The Making of “Blay Ty”

I’ve been releasing albums since 1999, but this year’s FAWM prompt #1—“base a song on made-up words”—sparked a fresh approach.

The result is “Blay Ty”—a song built from the bones of a very old lyric, sung to a brand-new melody, and voiced entirely in nonsense syllables.

I’m also spending this FAWM exploring how AI tools like Suno can be used in a healthy, human-centered way by artists—so I want to be fully transparent about the process, and invite any questions, conversations, or critiques. I’m happy to talk about what’s exciting, what’s risky, and what’s helped me stay creatively honest while using these tools.

“Blay Ty” is built on the structure and emotion of “Grey Sky”—a lyric I wrote in 1986 after a breakup with the person who, as life would have it, became my wife of 38 years (and counting). That original song was later recorded and released on my 2009 album RED.

When FAWM opened with the “nonsense words” prompt, I wanted to do something more than playful gibberish. I decided to take a song that was once deeply personal—and remove all semantic meaning from it.

I kept the same structure, rhymes, pacing, and emotional flow—but rebuilt the entire lyric out of nonsense syllables. Then, instead of keeping the old melody, I recorded a completely new vocalization—a fresh melodic shape, wordless and raw—and used that as part of my prompt to Suno.com.

So this wasn’t just a re-recording or remix. It was a full transformation: Old lyric. New melody. No words. Same heart.

Here’s the full prompt I gave to Suno, paired with my recorded vocal melody:

Orchestral, Strings, Flutes, Lutes, Clapping And Vocalizations, Male And Female Vocalists, Emotive And Dark… Almost Angry At Some Point, But Beginning And Ending In Quiet

Blay Ty (2026 nonsense transformation of Grey Sky)

(Verse) Ba layni, an da skoo is dray On a bup, nofu dop wa to say I’m zibi-dee dur wey I’m glofa tay Az jeebs glim don dis wimbo…

(Verse) I blota mif shum an stay fu a vyle Bu da flibby betwoz iz mor dan jus spyle A knarp blabe twoss wen I vink o yo sryle Az jeebs glim don dis wimbo…

(Bridge) Ooh, Ooh… Sumtaz we nare so nuch We sheeb not ta ker at oll, Sumtaz we dry so nuch All we ken zee ar jeebs…

(Instrumental)

(Bridge) Ooh, Ooh… Sumtaz we nare so nuch We sheeb not ta ker at oll, Sumtaz we dry so nuch All we ken zee ar jeebs…

(Verse) Ba layni, an da skoo is dray On a bup, nofu dop wa to say I’m zibi-dee dur wey I’m glofa tay Az jeebs glim don dis wimbo…

(Outro) Dis wimbo… Dis wimbo… Dis wimbo… Dis wimbo…