https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y6week35-paper-aeroplane/ Guitar Noise Discussion Board en-US Fri, 05 Jun 2026 02:48:37 +0000 wpForo 60 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y6week35-paper-aeroplane/#post-299578 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:52:57 +0000
thank you.
cheers,
straycat.]]> Sunday Songwriters Group straycat. https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y6week35-paper-aeroplane/#post-299578 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y6week35-paper-aeroplane/#post-299331 Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:54:02 +0000
Paper Aeroplane (Paper Plane was the title of the first Status Quo single I ever bought, waaaaaaaay back in, umm, er, 1972...) reads more like a postcard of the two songs - shorter, snappier, like a few random thoughts thrown out - as you do when you're writing a postcard. Must have been difficult for you, this one, holding back on the imagery....

Heads and Airports actually reads like a phone call at first, but then seems more like a letter. An intimate letter, because you're using imagery and phrasing that points at a lot of shared knowledge and experiences....

I like both songs - I wouldn't use either of the alternative lines, I like the line you've already got.

One very tiny point - in conversational English, you'd say "THOSE phone calls," not THESE phone calls."

Lovely writing!

:D :D :D

Vic]]> Sunday Songwriters Group Vic Lewis VL https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y6week35-paper-aeroplane/#post-299331 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y6week35-paper-aeroplane/#post-32458 Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:28:09 +0000
paper aeroplane

it's been a while since I last wrote to you
yes, I got all your letters and heard from my parents
they were so worried, I said “don't be”

and I'm excelling at the art of letting go now
but, you know, sometimes I just want to go home

well, what can I say, we're still waiting for rain here
my exams went fine, my Swedish is improving
and how is your life?

are you still getting these calls in the dead of the night
have you been to Neil Young, I think your dad wanted to
did you have a laughing fit meanwhile

oh, I tell you I did
on the floor of the living room last night
I was watching the news, it is something I do now,
I just can't make sense of them
And these camera faces act but don't seem to know what to do

it's been a while since I last spoke to you
I know you are working on weekends but
tell me, will you come visit soon?

Heads and airports, hearts and hotels

It's the end of a week's sleep,
I've taken the ship to the isle with all the tourists
and am writing to you now from the cliffs
where the air tastes like rain.
The others went inside the café
and will stay there till we leave,
but I can't breathe in their plastic seats.

I hear you're still working on weekends
and I can't tell you not to,
but I am thinking of Dad;
his beard'll probably be all white
when I return.
And he's only forty-two.

I'm sending you this album
I bought at a concert,
hoping it will replace
the voices in your head.

You know, they sing
“my head is an airport,
my heart is a hotel” –
I think we should remember the days
we were just running down a lane
holding Justin on his bicycle.

Yes, give my love to the children,
do they still dash around in costumes?
Tell them I'm sorry I missed
their first day at school.

Thank you for that call past midnight,
I didn't know what to say,
But I needed to talk to you.

Well, it's darkening, I think
I should get back to my flat
where the letterbox yawns
the E-string's torn
and the floorboards moan,
but your old record player still spins faithfully.

Oh, and can you believe this:
it's June and I see
leaves descending from trees.

Do you still have some patience left? :wink: I had two alternatives for the penultimate line of the first piece... "you see, I am quite content to be alone but" and "I walk through these days like an acrobat but" - any improvement?
Any comments always appreciated :wink:

Cheers,
straycat.]]> Sunday Songwriters Group straycat. https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y6week35-paper-aeroplane/#post-32458