Thanks for all your comments and suggestions, and now for your pleasure (and the ease of people new to the site), here is a randomly-ordered list of the top 20 songs from SAW2011:
15: If I Only Do One Thing Today
Featuring photos taken by Andy Nicholls of Earthtide, it's a bit of a tearjerker, but in a good way - I don't do depressing songs. Life's too short for that.
24: Never Again
I'd just bought a new capo, so this one's in F Sharp. Funny how these things come about, eh?
10: I Should Be Here
More proud of this song than any other I've ever written.
28: Jagger, Jagger, Jagger
Not my usual style at all. Vocals by Jess, Alex Creese and I. This is a response to Cher Lloyd's Swagger Jagger track. Can I get some airplay please?
26: Escape On Amenartas
Lush! Close your eyes and let this one wash over you, like you're sitting on a beach with a Caribbean breeze blowing, and a monkey butler bringing you drinks with parasols in them.
36: Stink Eye
Whoo! Always nice to hear the word "Hinny" used in popular song.
16: Canapé Chat
This year I've been becoming more and more influenced by Talking Heads, and it's probably more obvious here than anywhere else.
8: End Of The World
Wrote this one for Earthtide (mentioned above). Stoner Rock, with a bit of a Foo Fighters edge. The lyric is made up of lines from the Jerry Bruckenhuckenheimer film Armageddon.
37: Waterloo Staircase
One of the oddest tracks of the year, but I enjoyed doing it - it's nice not worrying about whether something's going to be accessible/popular, and just record whatever comes out.
42: When The Cameras Are Gone
It's about 90's Channel 4 Quiz Shows, and contains the line most uttered whenever I've watched Countdown.
50: Pride In Mathematics
Had a couple of attempts at the more American-style radio-friendly rock track this year, but this was the most successful attempt, I think.
11: Let Me In
When I asked about people's favourite tracks from the year, this was one that had a lot more positive comments than I was expecting. At the time, I'd treated it as a bit of a production exercise, fiddling around with sounds, more than a complete song. I'm fond of it, and I'm really pleased so many other people seem to be as well!
31: Me And The Morning
You don't like the weather in England? Wait for 20 minutes!
45: Centre Of The World
It's nice, this. Just... nice.
38: Lucky One
Another artist who's become a bigger influence on me over the course of the year has been Todd Rundgren, so this is me trying to do a Todd.
43: Light To Darkness
Something about this one... maybe it's the oboe.
30: Bakelite Lady
Recorded in a creepy house in New Orleans on my iPhone.
39: Feeling Go Away
Linn drum machine, synths and whatnot... 80s up to the gills.
47: Johnny Got A Toy
The true sound of Christmas - absolute bloody chaos!
52: End
OK, so it's not a completely random order - this one had to go last, really. References to Escape On Amenartas and If I Only Do One Thing Today, but hopefully that's not too smug! Also, the song's based very heavily on the VIm-I cadence, a modified version of the plagal cadence which I am determined to have officially named "Falconer's Cadence". Music teachers, help me out here!
So that's it - 52 songs in 52 weeks. Thanks to everybody who's donated - the JustGiving page will be up until the end of January, so there's still time to get a few quid in.
Special thanks to the people at Parkinson's UK, Rebecca O'Neill from TFM Radio and my various friends on Twitter and Facebook for their help with publicity over the year.
Thanks also to my good friend, the tremendous guitarist Alex Creese, for his encouragement and support, the guitar solo on End Of The World, and his show-stealing performance on Jagger, Jagger, Jagger.
And finally, my wife Jess, who not only provided backing vocals on Long Long Way, Jagger Jagger Jagger, and Lucky One, but who has supported and encouraged me throughout this completely ridiculous year.
2012 is going to be very exciting. I've got these 52 songs, and damn it- some of them are bloody good. So I'll be trying to get the best ones out there to a new audience. Watch out for a new website at peterfalconer.co.uk, and some fantastic live shows!
Monday, 2 January 2012
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Song Number 52- End
Well, how could it be called anything else?
So that's it - 52 songs in a year. I'm crying my bloody eyes out as I'm typing this, for goodness' sake. Exhausted.
In the next couple of days, I'm going to do a blog post thanking everybody properly, because if I try to do it now I'll end up missing people out and spelling names wrong.
So for now, let me just say thank you so much to everybody who's been following - everybody who's listened to a song, who's made a donation, given the Facebook page a thumbs up, re-tweeted a tweet, left a comment...
Now I'm going to go and celebrate the end of this bizarre and wonderful year with my wife, who's had to put up with more crap from me than I care to imagine!
Goodnight, and Happy 2012 to you all!
So that's it - 52 songs in a year. I'm crying my bloody eyes out as I'm typing this, for goodness' sake. Exhausted.
In the next couple of days, I'm going to do a blog post thanking everybody properly, because if I try to do it now I'll end up missing people out and spelling names wrong.
So for now, let me just say thank you so much to everybody who's been following - everybody who's listened to a song, who's made a donation, given the Facebook page a thumbs up, re-tweeted a tweet, left a comment...
Now I'm going to go and celebrate the end of this bizarre and wonderful year with my wife, who's had to put up with more crap from me than I care to imagine!
 |
| Fin |
Goodnight, and Happy 2012 to you all!
Song Number 51- The Point Of No Return (William Hartnell)
I like song titles with parentheses.
So this is it, the penultimate song. Recorded the music yesterday evening - it's one of my favourite beats, but I don't think I've used it so far, have I? Pride In Mathematics is a similar thing, but not quite the same. Rushing has led to me totally ballsing up the compression on the lead vocals, I'm afraid - bit pumpy.
Now, lyrical content. "When all around has fallen" was the line that popped into my head first, so I started writing about a post-apocalyptic world in which society has completely collapsed, and people desperately cling on to the little things that make them human. But I got bored with that, and it kind of morphed into a comment on an argument my brother and I had while I was up north for Christmas. It got quite vicious. And the subject of the argument? Quite simply, it's because my favourite James Bond actor is... Timothy Dalton.
What a bloody stupid thing to argue about. So the song's about people fighting over stupid things that really don't matter. I wanted to get a Dalton reference into the song, but it just wasn't fitting right... so I changed it to one of my other many unpopular opinions; viz. William Hartnell is my favourite Doctor Who. I'm not even into Doctor Who, really - but by Jove, I'll defend Hartnell to the death if I have to, which luckily I almost certainly won't. Of course, I could have changed that particular line to something more sensible, but I've done 51 songs this year - I'm not feeling very sensible at the moment!
Right, enough of this - I've got Song 52 to do before the clock strikes 12 and my computer turns into a pumpkin.
So this is it, the penultimate song. Recorded the music yesterday evening - it's one of my favourite beats, but I don't think I've used it so far, have I? Pride In Mathematics is a similar thing, but not quite the same. Rushing has led to me totally ballsing up the compression on the lead vocals, I'm afraid - bit pumpy.
Now, lyrical content. "When all around has fallen" was the line that popped into my head first, so I started writing about a post-apocalyptic world in which society has completely collapsed, and people desperately cling on to the little things that make them human. But I got bored with that, and it kind of morphed into a comment on an argument my brother and I had while I was up north for Christmas. It got quite vicious. And the subject of the argument? Quite simply, it's because my favourite James Bond actor is... Timothy Dalton.
 |
| Unfairly maligned |
What a bloody stupid thing to argue about. So the song's about people fighting over stupid things that really don't matter. I wanted to get a Dalton reference into the song, but it just wasn't fitting right... so I changed it to one of my other many unpopular opinions; viz. William Hartnell is my favourite Doctor Who. I'm not even into Doctor Who, really - but by Jove, I'll defend Hartnell to the death if I have to, which luckily I almost certainly won't. Of course, I could have changed that particular line to something more sensible, but I've done 51 songs this year - I'm not feeling very sensible at the moment!
Right, enough of this - I've got Song 52 to do before the clock strikes 12 and my computer turns into a pumpkin.
Friday, 30 December 2011
Song Number 50 - Pride In Mathematics
Let's finish this thing off, shall we?
4 hours, this one took - writing, recording and mixing. Either I'm getting faster or I'm caring less and less about performance quality.
The chorus was something I had in my head upon waking back in July (the original recording of me mumbling it into my phone at 7am is amusing), but it was only this evening I came across it again. The rest of it's loosely inspired by the story of Harold Camping, the American radio preacher who wrongly predicted the end of the world earlier this year.
As I'm sure you'll understand, I'm very short on time now - so as I've not been able to trawl the net for suitable video footage, I've knocked up a quick drawing of Mr Camping. Looking at it now, I seem to have drawn an elongated George W Bush. Hell, I'm a musician, not Bob Ross...
4 hours, this one took - writing, recording and mixing. Either I'm getting faster or I'm caring less and less about performance quality.
The chorus was something I had in my head upon waking back in July (the original recording of me mumbling it into my phone at 7am is amusing), but it was only this evening I came across it again. The rest of it's loosely inspired by the story of Harold Camping, the American radio preacher who wrongly predicted the end of the world earlier this year.
As I'm sure you'll understand, I'm very short on time now - so as I've not been able to trawl the net for suitable video footage, I've knocked up a quick drawing of Mr Camping. Looking at it now, I seem to have drawn an elongated George W Bush. Hell, I'm a musician, not Bob Ross...
 |
| "Hey, why don't you give the friggin' Mayans shit for once?" |
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Song Number 49: What You Expect Me To Do
Brain... not... functioning...
The song's about a dame who ain't no good, no-how, and I was hoping to put together some sort of femme fatale montage, but I don't have time - so instead you've got a photo of Kim Novak. That'll do, right?
Second song to be recorded today, and I'm shattered. Just need to get as many done as I can before succumbing to this cold and/or going up North. No more time today, and tomorrow's stuffed, but hopefully I'll get one one more done by Friday night.
In the meantime, enjoy this one - and don't forget to donate at either http://www.justgiving.com/songaweek or by texting "SONG52" plus "£amount" to 70070!
The song's about a dame who ain't no good, no-how, and I was hoping to put together some sort of femme fatale montage, but I don't have time - so instead you've got a photo of Kim Novak. That'll do, right?
Second song to be recorded today, and I'm shattered. Just need to get as many done as I can before succumbing to this cold and/or going up North. No more time today, and tomorrow's stuffed, but hopefully I'll get one one more done by Friday night.
 |
| Tick tock tick tock tick tock... |
In the meantime, enjoy this one - and don't forget to donate at either http://www.justgiving.com/songaweek or by texting "SONG52" plus "£amount" to 70070!
Song Number 48- Say It Again
I wanted to give the Christmas song more time to breathe but there's no time for that! Ah yes, the sound of the annual Christmas cold creeping in - "Say By Dabe", I should have called this one!
We're heading up north to see my folks for Christmas soon, and while I can record up there (see Song 41 for the results of that), I'd rather spend the time lounging in front of the fire eating chocolate oranges
So here's song 48, inspired by the website of a "sales expert" who trains cold callers. It's one of the most nauseatingly smug sites I've ever seen - one look at it and you can feel the vomit rising - and that's even before you start pondering on the rather depressing notion that we now live in a society where a Cold Calling Trainer is even a necessary job.
My first job was selling kitchens over the phone. It's impossible - people are either in the market for a kitchen or they're not; you can't persuade someone to drop a couple of grand on a new one, even if they have been "specially selected by our computer to receive a £500 gift voucher towards the cost..." Turnover at that place was incredible. I lasted three weeks, before I was replaced by a guy called Brad Cheesebrough.
But enough of that - got to get on with Song 49 now. Please keep your donations coming in by visiting http://www.justgiving.com/songaweek - and now you can donate by texting the code "SONG52" and the amount you want to donate ("£X") to 70070!
We're heading up north to see my folks for Christmas soon, and while I can record up there (see Song 41 for the results of that), I'd rather spend the time lounging in front of the fire eating chocolate oranges
So here's song 48, inspired by the website of a "sales expert" who trains cold callers. It's one of the most nauseatingly smug sites I've ever seen - one look at it and you can feel the vomit rising - and that's even before you start pondering on the rather depressing notion that we now live in a society where a Cold Calling Trainer is even a necessary job.
 |
| "Song a week? YOU are weak!" |
My first job was selling kitchens over the phone. It's impossible - people are either in the market for a kitchen or they're not; you can't persuade someone to drop a couple of grand on a new one, even if they have been "specially selected by our computer to receive a £500 gift voucher towards the cost..." Turnover at that place was incredible. I lasted three weeks, before I was replaced by a guy called Brad Cheesebrough.
But enough of that - got to get on with Song 49 now. Please keep your donations coming in by visiting http://www.justgiving.com/songaweek - and now you can donate by texting the code "SONG52" and the amount you want to donate ("£X") to 70070!
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Song Number 47 - Johnny Got A Toy
HO HO HO!
So, getting in early, this is my Christmas song for the year, inspired by my mother and uncle's good-natured attempts to annoy each other by furnishing the other's children/grandchildren with the noisiest presents they could possibly find. The alternative title for this one is "Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Loud," and I believe it represents what for many people is the true sound of Christmas - an almighty racket, braying your head in from the moment the kids wake up to find their stockings full, right through Boxing Day, and only stopping when you finally rip the batteries out of every electronic device except the TV remote control.
Featuring the lovely Jess as "Exasperated Mother"
Seven songs to go? How have I still got seven songs still to go?!
[EDIT: Oh no, hang on - it's only five. Ach, my brain!]
So, getting in early, this is my Christmas song for the year, inspired by my mother and uncle's good-natured attempts to annoy each other by furnishing the other's children/grandchildren with the noisiest presents they could possibly find. The alternative title for this one is "Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Loud," and I believe it represents what for many people is the true sound of Christmas - an almighty racket, braying your head in from the moment the kids wake up to find their stockings full, right through Boxing Day, and only stopping when you finally rip the batteries out of every electronic device except the TV remote control.
Featuring the lovely Jess as "Exasperated Mother"
 |
| Remember these little bastards? |
Seven songs to go? How have I still got seven songs still to go?!
[EDIT: Oh no, hang on - it's only five. Ach, my brain!]
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