Maggie Lowe

I want to talk a little more about my “Life as a Movie” project I undertook this year! I am really proud of the work that went into it and the songs that came out of it so let’s dive into it a little more.

First things first…here is a list of the prompts for the project and the song titles that go with each prompt.

Opening Credits	“Bring Her In”
Theme Song	“Everyone Loves/Nobody Wants Me”
Sidekick Anthem	“Before I Call”
Childhood Flashback	“Play”
High School Scene	“Loose Control”
Rebellion Montage	“Try to Stop Me”
That One Summer	“Say Yes”
Screaming in the Car	“Why Would I Care”
Inciting Incident	“At Least”
Dancing in the Mirror	“Let Me Dance”
Makeover Montage	“Swallowtails & Cottonmouths”
Big City Lights	“I Gotta Go”
The Love Interest	“Just a Little”
Dream Sequence	“Girl of My Dreams”
Slow Motion Moment	“Sweet Time”
Slow Burn Romance	“Contradictions”
Confrontation Scene	“Express Lane”
Heartbreak Scene	“Used”
Mirror Scene Breakdown	“Enough is Enough”
Fake Smile Scene	“Fake It”
Villain Origin Story	“Kicked Out”
Power Move	“Not My Business”
Burning it All Down	“Bad Time”
The Plot Twist	“When I’m Gone”
Resolution	“Much Me”
Solo Walk Home	“Long Way Home”
Running Through the Airport	“Afraid”
Making Up	“Make Up”
Hopeful Ending	“Happy Ending”
End Credit Roll	“End Credits”
Post-Credits Sequel Setup	“Just Getting Started”

I love how some of the titles are almost verbatim the prompt. I love how some of them need no extra explanation. I love how some of them need a WHOLE lot of explanation. And I love that some of these songs go with the prompt in a very obvious way and some in a much less obvious way.

Last Song written

The last song to get written and the hardest one to write was the song for the “Rebellion Montage”. I was a little confused why that one was so hard until I realized…I spent a large portion of my life fighting hard against being rebellious! So when I was down to the last two songs (which were this one and “Inciting Incident”), I ended up spending an hour one night watching YouTube compilation videos of the most dramatic moments in film and television when the cavalry arrives to save the day at the last possible minute. This song is a direct result of watching that and knowing that the only ones who are going to save us…is us.

Coolest Part

The coolest thing that happened while working on this project was definitely within the last 5 or so songs. I was starting to be a little pushed for content. What slowly started happening is that people near me told me cool stories or big things happened in the news which is why the last several songs were some of the earliest prompts. I had skipped them because nothing was coming to me and it turns out the inspiration for the song hadn’t even happened yet. “Just a Little”, “At Least”, and “Try to Stop Me” are the prime examples of this happening.

Proudest Part

I took the opportunity to stretch myself lyrically on a lot of these songs. So the part of this challenge that I’m most proud of is some of the words I used in the writing and a lot of those words were used in places where they had to be rhymed with. Here’s a list of my favorites:

Apropos
Narcissism
Ostentatious

My Favorite Song

I have a couple of these songs that stand out a lot to me, but I think my favorite one is “Say Yes” (prompt: That One Summer). It is written in one of my favorite tunings, has a funky little guitar part to it, and truly feels like summer trapped in a chorus.

“Say yes to yellow sundresses,
Chasing fireflies at the park,
Dress shirts that come undone easily,
Locking lips and shooting sparks,
Say yes to the Cabaret,
And another glass of Chardonnay,
And by all means…say yes to me”

The Sweetest Song

I think I wrote one of the sweetest songs I’ve ever written during this project as well. There are two that stand out to me but my favorite sweet little slow song definitely takes the title. It was written in response to the prompt “Slow Motion Moment” and was inspired by a post I saw on Instagram. I can’t remember now if it re-framed a morning with the person you love or if it just inspired me to. But the idea of pouring out poetry on someone and writing down their coffee really made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It’s all about moving slowly and savoring the moment. The guitar part is playfully peaceful. And I’m obsessed with the chorus (which really lends itself to being sung with a huge smile):

“Let me pour you poetry,
Let me write your coffee down in some line,
Let me give you everything,
Let me take your…sweet time”

Most Literal

Honestly, I think the ending credits song is the most literal. It also happens to be one of my favorites and stunningly lovely. As I thought about ending credits in a movie I realized that it’s just a long list of the people that made a film possible. So “End Credits” came out to be a song that is a long list of how I got to be who I am. Some of the situations that played part in my creation and as many of the people who played a part in it as I could fit in one five minute song. No one has heard this song yet. I’ll be performing it for the first time at my big solo show on November 21st. Just another reason to get your tickets now!

Least Literal

I think there’s a tie for this superlative. I’ve gotta give it to the “Screaming in the Car” and “Makeover Montage” songs. See, when I hear “screaming in the car” I automatically go to being SO MAD about something that happened on the road that I can’t help but yell and slap a steering wheel. And “Why Would I Care” was inspired by a moment on the road where I usually would’ve been screaming at the top of my lungs. But I didn’t. I was just slapped with a shift in my perspective which is what wrote this song.

“Makeover Montage” was of course supposed to be the point in the movie where the ugly duckling becomes the beautiful and graceful swan. That’s not who I am though. It’s not how I feel. My makeover comes from my growing and becoming something completely different than what I started as. Still beautiful, still lovely, but completely new. The idea of changing from something seen as pretty and fragile and safe like a Swallowtail butterfly into something seen as scary and ferocious and deathly like a cottonmouth really felt right to me. Which is how we got a song called “Swallowtails & Cottonmouths”.

I had such an amazing time working on this project. I’m loving the art that came out of it and I look forward to sharing these songs with you! I’m currently working through them all, in order, on my Instagram so be sure to go check that out.

XOXO – Maggie