Rattling Demons (Glosa - Spirits by The Strumbellas)

Hope - The Strumbellas

Album Cover

Artist: The Strumbellas
Song: Spirits
Album: Hope
Label: Glassnote Records
Year: 2016
Genre: Alternative/Indie, Rock


Song Selection/Research:

After a couple of different thoughts and review of lyrics that I was not 100% sold on, I decided to review my playlist, Lately, which has been "lately" since August 2016. It includes three albums by three different artists, plus two additional songs one by one of the three artists and the other by a fourth artist. Having done a song already by the Strumbellas (and two by You + Me, also on the playlist), I thought another song by them might inspire. So, I searched up their lyrics (shortcut to listening to the whole song) and, not surprisingly, didn't have to go beyond their opening song to find my cabeza.

While I had my feelings about the song and its lyrics, I decided to conduct a brief search to see what I could find on the "meaning" of the song. Now most of the time this leads towards other interpretation of a given song, but in this case, I found an article on www.riffyou.com, About a Song: The Strumbellas Touch Upon "Spirits" where Simon Ward (of the Strumbellas) talks about the birth of the Spirits. "'Basically the song is about fighting your inner demons.... And this song is me saying to the world that I'm doing my absolute best right now to be a good person.'" I always like when my feelings about a song sync up with what was intended. And so, I selected the four lines for my cabeza.


Cabeza:

"And I don't want a never ending life
  I just want to be alive while I'm here

  And I don't want to see another night
  Lost inside a lonely life while I'm here"


The Writing Process:

(01/13/2018)
I managed the first five lines before realizing the difficulty of the first rhyme scheme. This lead me to ponder several options including the idea of incorporating the repetition line (not in the first line as an envelope glosa might, but) in the sixth line where the first rhyme is meant to show. Otherwise, my best options for rhyming with life include: wife, strife, and knife, along with variations that include those within them, such as midwife or wildlife. As I made my way to bed pondering these, I did settle on an idea which incorporated using strife along with the tenth line that would pair with “And I don’t want a never ending life,” would have a similar feel, ending with life. That was a couple of days ago and I admit I never got around to working those ideas in.

At the same time, while working on the work cited below, I had this second thought run though my head about trying to incorporate pieces of the song to add a bit of connection. I’d say that in some way, I have done that in the past and as I watched a video for the song, where the song lyrics popped across the screen, I realized that the repetition of the songs refrain was blocking me from the other verses. 

So I looked at the five lines I had already come up with and thought maybe they would be better placed in the last stanza. This will allow me to take a slightly different path, but I think it will work out a bit better in the long run. That said, I’ll let you know how it turns out.

(01/14/2018)

I’m four lines away from a finished piece. Oddly those four lines, which I just erased, were part of the original lines. As mentioned, I moved the lines from the first stanza to the last and completed the final stanza – or so I thought – first. I then went back to the first stanza with my thoughts on pulling from additional lyrics for inspiration. 

In the midst of composing this stanza, I found myself repeating a line (approximately) from the final stanza and thought, “hmm…that might make for a good repetition line in each stanza.” So, with that in mind, each stanza now contains a variation of “irrational thoughts rattling around in my head.”

I did find myself making some other shifts and doing a lot more erasing than expected. Of the four lines I erased, I moved one (sort of) to the start of the second stanza. I did, though I erased it at least three times, leave the Russian roulette idea in. For a moment, I was like “why do I want that bit in,” and then I was like, “duh, ‘I got guns in my head’.” So, it’s still in.

There is a part of me that is unsure about this glosa altogether and yet another part that kind of likes, at least some of, the ideas. Ironic I suppose as the piece itself talks speaks to the idea of contradictions, “I’m at odds with myself.” Anyway, I should hopefully put this one to rest today and begin pondering my next cabeza.

The Finished Piece:
(01/14/2018)

I’ve been torn about whether or not to share the glosa within this journaling. So for now, I’ve decided to share a part. While at the moment, I feel as though the cabeza and opening stanza make the most sense, who knows if I’ll stick to that in the future. That said, here is the beginning of “Rattling Demons”.

"And I don't want a never ending life

   I just want to be alive while I'm here

      And I don't want to see another night

         Lost inside a lonely life while I'm here"
                                                              –Spirits
                                                                The Strumbellas

Every night I stare at the freckled sky
& close my eyes to dreams yet to be fulfilled;
while singing to sleep the fear I won’t wake,
irrational thoughts rattle through my head –
demons unwilling to release me,
leaving me to fester in this strife
where my longing to feel the caress of another sun stirs
in contradiction to eyes dreaming to remain forever shut.
I don’t want an end to this life;
and I don’t want a never ending life.

…

…

…



Work Cited

Hustak, Joel. “Hope.” Cover Art Image.  The Strumbellas Unveil New Album: ‘Hope’, Exclaim!, 22 October 2015, https://exclaim.ca/music/article/strumbellas_unveil_new_album_hope.

RiffYou. “About Song: The Strumbellas Touch Upon ‘Spirits’.” Riffyou.com, 23 November 2015, http://www.riffyou.com/about-a-song-the-strumbellas-touch-upon-spirits/.

Six Shooter Records. “The Strumbellas – Spirits.” Online video. YouTube. YouTube, 21 August 2015. Web. 13 January 2018.

The Strumbellas. “Spirits.” Hope, Glassnote Records, 2016.