My First Song: Breaking Down the Anatomy and my Inspiration

The first song I wrote was called Little Nobody. I wrote it after seeing Anna Kendrick's autobiography in Target, called "Scrappy Little Nobody." I liked the idea that someone so well known would have once considered themselves a nobody.

I remember it was late at night, my twin had already fallen asleep on the other side of our room, and my brain wouldn't turn off. I grabbed a notebook and pen and started to write. One of the most helpful tools for me that night was Rhymezone.com. I had never written before, but I knew songs were supposed to have some kind of rhyme and rhythm. After coming up with my first couple of lines, I got stuck. I went to Rhymezone and typed in the last word of the line I had just written. Rhymezone.com gave me a list of words organized by syllables that rhymed with whatever I typed in. One word would stand out in the list and help me form the next line of the song. 

I wrote this about my fourteen-year-old self. They say to write what you know and what does anyone know better than themselves? Every one is criticized at one point in their life or another. In Little Nobody, I wrote about judgement I've received from others and myself, the faults I was told I had, and some I already knew about. Yet, despite my character flaws, I knew that I was still going to power through and make something of myself; whether people came to know my name or not.

Lyrics

Verse 1

You say I don't pay attention,

but I swear that's not my intention,

I just have no connection

with this invention

we call school.

But It's cool 'cos,

Chorus

someday I'm gonna be somebody;

one day you'll see.

Life won't be so rough,

but I'm gonna stay tough.

'til then I'll just be

a little nobody. (x3)

Verse 2

You say I'm always late,

and because I always act like I'm eight

sometimes I don't think straight.

But I've got a fate.

So just you wait,

just you wait.

Chorus

Verse 3

You say I'm useless,

but baby I'm fearless

although I might be a little foolish.

I could care less,

what you say about me.

One day I'll be,

someday you'll see.

I won't have to stress

and I'll pass all your tests,

just maybe, unless I stay

If I can't make it,

at least I'll try and fake it,

because I don't have, much confidence.

But I guess that makes sense,

If I'm gonna stay,

a little nobody

little nobody.

A little nobody I might just have to stay.

This song has a basic construction. I use a Shuffle Strum throughout the song with the chord progression: F, Am, G, C. The Shuffle Strum is also known as the Island Strum or the Calypso Strum. This strum has a Jamaican origin, it was used in a lot of folk music. You can check out Jamaican Mento music, which was a type of Jamaican folk music and very popular in the 50s and 60s, to hear more of this strum. This is one of the first strumming patterns I learned on the ukulele, it's simple and is an excellent go-to if you can't figure out the strum to a song you're trying to learn.

Shuffle/Island/Calypso strum: ⬇️ ⬇️⬆️ ⬆️⬇️⬆️

I hope you enjoyed my song and the process behind it.

Thanks for yielding!

Alexis