Friendly Non-Contest #17

Let's make the most of our time. Here is the first friendly non-contest in 2026.

* The submitted track must be an original piece created for the occasion, with the below image as inspiration.
* The creative process is your own, there are no bad entries.
* If possible, please provide us with a little insight into your interpretation of the images alongside your track.

Deadline: February 4, 2026



About the picture:

Photography of Yoko Ono, John Lennon and Maria de Soledade Alves by Charles Ley published in Daily Mirror on March 26, 1969, with the headline "Beatle John and Yoko are forced out of their £20-a-day bed by Maria, the hotel maid"

Taken from the fake check article at snopes (https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/john-and-yoko-maid-pic/):

In 1969, the world-famous couple staged a unique form of protest called the "Bed-ins for Peace" to oppose the Vietnam War and promote peace. Instead of traditional protest methods, the couple chose to use the publicity from their recent marriage to highlight their message of peace by staying in bed in their pajamas. They held two week-long protests: one at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam and the second at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. The events were open to the media for several hours each day, allowing Lennon and Ono to discuss peace with the press.

I will also not spare you its more recent resurfacing causing context. The picture was added a caption that read: "John and Yoko waiting for the maid to make the bed so they can continue protesting against the system, 1969,"

You may also check out the very documentation of this event by the initiators themselfes:

Personal message to the future contestants on the edge:

There is frankly no better way making music than to actually make some. Here is your chance. With no pressure (well except a deadline, but this will help you and in the end we do all have one final deadline that we conciously cannot escape. Own the time you are given.) and friendliness (It’s in the title duh. Even though I know for sure that what people say is not always what people do, but in this case I dare you to trust us. It is indeed a friendly event) you may have a lot of fun in participating!

If you are really really really self-concious about your creations or not even a member of this forum: I got you. Just shoot me an email at [email protected] and we work something out to make it available for the nice people here to hear.

Past contests:

#00 - https://audiosex.pro/threads/battle-for-everything-created-for-a-friendly-forum-contest.75670/
#01 - https://audiosex.pro/threads/a-friendly-contest-1.75684/
#02 - https://audiosex.pro/threads/a-friendly-non-contest-2.76333
#03 - https://audiosex.pro/threads/non-contest-3-has-concluded.76618/
#04 - https://audiosex.pro/threads/not-a-contest-4.76970/
#05 - https://audiosex.pro/threads/non-contest-5.77309/
#06 - https://audiosex.pro/threads/friendly-non-contest-6.77712/
#07 - https://audiosex.pro/threads/friendly-non-contest-7.78214/
#08 - https://audiosex.pro/threads/friendly-non-contest-8.78700/
#09 - https://audiosex.pro/threads/friendly-non-contest-9.79321/
#10 - https://audiosex.pro/threads/friendly-non-contest-10.79693/
#11 - https://audiosex.pro/threads/friendly-non-contest-11.80017/
#12 - https://audiosex.pro/threads/friendly-non-contest-12.80400/
#13 - https://audiosex.pro/threads/friendly-non-contest-13.80971/
#14 - https://audiosex.pro/threads/friendly-non-contest-14.81562/
#15 - https://audiosex.pro/threads/friendly-non-contest-15.81870/
#16 - https://audiosex.pro/threads/friendly-non-contest-16.82720/

 

Noice!

 

My manager's secretaries are already receiving phone calls from ghost writers!!!

 

imma sit this one out but ill definitely check in on how yall interpret it, hope you have fun

 

Hi @Grape Ape! Does that mean you'll be playing silence?

 

@capitan crunch lol, i just need to chill for minute dawg. i want to do like John and take a vacation with my girl for a couple weeks. we were talking about going to Morrocco last year but thats not a flight i wanted to take originally; but my bitch badder than yoko like, i could do that for her - this inspired me, just in a different way. i know youre about to kill it though my friend

also my fave John song, hes singing that from his soul

 

I completely understand. me too. I escaped a month and a half ago for 2 weeks. much needed. but now I back to being stressed.
some would guess that that's life...

 

My wife and her brother are going to Casablanca in the Spring and then on to Marrakesh. I can't travel for at least nine months, so...

Have a great time and bring back a nice carpet.

This...might...just...be...your...song!!

 

@Lois Lane yep Marrakech is exactly where we're headed, it looks really nice. damn i wish you could go man....though thats fantastic song, ive never heard that before so thanks homie and take care of yourself. youre a very talented dude and i know youre a Beatles fan, so if youre able to make it i know its gonna be well crafted

like i said many times, you inspire me dude. i hope im still able to play and have fun like you when im that age, i know how life can be, its a blessing

 

You might feel like not returning...

 

there's so much hassling in morocco it's a bit overwhelming.

 

Last edited: Jan 10, 2026

well we leave tomorrow so ill see. though i grew up around gang members and crackheads roaming the streets, ive also lived in NYC where street sellers are aggressive - you gotta know how to give people a look like youll fuck them up out in the wild. someone trying to press you for money needing crack, theyll do anything and are super desperate. so im sure we'll be alright in Marrakech lol

what im not looking forward too is the flight tomorrow though, its 22 hours with 2 layovers - what my girl doesnt know is layovers can make that easily 30 hours before we get there, its the main reason i didnt want to take the trip but im in too deep now

 

What did "The Grape" say when his girlfriend stepped on him?

Nothing...he just gave out a little wine.

Sorry, just had to.

 

Can't blame her for squeeze boxing him, I go ape for grapes!

 

@Lois Lane lol, well thats why shes my bitch, gotta be a little fierce to handle me. being that beautiful of a women in the world, she definitely had to learn how to use her fangs to survive, thats part of why i love her. i cant stand women that act nice all the time, cant trust em

but yeah sitting in the airport lounge typing this and seeing how excited she is, makes me happy; shes wanted to go there since she was a kid - no point in having money and never doing things for the people i care about is what i believe, ill live. some grapes would be nice though

 

@Grape Ape no wonder you can skip this contests iteration so easily - sounds like you are winning regardless . Congrats on your outlook on life, finding love and caring.

 

Dear passenger, bystander and passerby,

we are soon to be leaving the first week of the fnc-17. This is a public service announcement of a little set of ideas that might get your creative juices flowing. I will put these ideas in the spoiler below, so you can use them at your own risk. I don't want to do your thoughts dirty by setting you unwillingly up with mine.

Here are some ideas for this iterations picture:

Spoiler

on the topic:

• What do the pictured people think - three people == three verses?
• Where do they come from, what are differences what are simialarities?
• Has peace(ful protest) a chance? In every situation of close or distant wars / violence?
• What did the couple really try to achieve? Are they framed by the media in reports?
• What kind of irony lives within the picture, does the irony prevail upon deeper inspection?
• Is there such a thing as universal peace? If not why bother?

musical exploration:

• use differnt motives for the different people, maybe typical styles associated with them, will you pick a sophisticated theme matching the expensive hotel, some latin reflecting her name, or something associated with Amsterdam where she works and lives, for the maid. What for Yoko what for John?
• use dissonances for conflicting ideas.
• make a sound canvas, imitate sound of war with a modern twist. The modern sound of war has definitely drones in it.
• will this song (topic) ever end? you could break up the traditional ending of a song by not resolving the last chord (because it is an unsolved problem) or do it like the modern tik-tok never ending clips, by anticipating a full loop of your piece. The end only resolves when heard again.
• patch together radio static sounds to reflect the media coverage. Maybe something worthwhile will cut through all the noise in your piece.
• a fun one: use historic placement of your instruments to hommage the old days. Extreme panning baby!

 

Last edited: Jan 11, 2026

This morning when I woke up I listened to Aaron Bastani and Glen Greenwald discuss the current state of affairs and immediately jotted this down. Since I've not been able to finish up the last iteration of this Friendly Non-Contest I'll just throw this out as my current entry in the event my account here is still in arrears as of February 4th at the stroke of midnight. It's compact, succinct, complete and is melodic unto itself without need of orchestration nor fancy studio athletics.

The war's not over
Poor John is dead
Maria's son deported
White sheets gone cold
Free souls been sold
Straw-berry Fields forever?

Lois
January 12 2026
7:15 AM

P.S...Ohhh, Yooh-ko....
I'd love to spend...
Your dough...

 

Last edited: Jan 12, 2026

I remember this on the news when I was a kid. My parents were very vocal about their disgust. Still, they were great years and I was reminded of a half finished song that is a bit nostalgic, a bit of a dig at modern music in comparison. This photo reminded me that I should finish the song.



I heard stars all through the day
but now they just hear shades grey
who's the odd one out today?
do you have something to say?
I still feel it, so sublime
but they only hear the time
they don’t spend a single dime
yet I still feel the rumbling rhyme

driving in the 60's
Beatles on the radio
sometimes Wheeling West Virginia
sometimes songs ‘bout Arkansas
Lennon lay in bed for peace
soon the dream it up and died
Apple Corp lay rotting there
an era rocked by suicide

takes a souls identity
I can not see what they mean
they can only see the scene
tik tok dirt is filtered clean
I am doing something cruel
that I do not like to do
raging at their third rate jewels
sad old man oh what a fool

driving in the 60's
Beatles on the radio
sometimes Wheeling West Virginia
sometimes songs ‘bout Arkansas
Lennon lay in bed for peace
soon the dream it up and died
Apple Corp lay rotting there
an era rocked by suicide

 

For your consideration, here is a rendition of a man holding drums falling down a flight of stairs while screaming. This sophisticated and pretentious concept was inspired directly by the photo, which evoked a strong feeling it would be infinitely more musical than anything Yoko Ono ever recorded: https://vocaroo.com/14IIW0rXzRtY

268 bpm. Stairwell reverb supplied by an IM90, because gratuitous excess was artistically necessary.