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Writer's picturePeter K F Cheung SBS

Writing Songs

  1. FADE IN


  2. Act 1


  3. INT. DINING ROOM - 10:00


  4. PETER, his WIFE, and their two DAUGHTERS are having breakfast.


  5. PETER (V.O.): After breakfast, our elder daughter will fly back to Seoul to continue her language studies.


  6. Pausing.


  7. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Our younger son has already returned to Sydney to continue his medicine studies days ago.


  8. Eating.


  9. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And my good friends have to leave the jobs they love.


  10. Pausing.


  11. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've the urge to do more songwriting.


  12. Pausing.


  13. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Not sure if I'd come up with any anytime soon.


  14. Act 2


  15. INT. STUDIO - 13:30


  16. Peter is researching with his smart phone.


  17. PETER (V.O.): Last night, I heard the Peter, Paul & Mary song "Gone the Rainbow" again.


  18. We hear Peter singing "Shule, Shule, Shule-a-roo, Shule-a-rak-shak, Shule-a-ba-ba-coo".


  19. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I was still in my teens the last time I sang it.


  20. Peter continues singing "When I saw my Sally Babby Beal, Come bibble in the boo-shy Lorey."


  21. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I love the slow sentimental song, but I don't understand the lyrics.


  22. Reading.


  23. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, the melody is derived from the Irish ballad "Siuil a Ruin" (translated as "Go My Love") - its Irish language style is known as macaronic.


  24. Shrugging.


  25. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The folklore was about a woman lamenting a solder lover who had gone to France to fight.


  26. As Peter watches a video clip entitled "Siuil a Ruin - lyrics + translation by Clannad", we hear from the smart phone: Siuil, Siuil, Siuil a Ruin...


  27. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Do "Shule, Shule, Shule-a-roo" mean "Walk, walk, walk on my love"?


  28. Watching the subtitles "...is go..."


  29. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Second verb not in the infinitive. Is that old Irish?


  30. Holding a 12-string guitar, Peter plays the fingering in Am, E7, Am, Am; C, Em, Am, Am...


  31. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): This morning, I read about the creative Intro of the Beatles' song "I'll Be Back". It alternates between the key of A major and A minor.


  32. Peter then plays three beats in A and one beat in Am.


  33. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Against the rules, the contrasting sounds are distinctly different.

  34. Repeating.


  35. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But I don't have the inspiration to write any song now.


  36. Recalling.


  37. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I got most of my tunes while spending time alone in the park.


  38. EXT. PARK - LATER


  39. Peter is jogging.


  40. PETER (V.O.): No, I still have no inspiration. Let me go to the mall to buy pineapples and chocolates to cheer me up.


  41. INT. LIFT LOBBY - STUDIO - LATER


  42. Carrying a full shopping bag, Peter begins to hum and sing.


  43. PETER (V.O.): Oh, I've got a tune. Not sure if I can remember it.


  44. Rushing back to his studio, Peter plays the tune with his guitar and then records it with his smart phone. He then plays the tune on a Clavinova.


  45. INT. SITTING ROOM - 20:30


  46. Having played a tune on a Kawai piano, Peter asks his wife.


  47. PETER (V.O.): Have you heard of the tune before?


  48. WIFE: No... Where does it come from?


  49. PETER: From me.


  50. His wife is stunned.

  51. Act 3


  52. INT. DINING ROOM - LATER


  53. Peter, his wife and their younger daughter are having dinner.


  54. PETER (V.O.): To play a musical instrument is relatively easy. Just press or blow the right key or pluck the right string at the right time.


  55. Thinking.


  56. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To create something out of nothing isn't mysterious either. It just requires the exercise of intensive intellectual activities.


  57. Pausing.


  58. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): After all, writing songs should be easier and cheaper than undergoing psychological therapy.

  59. FADE OUT


  60. THE END





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