I write the songs…

by RAF KATIGBAK

I know I said I would dedicate this column to the transcendent experience of being a guest on the cable access show Chic-A-Go-Go!, but guess what? Not gonna happen. Maybe I’ll write about it next time, or maybe not. If you wanna hear about it, find me around Pop Montreal and ask me. Better yet, wait a few months and I’ll just show you. That’s right, my goal over the fall is to start up a local kids’ dance show featuring independent bands and strange guests from our fair city. Think about it: a show that has, say, any of Montreal’s “Wolf” bands AND that weird Spiderman guy who freaks kids out on Ste-Catherine, and then some ghetto Cirque du Soleil freak getting all contorted. Best of all: it’s a frakking kids’ dance show! Y’know, for the kids. Anyhoo, keep an eye out, because that’s all I’ll say about it for now.

Instead, let me talk about this Pop Montreal thing going on this week. Sure there’s probably a shit ton of Wolf bands coming out that you want to see. But what if you’re like me and you want to make music? What if you have a song inside you that’s screaming to get out? I’m not talking about the one that’s been stuck on repeat in your brain since you heard it in line for the ATM (aka Spin Doctors’ “Two Princes”—kill me now). What if you’ve always fancied yourself one of Canada’s undiscovered musical geniuses, but every time you pick up a guitar, the only sound that comes out is that of a cat getting strangle-banged by a hyena, and all your lyrics end up sounding like bad high school poetry (hmmm, what rhymes with “endless abyss of despair?”). I’ve always wondered what it takes to write a good song. So I figured I’d ask an expert.

Montreal-raised Elyse Weinberg’s 1968 self-titled album remained one of Canada’s undiscovered masterpieces for 30-some-odd years until 2001, when her record was rediscovered in a thrift store and reissued by Atlanta’s Orange Twin label. The songs are full of psychedelic imagery, lush arrangements (with guitar by Neil Young) and beautiful strained folk melodies. In short, something I could never make. I really wanted to know her process: How does someone come up with an awesome tune? Does it all come in a flash? Do you just wake up from a dream and write it down? Or is it a methodical process? Is the act of songwriting, as it seems to me, a mystery reserved only for a higher order of humans in touch with the muses? Or can anyone write a song? Since the release of her album 40 years ago, she has moved to Oregon, become an insurance agent and started on a spiritual journey where she’s “trying to forget everything she knows,” a move that included changing her name to Cori Bishop because of numerology. She’s also performing on Thursday and is a guest at Pop Montreal’s songwriting workshop on Friday. I tracked her down over the phone at her place in Ashland, Oregon.

Me: So can anybody write a good song?

CB: Actually, I have no idea. I’m sure everybody has a song in them. The song that they are. In terms of how you write a song—I don’t know, it’s a mystery.

Me: Okay. How do you write a song?

CB: I’m sure somebody has a system or process, but I don’t seem to have any. For me, it’s organic. Something might come, like a snippet, “Oh that’s the feeling!” and I work backwards from it. In terms of technique, I don’t know. Listen to the greatest songs and you’ll find great use of vowels and alliteration. It’s something that resonates in you, “Oh this sounds good with this.” This is all just a mysterious journey to me.

Me: Okaaaay. So what’s the deal with changing your name to Cori Bishop?

CB: Well, with numerology “Cori” is a three and “Bishop” is a six, and they add up to a nine, and I have a nine life path, so that’s really nice; 3-6-9 that’s like an open chord. That’s also arts, music, creativity…so, you know, that seemed good.

So there you have it. I’m no closer to unlocking the mysteries of songwriting but maybe I’m a little bit further along in my spiritual journey towards the umm…uh…what rhymes with “endless abyss of despair” again?

HEAR CORI/ELYSE PERFORM THURSDAY, OCT. 2 AT CASA DEL POPOLO
(4873 ST-LAURENT) AND LEARN ABOUT HER MUSICAL VISION QUEST
AT FRIDAY’S POP SYMPOSIUM SONGWRITING PANEL WITH KATIE
MOORE, ADAM WAITO, ANDY MCLELLAND AND MODERATOR DON
QUARLES OF THE SONGWRITERS ASSOCIATION OF CANADA. 3:15 P.M.
AT THE GREEN ROOM (5390 ST-LAURENT), FREE!

Riff-Raff@sympatico.ca