Day 9: Serendipity knocks

Inspiration returned today, two songs written before I'd showered. One, Shoelaces, I actually wrote lyrics for in the bathroom:

Stood in the bathroom
Looking in mirror
Symmetry reflected in its face
My eyes
And my lips
And my hands that grip
The rim of the porcelain basin

The tick tock
Flip flop
Nice juxtaposition
Happy couples walking arm in arm

The black white
Wrong right
Binary opposition
Sad couples doing each other harm

Sat on the bed
Tying my shoelaces
Something I learned to do long ago
These shoes should travel
To exciting places
Get steady
Get ready
Now we go

One day I want to write a lyric about mirrors with two verses exactly mirroring each other - this isn't it, obviously, but I quite like it. Coincidentally I'm halfway through watching Tarkovsky's Mirror (I get free DVD rentals from the library at the college where I work. The choices are all on the cerebral side).

The other song came as I messed around with Reaktor (music software), I ended up with something that made me think of the films I watched as a kid in the 80s... There were lots of films with aerial fly-bys of characters driving cars across the Brooklyn Bridge as I remember it. I couldn't be specific about which ones, but it's a memory I have. The lyrics aren't finished but are about that.

I then decided to go and visit an art gallery. At first I thought I would go to one of the big exhibitions, but after reading up I started to feel some sympathy and empathy for the little shows, the lesser-known artists lacking the critics' recommendations. So I made my way to a little gallery on Vyner Street to see an exhibition called Sights from a Steeple, which garnered a lowly 3 out of 6 stars from Time Out's art critic. The gallery was closed. I don't think I understand visual art. Still, serendipity was on my side - I've been running over a song about art versus skill/craftsmanship, and I realised that Vyner Street was a good metaphor, as on one side of the street is a garage, and on the other an art gallery. And THEN, as if that weren't enough, I walked along the canal to find a dead pigeon, which I have also been working on a song about (sounds totally bizarre but... well it is totally bizarre). Rarely have the discoveries of a garage and a deceased pigeon elicited such enthusiasm, I'm sure.

On the downside, I am suffering from back pain thanks to carrying the location recording stuff into town on Saturday, playing the guitar too much (I slouch), and using my laptop in bed writing this blog.