William Chong

At the start of the year, Dennis and Sonny invited me over to work on this song. I had penned it originally as a slow ballad with intros, but then upped the tempo and enthusiasm to turn it into a more Foo-fighters, inspirational rock anthem feel.

 A Life Less Ordinary [3:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

A Life Less Ordinary – WILLIAM CHONG
Is your life plain
Plain in the sense that you shuffle to work
slumped in the throne of mundaneness
The ebb and flow of this generation means nothing to you
Apathy rules

Is your life stale
Stale in the sense that your smile’s not the same
The radio singing a little strained
Westlife crooning in vain means nothing to you

Could you picture a life less ordinary
Is your preference a life less ordinary

Then brighten it up, lighten it up
It’s less plain with me
Make that unexpected step in my direction
So brighten it up, take a look
at your changing scenes surprising
More than ever, you’ll soon find
that it’s less plain with me

Is life a mess
A mess in the sense that your reason to live
Is obscured by the pain of your endeavours
The rolling tide before you seems to beckon you in
Where to begin…

With me you know there’s no such thing as a regular day
Every day is just one fine day with me
A guy like me you see won’t be indifferent to you
Tell me the truth: would you play with me?

This is a pared-down, guitar and voice number describing how beautiful the Lord’s sacrifice is.

 How Beautiful [3:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

How Beautiful – WILLIAM CHONG

How beautiful the rose, stranded in the earth
with thorns that pin it down
How beautiful the rose, buried yesterday:
it’s gonna rise again tomorrow

Now I know the reason He suffered for
And I know it’s not just a metaphor
What a way to bless us forevermore
Oh Lord I’ll worship you

For I’d have no protection
And no chance for correction
If not for His resurrection,
the most glorious thing there ever was
So this is my reaction
To praise Him for his actions
His undying love for me is still
the most glorious thing there ever was

How beautiful the Lamb seated on His throne
He was a sinless provider
How wonderful his plan, to sanctify our souls
And all we had to do was ask
Yes I know that I’m not worth dying for
Still I know His words now mean so much more
So I’ll sing to Him in praise once more
Oh Lord I’m in love with you

Yep. Another one, spent all of today doing this.

This one started as a lazy Saturday morning where two Chinese boys sat on the boot of their car with 2 guitars and tried to compromise their riffs and ideas.

Dennis: I think you must have lost interest, but it was written in my notebook so I had to finish it. I admire your concise under-3-minute approach and gave it a go. The lyrics I’ve also tried to be more flexible, i.e. less set-in-stone lyric sheet, more organic sand-castle approach.

Like all my songs, they’re loosely drawn from ideas and events in the lives around me. Mainly this one’s for everyone, including myself, who have loved and lost something (or someone) close to them at some stage in their life. It’s OK to be sad at times. Another Sunrise.

 Another Sunrise [2:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Another Sunrise – WILLIAM CHONG

Lyrics:
Daylight savings cravings for the
Happy summer times together
Go as far as to bribe the weatherman

Here’s a question: have you ever
Had a fight you regret to this day
Wake up: you’ve just missed another sunrise

Roll down your window take note that the sky is
a playground for clouds to play
Your open-top 4-door drives along the parade
But your sorrow is leading the way
A sunrise takin’ your breath away

Daylight savings: feels like winter
Need the strength to walk on water
Go as far as to pray for the courage to smile again…
Could your sorrow be leading the way
Will it ever melt away

Wish that I had loved her better
Turning back regret for compassion
Couldn’t change the way the sky seems to
colour my face
and the way
that I feel
now she’s gone

Dress yourself in sad nostalgia
Scatter ashes ‘cross the water
Wake up: you won’t see another sunrise

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 Breeze [2:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

This was the other song we managed to do during the holidays!

Ideas for this song came from a long summers’ afternoon, initially out on the grass fields of suburban Bucklands Beach. Using the trigger word “breeze”, and Cheryl’s phrase “a goblet of blue” to refer to the immensely azure sky we sat above.

I’m quite happy with the continuous strumming pattern that plays much like grass continuously billowing across a hill, for instance. It’s a short song, just guitar and vocals. If I get some time I’ll change it round a bit, maybe bulk up with drums, bass etc.

Jared amidst all his postgraduate hectic workload, kindly offered me a morning of recording time in one of the professionally set-up studios in the KMC building. I gave him a fair amount of liberty to process our raw recording, and he duly obliged: have a listen!

“Breeze” – WILLIAM CHONG
Lyrics

The sky is a goblet of blue
Above the rippling emerald slopes
I’m sitting here on my own
Waiting for the breeze

The trees on the hillside sway
Branches waving at me in the corner
I’m sitting here on my own
Waiting for the breeze (2x)

Breeze, carry my hopes in your hands
You’re gently caressing the faces
of those you meet,
Breeze, I’m sitting here waiting
Change your direction to me

The leaves on the treetops dance
And peel off their yellow bells
I’m sitting here on my own,
Hoping that one day the bells will peal for me
Hoping that I’ll see the breeze passing through

Take a look, see the trees raise their hands to you
Take a look: hear the hills play the sound of your music
It’s parting the veil on my heart

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More music here.

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Holidays! This is what I’ve been waiting to finish for awhile. Tell me how it sounds! This one’s called “Head Over Heels”, you can probably tell it’s one of my most overtly soppy songs, written in an optimistic era. Don’t lose that!

 Head Over Heels [4:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Head over Heels – WILLIAM CHONG
Lyrics:

I sit on the edge of my seat
Wrapped round the winding streets
I’ll take in the sights
And just like the silver screen
You say how cliched this could be
Well maybe this is just one hell of a dream
I know it’s a long road, but I also know we can make it if we try

I stepped onto the roof, it was a starry starry night
How did you paint the sky so bright? (Can’t you see it?)
While I was thinking what should I say
A shooting star sailed right by me
I wondered what I could wish on a comet in full flight
It could be a rough ride, but then I think we can make it

I think I found the silver lining hiding from me
I could be imagining cos I’m starting to see
There’s a feeling inside of me that’s close to insanity
Either way, I may be head over heels for you

We soared hand-in-hand on the winds
The night sky I remember the sight of the stars
And the moon was quite night that night
You said it was beautiful
And I think I believe you cos the moon in that case
is exactly the same as you
I know I could stumble, but you could make it right all right all right

Thanks to Dennis and Henry for feedback re: song, and you can hear the elusive voice of Ethan Waters as he says many profound things in the course of the song! (oohs and waahs)

Please give some feedback, will do more soon, have a great day!

Hello! Trying this out, the full version of “Birthday Wish”. I uploaded a 10-second clip on my site’s previous incarnation, but yeah. That went away, and now a full uncut version is in its place! I tend to work this song on Easters, it seems – wrote it a few Easters ago, performed it for the first time some birthdays ago, and remixed it during the most recent Easter weekend (2007).

If you’re keen on more music, I’m working on it – in the meantime I’ve got http://williamchong.com/music-collection/ up.

Anyways, have a listen and comments and constructive crit would be much appreciated!

 Birthday Wish [4:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Birthday Wish – WILLIAM CHONG
Lyrics

You were selfless when you had Your will be done
Graceful when they didn’t know what they were doing
and perfect at “Father into Your hands You commit Your spirit”
I wish I could be as selfless as You
I wish I could be as graceful as You
I wish I could be as perfect as You
For a start I’ll praise You and wish You

Happy birthday dear Jesus
Born to take our sins away
Happy birthday to You Lord

You were helpless when you entered the world
Punished for our iniquities
Yet you loved us so much
You raised Your hands on top of a hill to give up Your spirit
Oh I will try really hard to be as loving as You
It’s the least I can do to show how grateful I am
And thank You for giving me the greatest birthday gift
to spend forever with You and wish You

Happy birthday dear Jesus
born to take our sins away
Happy birthday to You Lord