Word Out Contest: Best Songwriting
Best Songwriting Contest – Win an iPad mini!
There are all kinds of amazing writers out there, and not
all of them are cranking out books. Here at Word Out, we celebrate all kinds of
creative writing. So for this contest, we’re looking for talented songwriters
to share their work.
The contest is pretty straightforward. Send us a song you’ve
written. You can either drop the lyrics into the comment box below, or send us
a link to a video or audio file you’ve created. We’d love to read or hear songs
in any genre, be they pop, folk, hip hop, rock, barbershop quartet – you name it!
You can'tell us a bit about your song too if you’d like, but you don’t have to.
The only rules we’ve got are:
- You have to be a resident of Toronto to qualify
as a winner. - Provide us with a valid email address when you
submit your entry (don’t worry; it’ll be kept confidential – see below for more
details). - You have to submit your entry by 11:59 PM on Sunday
August 11 2013 in order to qualify to win the prize!
Once all the entries are in, we’re going to be choosing our
favourite, and the winner is going to get their very own iPad mini!
Personal information on this form is
collected under the authority of the Public Libraries Act, s.20 (a) and (d) and
will be used to administer the Library's Word Out contest. Questions about the
collection or management of personal information should be directed to Thomas Krzyzanowski Service
Specialist – Web, 789 Yonge Street, 416-393-7519.
Image of Silu Seppala of the Leningrad Cowboys
53 thoughts on “Word Out Contest: Best Songwriting”
Don’t react to the action
don’t get mad at the plan
don’t be surprised when it fails you
just keep moving on.
Because you can’t go back
it won’t happen
Can’t go home
there’s no place to go
you can’t go back
when your souls already black.
reach for the exit and press start
move things along
fire off, hit the center
get your timing right
feel dogs nip at you ankles
sweat the blood of the hunt
grab onto to single sane strings
because you’ve lost your mind
Because you can’t go back
it won’t happen
Can’t go home
there’s no place to go
you can’t go back
when your souls already black.
Feel the hours drop like sand
through the bullet hole to where you stand
hold on to the ledge where the
shadows grasp your mind
just keep your goal ahead
and don’t
let
go
Because you can’t go back
it won’t happen
Can’t go home
there’s no place to go
you can’t go back
when your souls already black.
Whoa! Nice song! I wish I could hear the tune of this…
Here is the link to a song that I wrote back in June. I recorded it at my school studio with one of my friends who is a producer. It’s called “Thought You Were There”.
http://www.reverbnation.com/katashajames/song/17829326-thought-you-were-there-produced
I liked your song! You’re voice is beautiful!
Thank you:)
LOVE IS HERE TO STAY!
Shadows of the past, slowly creeping in
whispers everywhere,
but silence lies within
I’m falling, yeah falling,
still falling
but there you are standing right there
reaching for me
your damsel in distress
I knew your love is here to stay
In your prayers I hear my name
things change but we remain
your eyes says it all,
not one word spoken
I knew your love is here to stay
like a rainbow
you fill me inside out
with the abiding colors of your love
like a flame that can’t be distinguished
spreading warmth throughout
a bright light in pure darkness
perhaps dreams do come true!
I knew your love is here to stay
In your prayers I hear my name
things change but we remain
your eyes says it all,
not one word spoken
I knew your love is here to stay
your faith took care of me
took all the sorrows from my heart
with you is my luck
my path was lost
until you came and took me away
that was my small wish
now I can rest assure that
you’re mine..
I knew your love is here to stay
In your prayers I hear my name
things change but we remain
your eyes says it all,
not one word spoken
I knew your love is here to stay
THE BEAT OF THE WORLD
It’s easy to say you want an end
To make it happen is where it begins
Tryin’ to go along with the crowd
But finding out that you’re left out,
All you have to do is…
Turn the radio on
Turn the stereo on
Listen to your heart
That starts with a beat
And beats…
Like a drum,
Getting rid of everyone
That stands between
You and your dreams,
Turn the radio on…
Who said we are different
Who said we are wrong
Who said we can’t be above them all
We live our life,
We live our dreams,
We live as one,
So share the love.
Turn the radio on
Turn the stereo on
Listen to your heart
That starts with a beat
And beats…
Like a drum,
Getting rid of everyone
That stands between
You and your dreams
Turn the radio on
Turn the stereo on
Turn the radio on
Turn the stereo on
Listen to your dreamssss……
(RAP)
Woe is me
For my life
Being stored
Though not recognized.
An equal world is just a dream
It’s what it seems
I can’t see a reason why people live In misery
They cry and die
Everyone says it’ll be okay
But that’s a lie,
Not worth a try.
Turn the radio on
Turn the stereo on
Listen to your heart
That starts with a beat
And beats…
Like a drum,
Getting rid of everyone
That stands between
You and your dreams
(THIS SONG IS ABOUT STOPPING DISCRIMINATION)
A COUPLE OF FRIENDS HELPED ME WRITE THE SONG…IS THAT OKAY?
=)
Yup! That’s fine.
I have never properly wrote a song before…the only times was when I was 5 years old and sang about princesses. I guess writing a song would be cool, I’ll try it!
Here’s a song I wrote last year. It’s called “Hanging Sanity”:
The one you pass on; your way home
He’s sick and wretched; to the bone
He yells a curse at; passerby
Another for him; in the sky
Sanity hanging; by a thread
Don’t provoke him, he’ll; lose his head!
He’s in the gutter; in the street
A feral cat with; naught to eat
He tugs at his coat; coat too small
He comes to a fence; fence too tall
Sanity hanging; by a thread
Don’t provoke him, he’ll; lose his head!
Behind the school; with your kids
Selling some candy; for some quids
His line is reeling; mind is too
Now, please don’t buy one; yes buy two
Sanity hanging; by a thread
Don’t provoke him, he’ll; lose his head!
It’s almost midnight; black as sheet
And you’re walking home; day complete
And a man jumps out; wants some change
A blade in his hand; he looks deranged
Sanity hanging; by a thread
Don’t provoke him, you’ll; lose your head!
[Shouting]
We’ll all lose our heads! We will!
We’ll soon all be headless chickens!
Running around, without a brain!
But that’s the world, ain’t it?
This is a great place to start! Glad to hear you’re going to consider submitting a song!
I like the format of this song and its funny at the end!!! great job 🙂
Very good
Wow these are really good. Although I love listening to music I wouldn’t know where to start when it comes to writing a song.
“this is a song for little kids and sing it fast ahem”
“monkeys in a barrel there so so cut i like them very much because there so so much”
“now you hum three times then clap”
“now now again sing verse 1 then hum three times then clap”
“now sing this slowly ”
“oh monkeys in a barrel i like them very much because there so so cute and so so mute”
“now sing monkeys in a barrel the fast way two times and at the end you laugh like a monkey”
“this another song the tune is furniture getting hit and you need a jumpy voice”
One day i cooked yummy popcorn tic a tic a tic tic tic
in mouth it’s yummy yummy yum yum yum yum
Oh no there dragon in my house fi-re fi-re fi-re fi-re
i’m scar-ed i’m scar-ed
don’t worry said dad-dy charge! charge! charge! charge!
fig-ht fig-ht fig-ht fig-ht now the bad dragon defea-ted defea-ted defea-ted
my family sa-fe sa-fe sa-fe da da de de da
mistake in monkeys in a barrel i should check over from now on
How about a poetry contest? : )
Keep checking the site! We might just be having a poetry contest soon 🙂
In the meantime, try submitting a song!
I’m also waiting for a poetry contest or may be a feature story contest 🙂
Hey, here’s my song, Ups and Downs. and I hope you get more of the one than the other.
Thanks, Caitlin
http://youtu.be/LivC_r0ujq4
I love playing the guitar and your voice is really good! 😀
This is called “Spring Cleaning”
Around us the world is
Changing, oh
It’s truly time for a change
I don’t want to make over but
It’s time to…
Melting there, dissappear
The red liquid rises
Moving south, everyone
Before the world is flooded
Polar bears living here
In marshes and plains
Can you hear the seals bark
While you watch the cherries bloom?
Around me the world is
Changing and I must too
I don’t want to change
But it’s time to
Make over the world
Evergreen, decidious
Who knows the difference;
With winter gone…
They’re both always green
Glaciers melf and our
Water goes into salt
Winter coats are residents on
The Clearance shelf
Around us the world is
Changing, oh
Crystal clear that it’s time for a change
I don’t want to
But it’s neccessary
Around us the world is
Changing
I wish it would always stay
The same
But nothing can be forever
Today we’ll give the world a
Make over by
Spring cleaning.
Emotion
The trees are swaying in the wind
The clouds are moving by-y-y
The sun rises and sets
In the blue sky
The birds are flying to and fro
Catching the air on their wings
Cherry blossoms float around
And the kids play on the swings
I look outside when I’m sad
At the happy memories all around me
I wish they were mine
I wish they were mine
The teardrop crawling down my cheek
Falling, falling, fa-a-a-lling
I catch my breathe
As the teardrop splashes on the ground
My soul feels like its broken apart
Yelling all around like a roaring sea
But I look outside to the trees
And they bring their comfort to me
I look outside when I’m sad
At the happy memories all around me
I wish they were mine
I wish they were mine
Deep within me I feel
Sadness black as the cold night
Staring back at m-e-e-e
Giving me a fright
And swirling all around me
Spinning, spinning, spi-i-i-nng
The cold draft blows
And I feel like I do not belong
I look outside when I’m sad
At the happy memories all around me
I wish they were mine
I wish they were mine
The sun rays shine through the clouds
Like a glittering ray of hope
Shining on me
Giving me life
Maybe I am not alone
“Our Heart Beatz”
Come and go
Come and go
That’s all we think we know
But there is more
Just beyond that cloud of snow
If we could see,
The magic
That lights our hearts,
Then there would be
Such happiness in the dark.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZcEnOW3oGE&list=PL0Iu7WUHY79kowqiEu9om24GknCchrlDF
I made this song almost 2 years ago and it is performed by me and my music school friends from Axis Music. My song is the first part of the video from 0:00 to 1:30. Can I enter more than once because I have more songs that I have written?
Can I enter more than once because I have more songs that I have written?
My favorite line : “oh monkeys in a barrel i like them very much because there so so cute and so so mute”
Funny. 🙂
Yes! Go for it.
‘Our World’
I will do whatever I can’to satisfy the world
But no it cannot be done without the help of you!
Cause this is our world this is our home.
This is our u-ni-verse and we will do whatever we can’to protect it
We can do it!
So come on!
Let’s do our parts as human beings and make this place a
WON-DER-FUL WORLD!!
Cause this is our world this is our home.
This is our u-ni-verse and we will do whatever we can’to protect it
It is where life exists it is where we live and if we don’t have war and if we stick together
We can accomplish anything and everything!
Anything and everything!
Why do we have to make a change?
Because this world is a wonderful, beautiful, enjoyable, incredible world!
By: Monidipa Nath
Link : — http://soundcloud.com/monidipa/our-world-by-monidipa-nath
This song is about saving our Earth. I made it on Earth Day. We need to be conscious about our environment and we shouldn’t take it for granted. Our Earth is very important. We need to protect it, we need to make a change! That is what inspired me to write this song.
“The Power Of One”
Link —
https://soundcloud.com/monidipa/the-power-of-one
One person can make a difference. For example : Martin Luther King Junior or Florence Nightingale. I want everyone to know that what others think of you, that doesn’t matter. Even if people don’t like what you do, that doesn’t mean you have to change who you are. Stand up and be proud of who you are. Don’t always follow what other people do. Be unique and try to make a difference in the world. That is what inspired me to write this song.
HEY GUYS! How ya’ll doing? All of the entries are great! I had a blast reading them all! You guys all deserved awards! So this is my song…rap! I love making songs and videos! But unfortunately, my computer crashed two days ago and my music video for this song got deleted…I worked really hard on it!! 🙁 I had the lyrics saved on my email, so hopefully you guys can enjoy it!
The custom-made beat which I created (also deleted now…), sort of sounded like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBYutDqPcIw
I hope you guys like it!! Tell me what you think! 🙂
The Book Rap
Look, if you had one book, or one piece of literature
To learn everything you ever wanted. one novel,
Would you read it or just let it sit?
YO,
The book is dusty, spine ripped, pages are heavy
There’s dog flaps on the cover already,
It’s bliss, but on the surface it looks dull and dusty, but keep calm,
You shouldn’t be judging, what it looks like,
So why not open it up,
He opens the book, the table of contents comes out
He’s reading now, everybody’s reading, wow
The book comes to life, its magic, bloah!
Now back to the story, Oh there goes reality
Oh, he flipped the page, he turned
The books long, but he won’t give up that
Easy, no
He’ll finish it, he’ll read the whole night if it takes
It don’t matter, no breaks
He knows that but he’s stoked
He’s almost done, he knows
When he goes back to the library, that’s when it’s
Back to the shelves again, yo
This is literacy
He better go read this novel and hope it don’t haunt him
[Hook:]
You better put yourself in the novel, the moment
You own it, you better never put it down
You only get one hold, do not miss your chance to know
This novel comes around once in a lifetime yo
You better put yourself in the novel, the moment
You own it, you better never put it down
You only get one hold, do not miss your chance to know
This novel comes around once in a lifetime yo
(You better)
The characters are escaping, through this book, all gaping,
This book is his for learning
He’s a scholar, as he keeps reading, his thoughts are exceeding,
A normal life is boring, but a book is close to fantasy,
It only gets better as you keep going on,
From start to finish, its known as a novel,
He’s grown farther from books, he needs an ereader
He goes to read but barely knows where to start
But hold your breath cuz here goes the good part,
Rowling and Tolkien love him so much, he’s too smarta
They moved on to the next series which sells
He reads twilight and Harry Potta
So the whole plot is told and it unfolds
I suppose it’s old drama but the book goes on
yea yea yea hahaha yeah yeah
[Hook:]
You better put yourself in the novel, the moment
You own it, you better never put it down
You only get one hold, do not miss your chance to know
This novel comes around once in a lifetime yo
You better put yourself in the novel, the moment
You own it, you better never put it down
You only get one hold, do not miss your chance to know
This novel comes around once in a lifetime yo
(You better)
Aww I’m so sorry to hear about your mishap! BUT…THIS SONG IS AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! I mean rap! Kudos! I hope you win!
By the way, is it too late to submit a song/rap myself!?!
haha good job!!
lool niceee! 🙂
Can we also have a photography contest? We could always make it book related?? Sadly, writing isn’t my area of expertise 🙁
I sent another entry on August 10th,2013 but It’s not showing up. Can you please check your e-mail and post it before the contest period is over? Thanks.
“The Power of One”
All around the world
People are crying
People are starving
When is this ending
Nobody’s helping
What can you do?
Your just one.
Only one.
No one believes in you
No one cares
Cause the world isn’t fair,
No one can really help
You achieve your dreams
But You
So stand up strong.
Believe
In
You
You have the power to rise!
You have the power in you.
Nothing can stop you
Cause
The power of one!
That’s all it takes to change the world
Others will put you down
But don’t you know
That all it takes
Is one?
By: Monidipa Nath
Dedicated to: My mom
One person can make a difference. I want everyone to know that what others think of you, that doesn’t matter. Even if people don’t like what you do, that doesn’t mean you have to change who you are. Stand up and be proud of who you are. Don’t always follow what other people do. Be unique and try to make a difference in the world. That is what inspired me to write this song.
Never mind! 🙂 Now it worked.
“Power of One” rap song Examples of one person that changed the world : Martin Luther King Jr., Florence Nightingale, and Mother Teresa.
(Submission by Jade – sent via email)
Little Things
That sweet half smile
Your slightest touch
Make my thoughts run wild
Pull me close, whisper gently,
Kiss my nose and tell me
You won’t let me go
This is how I wanna be
Tangled in your love
Just you and me
I feel safe
When your arms wrap
Around my waist
The smell of you
In every thought I think
As long as we’re together
This boat will never sink
This is how I wanna be
Tangled in your love
Just you and me
You and me
My hand in yours
Your eyes on me
Close the doors
Take me on a little trip
I’d like an a little
Happiness
This is how I wanna be
Tangled in your love
Just you and me
Two hearts, one love
Two hands, some hugs
We’ll stay like this
Just you and me
Because
This is how I wanna be
Tangled in your love
Just you and me
Keep checking the site! We’ve got a photo contest coming up!
You’ve got until midnight tonight!
Cool rap! Wish I could see the video.
I wrote this song called “Summer Nights.” Check it out if you get the chance! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyREqtatgew&feature=youtu.be
VERSE 1
It’s too bright to see the starlight, but shall we stroll out, anyway?
Arm in arm beneath the streetlamps we’ll make kisses into waves
May the passing car sound like an ocean and may apartment lights sing with the moon
Making cities into beaches
Making loudness into secrets
Making apprehension exultation
And loving-by-and-by.
VERSE 2
It’s too warm to wear a sweater, but may I hold you, anyway?
I’ll wrap myself around you and try to stay awake.
‘Five more minutes’ with our bodies writing a Preface to a Valentine
Making June like February
Making heat like feather flurries
Making clear skies the bleak of grey
And loving by-and-by.
Making clear skies the bleak of grey
And loving by-and-by.
Aha thanks guys! I think I might make a music video again!
The songwriting contest is now closed. Thanks all for your amazing entries!
When is the winner going to be announced? 😀
We’ll be announcing the winner shortly!
thanks
thanks to you too i like it to
Has the winner been chosen?
They have! Congratulations to Lamp!
https://blogs.tpl.ca/word_out_2013/2013/08/word-out-best-songwriting-contest-winner.html