Hi friend!
I love when I have the energy to create and play music. For some reason it’s easier for my body and brain to do my abstract painting than it is to play or create music. Singing is, afterall, an athletic sport.
And I don’t just need to find good energy days — which I have more of these days, I also need to find good voice days, which are more rare.
I had a good energy day today, and an ok (definitely not perfect) voice day today and so I finally finished this song I have been working on and recorded a demo for you. It’s by no means perfect as I can’t practice, so this was the first run-through after I finished the song. Not being able to practice because of illness is an immense source of grief for me.
I love this song, because it reminds me of the Portuguese singing tradition called Fado — an emotional and melancholic style of music that originated in the 1820s in the working class areas of Lisbon. Just imagine this with an acoustic guitar accompanying the vocals and piano.
I was playing around with chords and found the piano motif (the piano melody you hear in the intro), which starts with a Cm6 chord (for the musicians out there). I really loved this motif and encouraged me to keep going.
I then found the line “I woke up to the sound of someone breathing…” It felt eerie and oddly lonely.
And when I wrote the line “Why do I feel alone when I am with them…” I knew that the song was about having outgrown an old self. As I finished the song I could see that it was about missing who you were before it all came tumbling down, leaving that self behind, and loving who you’ve become now despite it all.
Here are the lyrics:
I woke up to the sound of someone breathing
I got lost
In the mountains again
Why do I feel alone when I am with them
They look down on the likeness of me
I hear an echo of a past
Before it all broke down
And I knew what to believe
I now know things can’t last
At least that’s what I tell myself
To put my mind at ease
I’m at the place where cuckoos fail to nest
The breath of the night
Is soothing on my skin
When can I return to where wildflowers grow?
I carry a debt
From past ghosts of mine
There’s a whisper in the trees
Saying one more step move further into the night
Do you want to be someone who believes?
Believe in peace
It will set your mind at ease
I dream I’m as light as a bird
My iron shells no longer weigh me down
A stillness floats through me
Did I shake them off, did I leave them all behind?
There’s a whisper in the trees
They’re welcoming me
Into the night
We know what to believe
You belong with us
Our minds they are at ease
Let me know what you think? Should I produce it and release it?
Tell me…
Do you miss old versions of yourself?
Do you love who you are now?
What do you think of the song? Should I produce and release it?
What are your favourite lyrics in the song?
I’d love to know in the comments!
