Bonkers About Conkers! New Harvest song is now available . . .
Written by Tim and Judith Power, this song explores the idea of 'conkers': a playground game played in many schools three or four decades ago. The game is a contest between two players who each have a conker (horse-chestnut) on a string. Each player takes truns to hit their opponent;s conker. The objective of the game is to 'smash' the conker off the string. Your conker is then the winner. You also count number of accumulative victories your conker has and this is communicated to your next opponent as a challenge. The song depicts the ideas behind this game: a battle or fight, finding the 'right' conker that will be tough enough to survive, learning the rules of the game, having fun with your friends.
The song is written in two parts with a third descant part as an option for verse 3 and the ending. It uses irregular time patterns that are thrown in to give a feeling of uncertainty - a bit like the game itself - will my conker survive the battle? The song is primarily written in march time (2/4 time signature) and this is shown numerours time in the drum kit part.
In order to create a rustic, simple feel, I opted for a stripped back pallette of instruments: Vocals, Piano (Roland JD-800), Bass Guitar, Drum Kit, Flute, Trumpet, French Horn in F and Tuba.
A
The song is structured quite simply in a verse/chorus configuration with a bridge section to give some contrast. It can be sung just using the main Voice - the whole ensemble (for example, the whole school in assembly, a class group or choir) singing purely in unison. Schools often ask us to offer some challenge in our songs where the singers can be stretched vocally. Bonkers About Conkers has the unpredicatble 3/8 time pattern that creates an unsettling feel on purpose - sometimes quite difficult to sing. Also, a second part (harmony to voice 1) and a third part (descant atthe end) are included to add that challenge.
Bonkers About Conkers can be purchased from our website as a standalone song or as part of our Harvest Collection (including Scarecrows, Supermarket Shop, Watch the Cornfields and Song of Creation).
This was a really fun song to write. We hope it's a fun song to sing. Why not drop us a recording of your performance - we'd love to hear it. Send performances to us via X, Instagram or Facebook.
Comments