Birth Of A Song
How I wrote the song Subway Train
Songwriting is a mysterious thing. How do you explain something that seems like magic? Most musicians struggle trying to explain how songwriting happens. They will say things like, “I pulled it out of the air” or “it just poured out of me.” You can use formulas to write songs, and they can be helpful tools, but they don’t provide the creativity, imagination, or magic. Those are the mystery.
I am going to attempt to explain how I wrote a simple pop song called Subway Train.
I won’t be able to completely explain the mystery of where the music and lyrics came from, but I will explain the steps of the process and try my best to tell you what I was thinking while writing.
I started writing music in my teens. Most of my early attempts at songwriting were not great. But I am a hands-on learner. I learn best by doing. So, I kept writing songs in the hope of eventually getting good at it. As my guitar-playing ability improved, so did my songwriting.
I wrote a lot of bad songs in my teens and early twenties and a few good ones. Then work, marriage, and three children made it hard to find the time. My songwriting output was far less over the next couple of decades. And my focus changed from vocal songs to instrumental jazz songs.
About six or seven years ago, I decided to try my hand at writing vocal songs again. This song was one of my first attempts at the time. It lived only on paper in the form of lyrics and chord symbols for a while.
Then, a few years ago, a friend (Mark Johnston) and I decided to do some open mics for fun (COVID-19 squashed that plan after a few gigs.) I told him I had a song I had written that I would like to try. He thought it was a great idea. I had to get busy and make a demo of the song so he could learn it.
Sometimes, songwriters write lyrics first, then add music. Sometimes, they write music first and then add the words. Sometimes, both come at the same time. I tend to write the music first. Usually, a chord progression. That was the case with this song.
I find I am most creative when I first pick up my guitar and just start playing. Things I have never played before come out. It is one of those unexplainable things I mentioned earlier. I don’t know how I do it or how it happens. It just does. It is similar to a writer getting a story idea or a great first sentence. Where does it come from? It is a bit of real magic in a world that doesn’t believe in magic.
One day, I picked up my guitar, and this chord progression came out.
Chorus chord progression
Nothing complicated. Just three chords. The rhythm was catchy. I thought this could be something.
At this point, I decided to pursue it. I needed a melody and some words to go with it. I usually get these both at the same time. How does that happen? Who knows? Some musicians sing stream-of-consciousness words or nonsense words to try and come up with a phrase, an idea, or a melody for a song. Paul McCartney said he first thought of the phrase “scrambled eggs” when writing the hit song Yesterday. Obviously, the first thought isn’t always a keeper.
In this case, my first thought was the keeper. The phrase “I met a girl on a subway train” popped into my head with the melody attached. It fit the chords and also gave me the idea for the entire song. I then knew this would be a love song about a guy meeting a girl on a subway train. I just needed to write the rest of the story.
What rhymes with train? Brain, cane, gain, main, pain, retain, sane, wane, etc. I often go through the alphabet when coming up with rhymes. This time, I didn’t need to. I knew it would be rain. The guy would take the subway because it was raining. So the second line came easily.
“I was just trying to avoid the rain.”
Next, the hook line,
“But instead, my whole life changed.”
Then, I simply repeated the first line and added the word When.
“When I met a girl on a subway train.”
That was obviously the chorus.
Next, I needed a verse. This is where the harder work begins. Starting a song is easy. Finishing it usually takes a lot of effort. There are exceptions when a whole song just “pours out.” This wasn’t one of those songs.
I fooled around with a few chords. I finally came up with a chord progression that seemed to work with the chorus chords.
Verse chord progression
Next, I needed to start writing lyrics for the verses. I already had the basic idea for the song, but I needed to flesh it out. I thought, He stands up and gives her his seat, and they feel an attraction. How does he or she act on that attraction? I went through a number of scenarios. I decided they would both act. But it would be a comedy of inaction.
He planned to wait for her train stop to get off the train and then ask her out for coffee or something. But she was doing the same thing. So they both sat there waiting for the other to get off the train until, finally, it was the last stop. They both got out and realized what the other was doing and started laughing.
Then, I decided to jump forward several years and tell a little about their married life.
That was the story. Now, I just had to make the lyrics fit the melody and rhyme. This is another chunk of work. Anyone who has tried to write a rhyming poem will be familiar with the challenge. You often have to make compromises to get a rhyme, but when it all comes together well, it is very satisfying.
I usually use pencil and paper when writing, knowing I am going to make several changes. After a lot of writing and erasing, I had the finished lyrics.
I have included the completed lyrics for the song at the end of the story.
The next step was recording a demo of the song. A demo can be as simple as recording yourself playing an acoustic guitar and singing, all the way up to recording a full band and multiple overdubs. This is a fairly simple demo with only four tracks. Guitar, lead vocal, harmony vocal, and a melodica.
Demos are used to shop songs to recording artists or just as a way to work out a song before going to a professional studio for final recording. Although, it is becoming far more common to skip the demo process and simply record the final song. Often in a home studio.
At the time I wrote the song, I wasn’t singing (I started singing in my 60s. That’s another story I will tell.) So I asked Mark to sing it. Mark Johnston sings and plays guitar, bass, and trombone. We have been in three bands together. I knew he would do a great job with the vocals, and he did. He also added a harmony vocal.
Since we both have Macs, we decided to use GarageBand (music software included with Macs) for our collaboration. We used Dropbox to send the GarageBand file back and forth so we could each add to the recording at our own houses.
I started by recording a track of acoustic guitar. Then, I recorded a “scratch” vocal so Mark J could hear the melody and words along with the guitar part. I sent the GarageBand file to Mark along with a pdf of the lyrics. He listened to the song and became familiar with it. Then, he recorded his vocals.
Here is the intro, first verse, and first chorus with just my guitar and Mark J’s vocals.
Intro, first chorus, and verse: guitar and lead vocal only
Then Mark went the extra mile and added a harmony vocal, which really added a lot to the song. He added some “Ooos” during the verse, but we both decided they weren’t really working. Although, we agreed it needed something.
I had left a break in the middle of the song for a solo. I figured it would probably be a guitar solo, but Mark J said he could hear (imagine) a kazoo solo. I thought it was a little odd, but then I started thinking maybe some kind of reed instrument could work. Maybe a harmonica or an accordion might sound good and be a little more musical than a kazoo. As I was considering it, I thought about a song back in the 1980s that featured a melodica in the verse. I began to get excited about the idea.
My Melodica
Melodica is a reed instrument. It looks like a small piano keyboard that you blow into to make the sound. You play notes like you would on the piano, and it sounds similar to a harmonica. I can’t play harmonica or accordion, but I can play keyboards, so I felt confident I could pull off a melodica solo.
I went on Amazon and researched melodicas. Then, I went on YouTube and watched several reviews. I ended up ordering one. I didn’t want to wait for it to arrive to do the solo, so I used a software sampler and my keyboard controller to play a software version of a melodica. I wrote a simple solo that I thought worked well for the song and recorded it.
Melodica solo
I figured melodica might also work for the verse instead of the “Ooos.” I wrote a simple part for the verse. I sent the GarageBand file to Mark J, and he agreed. The melodica worked.
Mark J and I planned to do the song at open mics with acoustic guitars and melodica, so I didn’t bother with bass or drums. I wanted the arrangement to work with just the two of us, so it was considered complete at the time. My current band, American Garage Band, has worked up a new arrangement we plan to record in early 2024.
Songwriting is still a mystery to me, but I enjoy harnessing those moments of magic into something creative I can share. I would like to share one with you now. Here is the completed demo version of Subway Train with me playing guitar and melodica and Mark Johnston singing. It is also on all the music services (Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, etc.)
Subway Train
Here are the lyrics if you want to sing along.
Subway Train
I met a girl on a subway train
I was just trying to avoid the rain
But instead, my whole life changed
When I met a girl on a subway train
Don’t go thinking I’m clever
I wasn’t witty at all
I simply gave her my seat
Then I started to fall
She smiled at me on a subway train
I smiled back and asked her her name
What happened next is hard to explain
When I met a girl on a subway train
I waited for her stop
But she was doing the same
And though she likes to deny it
Her intentions were plain
Interlude
Then the last stop came
And we both got out
She looked at me and laughed
Then I had no doubt
I met a girl on a subway train
I was just trying to avoid the rain
But instead, my whole life changed
When I met a girl on a subway train
Now we have three kids
And a mortgage too
And though our lives have changed
Our love stays true
I met a girl on a subway train
I was just trying to avoid the rain
But instead, my whole life changed
When I met a girl on a subway train
©2019 Mark Starlin
Gotta go. My train’s here.
Love this song Mark, it has an intriguing and relatable quality to it.
A nice sound, Mark! Appreciate you unpackaging the mystery of that process. The melodic works as well as the accompaniment voice. I'm finding poetry is working similarly for me; in a given mood it seems to flow out. Kudos to you for stepping out with your music and words. We are benefitting!