From Out of Somewhere

To say that something came out of nowhere is an existential impossibility. I do not make any claims to be a philosopher, but I am certain that all things germinate from other things. Tree to seed to sapling, water to cloud to rain, human giving birth to human. That's the way it goes.

Consider the sobering words from the book of Ecclesiastes (1:9)

What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

If you have been following along, you are aware that songwriting daunts me. As I sat down yesterday evening for another wrestling match with the empty page, I remembered a conversation with an old friend and fine musician, Jake Armerding.

He composed a brilliant song titled Color You In that uses the names of various crayon shades to paint a picture (as it were) portraying a young, vibrant love. It is one of those tracks that makes you mash the repeat button twice so you can listen carefully 31 times. Right around repeat number 24 I knew I had Jake pegged. I could rattle off the entire story of a delicious youthful romance set in the backdrops of quaint New England townships.

No more than a week later, I inquired about the deeper meanings behind the song, to verify that my interpretation was on the money. "What did you mean by the words of this song?" I took the nonchalant angle. He thought about it, "I just wanted to do something with the colors... that's what I came up with."

Like a once-inflated piece of grape Bazooka, all the meaning I superimposed onto the track splattered to the floor with an alomst-audible 'pop.'

So there the truth was. His idea did come from somewhere, but a much simpler 'somewhere' than I had imagined.

I contemplated this as the cursor dared me yet again to type. So I thumbed my nose at the blinking demon, conjured up a relatively simple concept, and got to work. (I think I deserve some bonus points too for squeezing the word 'redline' into a verse.) Enjoy this first official attempt at lyric writing and the scratch recording that follows.

If you want to check out Jake Armerding's music, follow this link:
www.jakearmerding.com

Can you figure out the idea behind my first song? (Don't overthink it.)

________________________

SLIPS AWAY

v1
Footbridge over river
Sidewalk into square
Down to the basement diner
Thought you were waiting there

v2
Found a wallet in the back booth
With a card that held your sign
The only thing to do was chase after you
Had a time and a telephone line

v3
Red line to the garden
Green line to the shore
Blue line to the airport
Take the line to the end of the line

Chorus
Jamaica Plain is the name of the game
That you play with your fierce green open eyes
Say it’s luck of the draw that calls off the war
It slips away, it all slips away.