Octavia Hansen

Don't Date A Songwriter -- You WILL End Up In A Song



Posted: Monday, December 05, 2011

by Octavia Hansen
Octavia Hansen

I did not listen, even to myself, so I did. It went South. Then he did. And then I did. The song I wrote is: Now I'm Godzilla (And I'm Stomping Thru The Tokyo Of Your Heart).

The story goes: I was a member in a songwriting organization. If you have never experienced this kind of entertainment in the rough, you should. It will either make you feel really good that you have a life and literary experience, or it will depress you so much that this could be the coming state of music that out of fear you will never go again. Still, I'm always up for the new experience.

A short history of my music: my earliest memories are of me singing. I took flute lessons, taught myself piano, then guitar. After playing everyone else's songs for the first eighteen years of my life, I began writing songs. Won a few song contests, some radio play and always impressed my friends, though not my family. I produced a number of singles and albums, guested on local television shows and now pass a great deal of time in a home studio. Towards the latter part of this history, I was part of the songwriter's association.

Everyone warned me NOT to date a man who kept asking me. Every individual always thinks they know better about human relations, even when every one else has actual experience and tries to warn them. Same with me. How bad could it be? It slid downhill FAST from the first "Hello." Me being the glutton for punishment that most single-women-past-thirty are, I put up with bad social skills, no table manners, lack of vocabulary . . . but the worst . . . and this was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back -- if I was going to stay with him at all, even a few more dates, I would have to listen to his awful country songs FOREVER. I did try to influence and encourage him, but a after only a few evenings of awkward meter and not quite rhymes, it was time to part. That didn't go well, either. No matter how you do it, breaking up is a personal affront. No matter how you phrase it: I think we should see other people. This isn't working. I'm more talented than you . . . it's a slap in the face and goodbye. Verbally, not physically, it still smarts. He got loud, not violent.

I didn't think much about it. He was free to date/harrass/stalk other women, however you want to phrase it, and I returned to the studio, solo gigs and sometimes stopped in to hear the latest from other songwriters.

I'm great friends with women. Some women hate to even talk to other women but I've never had that problem (There's a trick to it but I'll write about that another time). One of my songwriter gal friends took me to the back of the hall while someone was on stage. I saw a few heads move, looking at me in a different way.

"He's been saying mean things about you," she said. Oh, great . . . didn't everybody grow out of this in Junior High? What? I'm an adult. Like this is going to ruin my reputation? Will I be barred from the cheerleading tryouts? Does my name appear on a bathroom wall? I didn't really care. It was all too silly to me. What I gleaned was that he said I was mean, that I constantly criticized him and crushed his fragile ego as I walked out the door. Sounded like a great country-western song to me -- if he would actually write it down and make a million bucks. If I was really that horrible -- why did he even want to date me in the first place? All this meant the advice coming from different sources was true. I was stupid, and they were right. It's okay that everyone except me was right, I didn't lose a lot of time or effort or sleep over any of this. I've been wrong lots of times. What's one more?

After a bit more information that just made me laugh, she said, "Do you know what he's saying about you?"

"No," I said, "but by now I must be Godzilla." Bing! I just knew there was a song in that -- and I was right!

Don't get me wrong -- I LOVE Godzilla! We're the same age -- made our debuts into this world during the same summer. We have both been through a lot together. Tokyo. Drive-in movies. Late night television. Every time I hear a dino roar, it's a blast from my past.

And now, after raising your curiosity to a fever pitch, here is the song:

Spoken over guitar: I was watching late night movies all alone

Thinkin’ what my CURRENT?EX-boyfriend had said.

When we first met, I was his angel.

When I broke it off, I became his monster instead . . .

I went to party on a Saturday night, all of us monsters were there:

Hydra, Medusa, Rodan, King Kong, Mothra, Geedra and me.

(To interject a few definitions . . . Hydra was the seven headed dragon that Jason and the Argonauts fought to gain the golden fleece; Medusa was the Gorgon with the continually bad snake-hair day; Rodan was a pterodactyl that suddenly appeared after Godzilla was so successful; King Kong everyone has at least heard of; Mothra was that gigantic moth guided by two tiny japanese gals who would sing to him; and then my other favorite Geedra -- a three headed flying dragon what was covered in gold scales. All these guys have their own movies, but if you catch "Destroy All Monsters" they star together with a no name cast.)

We laughed, we sang, We did stupid?thangs, then everything fell?apart.

Now I’m Godzilla, and?I’m stomping?thru the Tokyo of your heart.

You yelled at me but I didn’t understand, you spoke a different language to me.

You said that I was such a monster to you, what I was hearing I just couldn’t believe!

Everything that I loved to do, you were keeping me apart.

Now I’m Godzilla, and?I’m stomping?thru the Tokyo of your heart.

Break/Spoken: Sometimes I am so strong, I can take on the entire Japanese Military machine. You know, all those guys in white gloves . . . but not today!

I spoke with all my monster friends, all the men and women I knew

You were holding me back and holding me down, I had more fun without you

You lost something special in me, I gave you so much from the start

Now I’m Godzilla, and?I’m stomping?thru the Tokyo of your heart.

Ka-Ni-Chi-Wa, Cowboy! (This is a phonetic spelling since I don't speak Japanese -- it means hello.)
Octavia (Yes, that's her real name!) is a busy gal in Las Vegas, NV. From New York City parents and Texas birth, she began in the best of both worlds, literate and comical. Extensive US family travel in her younger years, now she's on her third passport and numerous cars driven to pieces in the name of wanderlust. The Big O settled in Las Vegas, which she compares to running away to join the circus - IT'S FUN! Comedy and alternative thinking come easily. When she's not writing, she sings, she writes songs, produces her own CDs, attracted to shiny objects, looks stunning at renaissance festivals across the country and is only stopped by lack of time for all the projects she has in mind. What a woman!
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)
» left by Christofer French
 144 days 7 hours ago.
71 fans.
You already know how cool I think you are, and then there's that brain of yours. And your outlook on almost everything, has, a special quality. But this "Tokyo of your Heart" just sends me. Now I know you even less, but admire your skills so.
» left by The Old Gray Mare
 144 days 5 hours ago.
52 fans. Follow The Old Gray Mare on twitter!
Godzilla, eh? My feeling after the lyrics, etc. and the description, etc. is tally ho. T'was nice!

Enjoyed your article. So glad you're here 'gain.
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