Monday afternoon

After wolfing down a Burger King food court lunch in the UMass student center, we headed for our afternoon appointment across town.

Who: Assistant Songwriting Professor Mark Simos and students
Where: Berklee College of Music
When: Day 1, Monday March 9, 3:30 pm
What: Sitting in on a lyric-writing class
Why: To learn the elements of what makes a song meaningful; and what’s being taught to kids these days

Our next stop was to sit in on a lyric-writing class at Berklee College of Music. We came in at the tail end of the class, with just thirty minutes left of the two hours, but nevertheless it was extremely interesting. The classroom was small, and filled with about ten students plus Mark’s sister, a feminist songwriter and activist. They were all sharing their recent songwriting projects – their assignment? Metaphors. How convenient! We hit the tail end of the show-and-tell session, but we at least got to hear, see, and discuss two sets of student lyrics, plus the song "Seed" by the teacher. They had such innovative uses of metaphor (our favorite being “you’re not a pocket watch and I’m not a ballpoint pen”), and after each song, students would give their opinion. The atmosphere was very friendly; the fact that everyone was taking a step out of their line of artistic comfort and receiving constructive criticism was a good insight to what goes on at a music school. We shared some of our opinions on some lyrics as well, and our input was well-received and discussed. Overall, we all enjoyed the snippet of the lyric-writing class the best – we were part of the college scene!

After a microscopic break at the hotel, we went for dinner at Dick’s Last Resort Restaurant in Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall for an “open mic” performance. Although it was not particularly well set up or organized, Rena and Natalie played three songs for the restaurant, while Max and Mimi watched, listened, recorded, and took photos. After all was said and sung, we headed back to the hotel for a well-deserved rest and an end to day one.