Get ready for our next FREE songwriting challenge. We’ll ask you to write a song to a specific topic, and then we’ll gather to listen to the new songs.

The topic for this month is SHADOW.

Blair and I were thinking about our next topic, and were drawn to the natural observation that it’s autumn here in Canada, with the colours changing, the temperature cooling, and the shadows growing longer as the sun’s arc dips lower on the horizon. Several ideas came easily from this, but SHADOW seemed to be provocative.

Not only is a shadow the long black thing that trails behind us; it also easily lends itselft to metaphor. A shadow can transcend time (my memories are shadows, never leaving my side), and even expand to include other people (I am my father’s shadow). It can be a lurker or a companion; it can be ominous or comforting. What else could a SHADOW be? You decide. Get creative!

Use this to spark your imagination and write something NEW and fresh.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to “answer the call”. You will have until November 15th to write and record a demo of a new song around the given topic, and send it to songcall@songstudio.ca (MP3 audio file, and PDF of your lyrics).

To repeat, this is about WRITING A NEW SONG, not about sending us something written already. Challenge yourself and get writing!

Stuck? Call a songwriter friend and write it together.

Got two new songs for the call? Send ’em both.

Got an older song about the given topic? Leave it at home. Write something fresh!

On Using AI to Write This Song

While we are all watching with interest as AI tools evolve, this call is NOT for songs generated by an AI tool. We want to encourage you to use your songwriting skills to write, and while you can use AI and other software as a songwriting tool, say to spark an interesting idea or look for rhyming words, we are not looking for songs with LYRICS or MELODY generated by an AI.

Lunch & Listen

On Saturday, November 15th, we will host a FREE Zoom listening party from 10:00am-12:00pm, Eastern Time. Bring your lunch and enjoy the songs written to “answer the call”. The Zoom link will be emailed to the SongStudio mailing list, so be sure you’re on our mailing list if you’d like to attend.

While we usually have time for a few comments, this is NOT meant to be a critique session. The point of Song Call is push you to write songs and inspire you to stay on the recommended theme. Have fun and write on!