In 2023 I’m changing my songwriting pacing from a song a week to a song a month. Partly because I’m now working 30 hours a week at my day job and partly so I can spend more bandwidth working with songs I’ve already written – playing out and recording.
January’s song feels like it should be February’s but oh well, here it is . . .
You can’t think when you’re with that gorgeous soul You think of nothing else when you’re alone Oh you’ve got it bad And it feels so good
There’s a name on repeat in your ears A face your mind will not let disappear Oh you’ve got it bad And it feels so good
Hold it close Sing it out Let the whole world feel the truth Oh, you’re in love And it’s got you good
Here’s a fun song I started last week. Nice to just finish it up and get it posted early this week because it’s a big busy week in my family’s life. Firstborn graduating from high school! And a party shall ensue! And I shall plan and produce it! (with appropriate help of course).
It’s an extra bit fun to post this on the first day of Pride Month because I wrote it to be gender/orientation-inclusive. Love is love!
Feels so good to want you when I know I’m gonna get you All to myself It hardly seems believable that someone like you lets me have you All to myself
Don’t you know you’re truly beautiful Shining brightly in my eyes Darling aren’t we just enough of a Good thing that keeps coming back
There’s things I’m gonna whisper when you bring your fine self closer Aw, to myself I’ve got some sweet ideas and I didn’t want to keep them All to myself
Don’t you know you’re truly beautiful Shining brightly in my eyes Darling aren’t we just enough of a Good thing that keeps coming back
I like the way you like the way I hold you when you hold me Close to yourself
So if you’re going my way then I’ll keep on going your way All by myself Except you’re welcome here beside me anytime and always Here, by my self
Don’t you know you’re truly beautiful Shining brightly in my eyes Darling aren’t we just enough of a Good thing that keeps coming back
The crooners sang “you’re nobody till somebody loves you,” and that can sound really quite heartless when you think about it.
But I’ve been thinking about other things lately, things that have influenced the writing of this song.
“Nothing stands alone” is this year’s topic for Richard Rohr’s daily meditations, which I read most days.
“We are all in this together. We are all in this alone,” sang Pierce Pettis in “Just Like Jim Brown.”
Every morning I roll out of bed and spend about 45 minutes doing exercises for a slightly arthritic knee, while listening to James Finley’s “Turning to the Mystics” podcast. Probably most of the reason I listen is for Finley’s voice and presence, and I know that things he’s said and ways he’s said them have contributed to this song.
The music came from a melody and chord progression I had rejected on my way to writing “Remember December.” I liked it enough to save the idea for future reference, and this week that musical idea and the #songaweek2022 weekly prompt (“standing in the doorway”) gave me enough to go on to pull this song together.
Frustrating technical difficulties with sharing this video here, but if you click on it you should be able to watch normally. It is more than a gray screen!
There must be something I could say to you There must be something more that I could do After all we’re all in this alone Standing in the doorway leaving home
Somebody Somebody Somebody loves you
You’ve got the freedom and you’ve got the right So go on and be the one to shine the light After all we’re all a little scared Standing at the bottom of the stairs
Somebody . . . loves you
And you’re not going anywhere without that love
After all we’re nothing on our own Everything keeps breathing through our bones
Cat videos! Why didn’t I think of that ages ago? I didn’t feel like filming the actual recording of this week’s song so I did some hunting on publicdomainreview.org and found this adorable film from around 1945. I fully expect that my video will go viral because, did I mention, cat video!
This is my first song for #songaweek2022! It was a difficult one to title because there’s no repeating hook – every little two-line chorus is different words. If anyone has a different title idea I’d love to hear it. Titling songs is not always so easy.
You’ve got a way about you That I think I’d like to go Ooh when you take me to you Time takes us in a whole other flow
I can’t say how it feels to you But it feels to me like we might be in love
Love is a happy apple Tough as a bowling ball Sweet as a baby’s babble Right as the rain that finally falls
This after all is all we are And we are all we’re after all this time
We’ve gone so far my darling I’m so far gone with you Stay with me till the morning Let the minutes spread out and fatten around us
I can’t say what the future holds But I’m holding on with you for this dear life
“Against” is not necessarily a negative word. Nor is “close.” I was thinking about this when I jotted down the first verse of this song months ago. You can lean against someone for comfort or protection or just to feel cozy. You can sit close, draw close, in love; rather than close your mind or your heart or your door. The hard s or the soft s, the adjective/adverb or the verb – they all come from the same Latin root.
The prompt for week 48 of #songaweek2021 was “tell me everything.” When I sat down to write my song last week, I revisited that first verse idea and then looked up the prompt for development ideas. I wanted each verse to set up some sense of juxtaposition – things that feel at odds that actually aren’t in a true love relationship (which is not at all limited to romantic ones). So the prompt helped me write verse two.
As I was playing the first two verses the song felt a lot like a lullaby. The first verse felt reminiscent of late nights holding my second baby, who would wake up crying hard and long and simply would not be comforted. I ached for him to just relax into my arms, against the warm loving body of his mother, but he’d twist and fight until he wore himself out.
I can be that baby too, with the people closest to me. I don’t want to open up and share my pain and mess with you. I just want to blame you for it, pick a fight to use up some of this bad energy I’m feeling.
Verse two describes the kind of loving conversation I think crying babies like me most need – a listening ear and heart, a recognition that you can never completely understand but that you want to know me. “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity,” said Simone Weil.
The juxtaposition in the first lines of the last verse may feel harsh on the first listen. But we all know it’s true, in any and every relationship – and I think in the most deeply loving ones we find gentle honesty about it. The song ends with a reminder that morphs into a question that is also about paying attention.
Lean up right against me You don’t need to fight against me Come close, don’t close yourself away
Tell me everything You don’t need to speak a word I know, I’ll never understand
I am here for you Until I am gone away You know I’m not the only one Who loves you . . .
Julia Bloom 