Melody Maker, Part 1

Living in a Body

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Melody Maker, Part 1

Episode 57 -- There's Work to Be Done

Hal Walker

May 13, 2023

Hi. I’m Hal. This week’s episode is all about music and melody so I recommend consuming it with the podcast version. Please click the play button above for the full audio experience. Thanks!

Melody Maker, Part 1

I'm a melody maker. I love making melodies. I come alive when I'm crafting the ups and the downs on the steps of the scale. I thrive when I'm sculpting the skips and the jumps and the rise and the fall. I enjoy shaping phrases 'till they feel just right easing out of my mouth, into the air and down to the bottom of my songwriting soul. There's nothing like a good melody -- one of those that glides off the strings of these baritone vocal cords and tells the story even more honestly than if I were preaching it from a pulpit. I never thought about it like this before, but melody is my first language. Long before the words, for me, there was melody.

Some melodies have come into being with almost no effort. It's as if they lived on some other plane long before I sang them into the aural world. These are the ones that are so eternal that it's hard to imagine a time before they existed. Other melodies came out with a joyous battle. How many times have I sung the same few words over and over again, wrestling the melody into existence, bringing the song into its truest form?

I remember pulling into my mom and dad's driveway back in 2006 when one classic melody burst into melodious existence. It came just in time to help Kent, Ohio celebrate it’s bicentennial. It goes:

Kent, Ohio. I know that I'm home when I'm-oh-in Kent, Ohio.
Time keeps rollin' and our town keeps growing oh-my-oh. Kent, Ohio.
Oh my oh, Kent, Ohio

The song's called "That's Kent." Margot Milcetich and I took this simple chorus and turned it into an epic song about the history of this town. Someday, somebody should make this the official song of Kent. Every third grader in town should be singing the chorus out on the playground. I guess I've got some work to do.

One of the things I like best about Kent, Ohio is the Kent Natural Foods Co-op. Truly, it's the best store in town. With Jexo and Amie, Mary Jane and Elizabeth and the rest of the crew running the show, it feels like a home away from home. It's certainly more expensive to shop at the KNF, but I feel so good spending my money there. My quality of life would be greatly diminished if that store didn't exist. Seriously, when I ride just a few blocks on my scooter to spend cash at the co-op, it feels like I'm handing money over to my own family. Buying locally like that, I've never had buyer’s remorse, even when I bought that asparagus the other day for $7.99. The KNF is one of the best perks of living in Kent and it's just about a half mile from my kitchen.

Last night, I was at the co-op picking up some raw sauerkraut, Japanese sweet potatoes, local kale and basmati rice when I noticed something for the first time. As I was exiting the back of the store, I saw a copy of my song, "A Garden of Hope" hanging there on the wall. Back in 2017, I wrote it for the grand reopening of the store after it went through major renovations. I was so delighted to discover that someone had thought to frame and hang the sheet music for all the shoppers to see. Except for the challenging syncopation, I think it’s a real singable one. You might even call this one a jingle. It started as an ear worm that went into my head and got stuck there for days. It goes like this:

Kent Natural Foods Co-op is where I do most o' my shopping
every night I'm stopping at the Kent Natural Foods.
Good food, good folk, good livin' in Kent Ohio.
We're plantin' a garden of hope right here at the Kent Natural Foods.

I love the big vowels in the song, the way the high note lands on the “oo” of “foods” and the “o” of “most.” I like the big O’s in “folk,” and “hope” and I love the rhyme that happens with “shoppin’” and “stoppin’.” Isn’t it cool the way lyrics and melody work together in a song? This melody probably wouldn’t be all that much without the rhyme scheme and the shape of the words.

Up until Thursday afternoon, this was another example of a song that I’d never properly recorded and made available. I'm a good melody maker but I'm not so good at the publishing and distributing part of the process. But I’m grateful to report that this episode inspired me to produce the long awaited recording of this song. Almost six years later, “A Garden of Hope” is now available for your streaming pleasure. I truly hope you’ll give it a listen.

I once made a melody that incorporates the 88 counties of Ohio in geographical order. It’s called, “My State, Ohio.” One late evening in 2003, I picked up a pair of banakulas, pulled out a map of Ohio and sang right down the eastern side of the state. I sang:

Ashtabula, Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana, Jefferson, Belmont and Monroe.

I spent two weeks writing this puzzle of a song and I recall the process being deeply satisfying. It’s not an easy song to learn but believe it or not, it's fun to sing. Of all my songs, this is the one that WAPS in Akron has chosen to be on their regular rotation. It's such a natural melody. It was born directly from the spoken word.

When I used to teach songwriting in schools, I enjoyed asking students, "What's the difference between singing and speaking." Of course, I got many different answers, but “My State, Ohio” brings an interesting perspective to the question. If you listen to me speaking the names of these counties, you can almost hear the melody in the words. Listen:

“Ashtabula, Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana, Jefferson, Belmont and Monroe.”

Now listen to me sing it:

“Ashtabula, Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana, Jefferson, Belmont and Monroe.”

The melody follows the natural rise and fall of the spoken word. It somehow blurs the line between singing and speaking. The song continues in geographical order from the northeast corner all the way to the southwest corner of the state with the county Brown. “My State, Ohio” is one of the great accomplishments of my melody making career. Every fourth grader in Ohio should be singing this song in the hallways. Damn. I guess there's more work to be done.

Living with this illness, It’s been a long time since I’ve written a song. ME/CFS has effected my lungs and my spirit in such a way that I don’t find it very enjoyable to sing. My breath gets exhausted so easily. I’m still able to make melodies on the harmonica, though. You’ll hear some of those next week in Melody Maker, part 2. Meanwhile, I’ve got a whole library of songs that still needs to be properly shared with the world. It overwhelms me to think about how much work there is to be done: the recordings, the notation, the piano accompaniments, the CD’s, the songbooks, the online store. Living with the reality of ME/CFS, there’s a real chance that I may never get around to doing all these things. I guess I’ll keep taking it one day at a time — just doing the next right action. The fact that I was able to produce such a cool version of “A Garden of Hope” this afternoon fills me with a lot of gratitude. But whether or not I have the strength to create, these are the days to be satisfied with the simple things. Having spent a lifetime as a human “creating,” I guess it’s time to settle in and learn to be a human “being.” I’m glad you’re joining me on the journey.

Let's continue this conversation next week with Episode 58. I’ve got some cool harmonica riffs to share with you. In the meantime, I hope you have a great week. Enjoy living in that body of yours. I encourage you to make a little melody and maybe even do a little dance. I’ll try to do the same. Alright?

Hey, guess what! I took my own advice and I just made a little song. It’s just four lines long and it’s called “Dancin’ Through the Day.” The melody came quickly, but the word crafting took at least fifty sing throughs, maybe even a hundred. The process was a wrestling match that I haven't experienced in a long time and I loved it. It took all afternoon. Unless you request some verses, I’m pretty sure the song is done now. So, let’s sing — you and me — together — living in these bodies — dancing in these lives — loving, breathing and feeling. C’mon. Sing with me. Here we go.

“Make a little melody and do a little dance.
Oh Lord, we’ll find our way.
Move it in your body and take a little chance.
Sing now, we’re dancin’ through the day.”

See you next week. Sending love. Hal