Love Is The Antidote

To play the song, tap/click anywhere on the image below.

Why did I write the song

I had two reasons. First, I wanted to test the possibility of integrating AI in the creative songwriting and production process. Second, I wanted to write a song about how love defeats hate.

How I used AI

I am not great with lyrics. Using ChatGPT for that was a no-brainer. So I wrote the following instructions for ChatGPT:

“Create poetic lyrics in Stevie Wonder’s style about the following:
Haters, Greeders, deceivers, and their leaders who want us to trust them, help them, and admire them.
They only succeed if we give up our love, compassion, the truth, and doing right by those in need. Let them see what love can do, that love is stronger than hate, that love is the antidote to everything wrong in this world.

In 4 seconds, I had the lyrics from ChatGPT.

Original ChatGPT lyrics
Verse 1
Haters in the shadows,
Greeders counting gold,
Deceivers selling answers
Like truth is getting old.
They ask us for our worship,
For our hands and blinded eyes,
But a heart that keeps on loving
Sees through every sweet disguise.

Pre-Chorus
They only win the moment
We forget what love can be,
When compassion loses courage
And the truth bends at the knee.

Chorus
So let them see what love can do,
Let it rise and break on through,
Love is stronger than the hate they choose,
Love’s the light they can’t confuse.
It’s the antidote, the healing proof,
To everything this world goes through.

Verse 2
There’s a fire in the people
Who still care for those in need,
A hunger for what’s righteous,
More than power, more than greed.
When we stand up for the broken
With our hearts held open wide,
Every act of simple kindness
Turns the dark back to the light.

Pre-Chorus
They tremble at our mercy,
At the way we won’t give in,
’Cause love keeps telling truth to power
With a soft but fearless grin.

Chorus
So let them see what love can do,
Let it rise and break on through,
Love is stronger than the hate they choose,
Love’s the light they can’t confuse.
It’s the antidote, the healing proof,
To everything this world goes through.

Bridge
Oh, love ain’t weak, it’s a river,
Cuts through stone, through time, through fear,
When we lift each other higher,
Justice starts to feel real near.

Final Chorus / Outro
Let them see what love can do,
Every heart beats bold and true,
When we choose the good, the right, the kind,
We rewrite the course of time.
Love’s the answer, love’s the truth,
The hope we carry, me and you.

This was a great starting point, but it was too much and not always phrased in a way that appealed to me rhythmically or otherwise. For example, I didn’t plan on creating a pre-chorus. All I needed were two verses and a nice chorus. So I went to work and started changing and deleting things to my liking. I actually ended up with two different versions of the chorus and used them both, which is not very common.

Here is the final version of the lyrics I used in the song

My edited version of the lyrics
Verse 1 (Male singer)
Haters in the shadows,
Greeders counting gold,
Deceivers spreading lies
Making sure truth stays untold.
They ask us for our worship,
Our bleeding hands and blinded eyes,
but a heart that’s pure and loving,
sees through every sweet disguise.

Chorus 1 (One male, two female singers)
They only win the moment
We forget what love can be,
When compassion loses courage,
And the truth bends at the knee.
So let them see what love can do,
Let it rise and break on through,
It’s the antidote to their greed and hate,
To all the pain they make us suffer through.

Verse 2 (Female singer)
There are still a lot of people,
Who care for those in need,
A hunger for what’s righteous,
More than power, more than greed.
When we stand up for the broken,
With our hearts held open wide,
Every act of simple kindness
Turns the dark back to the light.

Chorus 2 (One male, two female singers)
They tremble at our mercy,
At the way we won’t give in,
Our love numbs all their powers
With a soft but fearless grin.
So let them see what love can do,
Let it rise and break on through,
Love is stronger than the hat they choose.
It’s the reason they will lose.

(Repeate 2nd chorus followed by 1st chorus)

Creating the music

I did this entirely without AI. I know there is AI that can do this too, but as a composer, I don’t need or want that. We all have our own sound, and I didn’t want the song to sound like anyone else.
I wrote the harmony and melody together because they influence each other. Of course, I had to make the melody fit the lyrics as well.

About the style and genre
The idea was to use jazzy chords and a progression that sounds a bit unusual and soulful. I wanted it in a slow, ballad-like tempo, but with a contemporary groove.
I used a Rhodes electric piano sound for creating the harmony, and a synth lead sound for the melody.
I also added some drums and bass, which I modified later.

I am not a singer, but I found that it is a good idea to sing the melody to make sure it is singable. I sang along with the solo synth. I made a few adjustments until it felt good. I then exported the melody and added the lyrics in Dorico.

I wanted to be done with the production before New Year’s Eve, so there wasn’t much time to hire real singers (I had only a week from start to finish).

This inspired me to look for AI-driven software that would allow me to program the vocals, and I found one. There was a special Black Friday offer still in place for $175. The software is from Dreamsonic and is called Studio V. It came with two male and one female vocal.
Every aspect of the vocal can be programmed, like pitch, note length, vocal quality, and much more. The pronunciation can also be adjusted if necessary.