Ode to Mur Lafferty, podcaster of I Should Be Writing
songwriter
acoustic
folk
home recording
topical
1960s
Creative Commons license
Commercial uses of this track are NOT allowed
Adaptations of this track are NOT allowed to be shared
You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the artist
Story behind the song
I was looking for inspiration for NaSoAlMo, and so I was listening to some old I Should Be Writing (ISBW) episodes. This is a podcast for wanna-be fiction writers, but I have found that a lot of the same problems confront both fiction writers and songwriters. This podcast and The Homemade Hit Show, keep me going when I get frustrated and want to quit writing. In one of those old shows, the podcaster, Mur Lafferty (mightymur), mentioned that she wished that she had an intro to her feedback section. Well, when you have to write and record 26 minutes of music in a month, it is all grist for the mill. This is the result. After I wrote it, I realized that it could easily be a show tune from a musical about struggling authors, with the first two verses being sung by an older writer to a younger one, a dance number during the solo, then the last verse would be the younger writer as he wrote and email to Mur. … Or not.
Lyrics
Sometimes I have problems with my stories
My characters take control of what I write
The dialogue gets to expository
I get confused and I can’t sleep at night
There is someone who inspires me greatly
I listen to her when I need advice
When my inner critic aggravates me
Then I listen to each podcast twice
When my super macho manly hero
Loses all his courage and turns tail
When my gorgeous “ten” becomes a zero
And my A student goes from pass to fail
And who do I call when my evil goblin
Wants to give a puppy to his mom?
And if that dog’s a biting cur
That’s when I should be writing her
At MightyMur at gmail dot com
When my ingénue who knew too little
Wants to be a woman in the know
When my Vet who’s like Dr. Doolittle
Leaves his little kitty in the snow
When Jane, my high school antisocial socialist
Wants to take Rush Limbaugh to the prom
If Jane becomes a right-winger
That’s when I should be writing her
At MightyMur at gmail dot com
Solo
Who’s the one to call when I’m frustrated
And I have a problem with my plot?
Should my premise be so boldly stated?
Should I drop a clue or should I not?
Sometimes I get caught up in my story.
Where are these ideas coming from?
When it’s one big exciting blur
That’s when I should be writing her
At MightyMur at gmail dot com.