My Newest Song – Toronto, My Home
The deadline for the Toronto Song Contest is tomorrow, so I forced myself to finish it today. The music itself wasn’t too hard to write, but it was the lyrics that made me want to abandon the whole thing! I don’t always get along well with words. So I recruited my brother to help me with the lyrics . . not the best decision! For starters, he trapped me in his dungeon (i.e. his room in the basement) while we worked on it. Plus, we are complete opposites and had different approaches to the song. But magically at the end we came up with something we both agreed on.
You can listen to the final product here.
Toronto, My Home © 2009
Music and voice: Alphonse Nguyen
Lyrics: Alphonse and Anton Nguyen
Guitar: Anton Nguyen[Verse 1]
Stand high with the clouds going up CN Tower, give a feast to your eyes at the Art Gallery
Watch a story unfold at the Princess of Wales, or treat your ears out with the grand TSO[Chorus]
Toronto is where I live, where I am truly me, where I can become whatever I want to be
There is no spot on the earth where I’d rather call home, Toronto is the place I love most[Verse 2]
If you want to watch hockey, see the Leafs and the Marlies, if you’re looking for baseball, tune into the Jays
If you want to eat Greek food, get a Taste of the Danforth, but if you want some chow mein, then China Town’s good[Chorus]
[Verse 3]
Go east and go west on the TTC rocket, or travel the globe from the front of your door
Learn things old and new from your schools and your neighbours, experience the world making friends from afar[Bridge]
For everything that I’m searching for there is a place that I know
Where I can find all the things that I want, that I need, that I love
It is my home[Chorus]
Anyways, my friend tellezara said in an earlier post, “Go for it, Al! Your compositions are pretty diverse anyway and you have a really interesting way of interpreting concepts. Apparently Toronto has a really multicultural population (according to Wikipedia XDDD) so you could maybe incorporate a few different influences? It all sounds quite exciting!”
My response to that? She thinks too highly of me, even though she shouldn’t!
As always, Mr. Coolphonse, you are beyond awesome. Compared to you, awe is no less a platitude than a mere day-time hooker…
A.
Aw, Al, your singing has gotten better and better with every song you do – you should do some more stuff pitched around this sort of range, there’s a mellow quality to your voice that complements the guitar really nicely! Congrats on getting it done in time for the contest, I think it’s a worthy entry :D