all right. But then … now the lyrics were all wrong instead!
So before I rigged up my microphone late one evening to record it, I had to change the lyrics once again, and ended up with this final final version:
. . .
Kirk v4
Every other week
I’m enjoying Kirk Hamilton’s
show «Strong Strongs»
And I count along
to each one
including Kirk’s own strong outro song
I used to get it wrong
In my simple mind I prefer
a simple time signature
and I suck at syncopated jazz
Up till now I’ve missed that class
Here comes one part where I always lost my time
It happened every .. I’m
getting better now as I let Kirk play with my mind
(syncopating it)
Can’t wait till the next strong song, so thank you, Kirk!
Ah, you’re such a jazz jerk
But you’re my jazz jerk
Keep up the good work
. . .
Finally, when listening back to the recording the day after, the hick-up had returned … Now I’m on and off, but I just have to rest my case!
. . .
A bit about myself:
I’m a (pop) songwriter and musician myself, but not by profession. One of the things that makes listening to Strong Songs so interesting and fun for me, is that Kirk gives many of my songwriting «tricks» names. I’m sure a lot of autodidact songwriters out there don’t know terminology like re-harmonizing, but still use such techniques all the time.
I took piano lessons from 8 to 14, but threw away all notation at 12, and regrettably didn’t focus on achieving any high technical standard – I just played my own tunes and pop favourites for fun. Then I picked up the guitar at 28, and immediately started writing songs again and formed my first band – The Others.
With my second band, Karl Barx (2000–2009), and my third, The Brørs (2012–), I have 3 albums and 1 single collection out on Spotify, so if you’re curious, here’s a 12 track playlist:
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