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Inspiration

The inspiration came while watching a movie (sorry can't remember the title). In the movie a CNN correspondent befriended Iraq’s minister of information (before the war) by honoring his customs. In one conversation, the minister made the comment, “war starts, when the talking stop.” I immediately wrote that line down and started to write the song.

I added thoughts from a Life Stories Workshop thought by Julie Portman. In the worksop Julie pointed out that stories need to be heard and that the listener is just as important as the story teller. The movie was set in a period of history where both sides were talking but neither was listening. Imagine how different the world would be if politicians were good listeners?

Process

I started journaling on the line, “war starts when the talking stops.” After writing a few pages the main concepts of the song emerged. I then picked up the guitar and wrote the music. Finally I crafted the concepts into verses.

I wanted the music to have a dissident feel, so I started and ended the verses with minor chords. For the chorus, I moved to major chords for the positive message.

In the verses, I used different length lines to add more contrast. The first line was one word, the second a little longer, and the last line being the longest. Different line lengths add contrast and a feeling of picking up speed leading toward the chorus. 

The structure of the song is very simple,

V, V, C, V, V, C

I thought about adding more, but felt like the point was made, so why add more.

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