Songwriting

"What are you doing, Mariah," Billy asked when the boys found Mariah working on something. "I mean, I know you're writing, but what are you writing."

"Well," Mariah replied, putting down her pencil, "Charlotte and I wanted to make up some songs for a project we're working on. It's about everyone in The Doll's Storybook. When it’s finished, there will be at least one song about each of us."

"Charlotte will write the tunes," Mariah explained, "and I'll write the lyrics (LIH-riks). Lyrics are the words to a song. Without music, it would be a poem."

"You're good with words," Emil said, "and Charlotte is good with music. You make a good team."

"That's nice of you to say, Emil," Mariah told him. "It's nice to have encouragement. Thank you!"

"I was wondering," Billy mused, "which do you make up first: the music or the words...I mean, the lyrics?"

"You can do it either way," Mariah said, "but I don't have Charlotte's music for these yet."

"Would you read them to us?" Emil asked.

Mariah nodded. "Sure," she said. "They're basically just poems at this point. I can read them, but I can’t sing them yet."

Mariah began to read.

There once was a girl doll named Mandy.
With needles and yarn she was handy.
Making Pippa a vest
Put her skills to the test,
But she thought that the fit was just dandy.

"Here's one for Jolena," Mariah said.

Jolena flew over the ocean.
The girl flew to China to ski.
They're having a ski competition,
Then she'll fly back over the sea.

"Then the music will have to change for this part," Mariah explained. "If you have a different section where the lyrics and music are the same the same each time, after each verse, it's called a refrain (ree-FRAYN)." 

"This will be the refrain," Mariah said and began to read.

She flies through the air with the greatest of ease,
The daring brave doll in the air on her skis.
Her landing is perfect in spite of the breeze,
Our hearts nearly came to a stop!

"I'm still thinking about what to put in the second verse," Mariah added. "I may have to wait for Jolena to come home."

"The next thing I wrote was this about Charlotte," Mariah went on, and she began to read.

Hey, diddle diddle,
The girl plays her fiddle
Pierre likes to hear Charlotte play.
The little dog barked when she hit a high note,
Then suddenly he ran away.

"Then here's one for the two of you," Mariah said.

"Here it is," Mariah said.

Emil and Bill

Went to the hill.
They wanted to sled down it.
When they got there,
The hill was bare.
There was no snow left on it. 

"That's funny!" Billy exclaimed, as all three dolls laughed. "We would look outside before we took the sled with us!" He pointed out. Emil nodded his agreement.

"This one," Mariah added, turning a page, "is just for you, Billy."

Mariah read:

Oh, where have you been, Billy boy, Billy boy?
Oh, where have you been, Brother Billy?
'I was playing at the park,
I came home when it got dark.
Playing there when it's dark is just plain silly.'

Oh, where have you been, Billy boy, Billy boy?
Oh, where have you been, Brother Billy?
'I've been swimming in the pool,
It's the one that's by the school.
Swimming's nice there, unless the water's chilly.'

"Here's one just for you, Emil," Mariah continued.

Mariah read:

My friend Emil talks to pets,

E-I-E-I-O,
And what they want to say to him,

He is sure to know.
With a bow-wow here and a whinny-whinny there,
Here a glub, there meow,

Then again a bow-wow-wow,
My friend Emil talks to pets,

E-I-E-I-O.

Emil had been thinking. "There's something familiar about some of these," he said.

"Ah," Mariah said with a twinkle in her eye, "you have found me out! I have a little trick I use to help me get started sometimes."

"If my ideas don't tell me what the rhyme––the words that sound the same––and rhythm––that's the order of the beats––should be," Mariah told them, "I borrow from a poem, a song or a nursery rhyme I already know. Sometimes I even keep something that was in the original song or poem."

"Is that stealing?" Billy asked.

"No," Mariah began, "not if you rewrite it so it says something different. If you publish it, like in a book, it's nice to give credit to the person who wrote it. Usually they're flattered, but writers borrow from each other a lot. It's called inspiration (in-spur-AY-shun). You just can't copy it all exactly, unless it's what we call a quote (KWOTE). That's where you say what someone said. Then you have to say who it was who said it and write it exactly the way they said it. You can also say that someone said something, and then you can say it in different words, but keep the meaning the same. Of course, you shouldn't copy someone else's writing as it is and then pretend it's yours, even for something that isn't published, even if it's just a homework assignment." 

"I think, though," Mariah continued, "sometimes there's no way to find out who wrote something that you’re using, because it's been around so long no one knows who came up with it, like many of the nursery rhymes, and then you can just say so. We say it’s traditional or something like that."

Just then, Charlotte appeared in the doorway with her violin.

"Are you ready for me?" Charlotte asked.

"Yes," Mariah told her, as Charlotte climbed up and joined her in the chair with her. 

Mariah handed her the sheets of paper with the poems she had finished. "I have enough for you to start with," she said.

Charlotte looked at what Mariah had written. "Fun!" she exclaimed as she looked at Mariah's work. "Some of these already have music, I think," she said. "I recognize them, but it will be fun to make up some different tunes for them."

"Maybe," Mariah said, "some of our readers can guess how the original music went for some of these. Maybe they know them already."

Do you know any of them? Which ones?

Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia
Pippa: Götz Little Kidz Lotta
Marmalade: Purrrfect Cats from KTL

Airplane window photo by @felipepelaquim on Unsplash

Poem about Mandy: This is a limerick, a kind of funny poem. The structure (how it's put together) was invented by Edward Lear. Find out more here.

Poem about Jolena: Based on My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean, a traditional Scottish folk song and the refrain based on The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze by George Leybourne and Gaston Lyle.

Poem about Charlotte: Based on Hey, Diddle Diddle, a traditional nursery rhyme.

Poem about Emil and Bill: Based on the traditional nursery rhyme, Jack and Jill or Jack and Gill.

Poem about Billy: Based on Billy Boy, a traditional American folk song.

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment.

"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.


Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook and Emil: Stories from the Doll's Storybook are available from Amazon worldwide. Also available from Barnes & Noble, BookBaby and other booksellers. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don't get free shipping elsewhere, buy from Book Baby. Half of the price goes to St. Jude.




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