Tom Marshall, the seasoned songwriting partner of Phish‘s Trey Anastasio, has posed an exciting challenge via Osiris, the platform through which he hosts his Under The Scales podcast. In a post titled “Osiris Wordsmith Contest (aka Finish Tom’s Lyrics)“, Osiris lays out the details of the of the contest:
Tom wrote a verse of what might be a song someday. The problem is, he is stuck with a bad case of writer’s block. Please help Tom by contributing the next verse.
Rules—First, decide what this song might be about. What does it mean? Where should it go? Then, create a 4-line verse that makes sense after Tom’s first verse. Follow the same pattern Tom has established:
Use the same meter (word-rhythm: accents and syllables)
Use the same rhyme-scheme — that is, AABB…meaning line 1 rhymes with line 2, and line 3 rhymes with line 4.
Have fun!
You can check out the first verse of the contest’s unfinished lyrical prompt below:
Help me write a song (contest)! Need next verse.
—-
Finally dreaming forgetting the day
I stepped off the edge, and floated away
soaring through cloud-laden memories again
where is she hiding, my dream-woven friend?
—-https://t.co/GPDTd3L81s— Tom Marshall (@TomMarshall111) August 10, 2018
To enter your lyrics, email them over to RJ@OsirisPod.com. Notes Osiris, there will be 3 winners selected, with each receiving a Phish LP signed by Tom with a special message included. The winners will be announced during the Curveball “Couch Reports” on Friday afternoon and Sunday afternoon. Subscribe to the Osiris YouTube channel for more information on the schedule for their Curveball Couch Reports during Phish’s Curveball festival. Curveball is set to take place next weekend, from Friday, August 17th through Sunday, August 19th, marking Phish’s 11th multi-day festival and their third festival in Watkins Glen, NY.
You can listen to Tom Marshall’s podcast, Under The Scales, by heading here.