The Ignition Lab is a group songwriting challenge to write a song a week in 2013, using weekly word prompts as a starting point. Follow our work on Facebook: facebook.com/TheIgnitionLab
The prompt for week #24 was to write a song with a color in it. I decided to take this opportunity to write a song for a couple who were getting married and happen to be Buddhists. Rainbows are very auspicious in the Buddhist tradition. I saw it very fitting to write about love and rainbows. Awww…
I’m quite happy with how this one turned out. I chose to do it on the ukulele to keep it playful and upbeat. There’s a lot of pressure in writing lyrics for someone you know–or someoneS in this case. I had to fill my mind with thoughtful images of them and do a little bit of research. I didn’t want this song to be too serious, but I wanted to touch on some of the significance of the colors. Some things I kept very global: red for love, orange you glad, yellow for the sun… etc. The second half of the rainbow got more detailed: Green for harmony, blue for peace. I tied indigo & violet together with the meaning of purple: magic, majestic.
I cycled through four different variations of this melody before I came to what you hear now. I realized later that I chose a key that’s too low, so I transcribed it a minor 3rd up and performed it for them at their dedication party. It went well! We had other musicians join in on the fun: saxophone, guitars and bass. People sang along and everything.
I was a little confused about whether or not I should keep the rainbow colors divided in two verses or should that just be one long verse. After attending the GoGirls Songwriting Circle and getting other songwriters’ opinions, they all felt it was fun to keep it divided.
So there you have it. Here’s the song in the key of D. Lyrics below the video.
Rainbow
Our love is like a rainbow
Colorful and true
Feels so brand new
It arcs around the world, dear
I see it in the sky
What beauty fills my eyes?
It’s you!
Red because you la-la-la-love me
Orange you glad we’re in each other’s company
Yellow is the sun to kiss your skin so sublime
But baby you can kiss me anytime
Our love is like a rainbow
Colorful and true
Feels so brand new
It arcs around the world, dear
I see it in the sky
What beauty fills my eyes?
It’s you!
Green we sing in harmony
Blue so kind we give each other peace
Indigo & violet these purple shades give
Majestic magic to the ripples in the air