March, 2018:

So…last week I shared half of a song. During the week, I finished it, and I’m going to share the lyric here. Not sure it quite meets what I want as a song to keep working on, but it was important to me to finish what I started.

I also got started on a new song inspired by a couple of memes I’ve seen online, the type that go, “I meditate, I smudge, and I still want to smack some people.” I’ve got a chorus and a collection of possible lines; my goal is to finish this song for you for *next* week. The working title is “Namaste, MF!”

Meanwhile, here’s the *finished* draft lyric for “Georgia Sand, Florida Clay:”

I was somewhere on the outskirts of Atlanta

At a quiet bar, waiting for Rush Hour to clear

When the woman at my right downed a shot and then she sighed

And in the corner of her eye I could see the start of tears

Can I offer you a drink for your sorrows?

She said yes, and we chatted for a while

I said, “You could come escape; if you follow me tomorrow

To my place down by the beach, I bet it could make you smile”

CHORUS

Will you stroll on my Florida Sand

And leave your Georgia Clay

Will you come south, maybe take my hand

Even though it’s a little far away?

I was only halfway joking, and she chuckled in reply

And said, “You’re really very sweet, but I can’t accept

It’s not just that you’re a stranger, see, I really have to try

To mend my wounded life and make an end to my regrets

So I can’t stroll on your Florida Sand

And leave my Georgia Clay

I’d love to talk, maybe hold your hand

But I just can’t run away

I left her my number in case she ever changed her mind

Paid our tab, and I headed south again

Something about her eyes makes me think of her from time to time

Perhaps someday she’ll call, and tell me then:

“I’m coming to stroll on your Florida Sand

And leaving my Georgia Clay

To talk with you, and hold your hand

And we can share our days”

Yes, I’m still creating. And yes, I’m still working on some projects that will take some time before I can share a semi-finished product with you. I tried tracking my instrumental project last week, and wasn’t quite to where it’d work. But I’m closer now, thanks to more rehearsal. Hopefully this week…

I do have half or 2/3 of a new song that I’m working on. When I made my “eclipse trip” up through GA last summer, I had an idea come to me of “Florida sand and Georgia clay.” I didn’t know what to do about that then. A couple of days ago, while listening to some Jesse Rice music, I got a song idea that works with that particular contrast. I don’t quite have the whole thing yet, but I’ve got two verses and a chorus. The song will probably be verse, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, (bridge, chorus). And I may tweak the later choruses to fit the story. I think it will end up being an unrequited love song. Here’s what I’ve got:

Florida Sand, Georgia Clay

I was somewhere on the outskirts of Atlanta

A a quiet bar, waiting for rush hour to clear

When the woman at my right downed a shot, and then she sighed

And in the corner of her eye, I could see the start of tears

Can I offer you a drink for your sorrows?

She said yes, and we chatted for a while

I said, “you could come escape; you can follow me tomorrow

To my place by the beach, I bet it could make you smile

CHORUS

Will you stroll on my Florida Sand

And leave your Georgia Clay?

Will you come south and maybe take my hand

Even though it’s a little far away?

(unwritten verse 3: She politely declined and we went our separate ways)

(unwritten bridge: I wonder how her story turned out. Wonder what might have happened if she’d…)

I don’t have a finished product this week, though I’ve been spending time brainstorming new material and listening to some different songs and instrumental tracks to help inspire me. I’m just about to where I hope I can track my first guitar instrumental with minimal mistakes, and I’m pretty much up and ready to go on the new version of Logic Pro. So maybe next week I’ll have an instrumental work in progress for you.

I’m also rehearsing some things I’ve written/composed in recent weeks, because I’ve got a gig coming up at which I want to debut them. And they shift and settle into more polished places as I do, and that’s all good.

In the meantime, at the top of the list of my brainstorming is something titled “Walking Each Other Home.” I want it to be inspirational, and maybe a love song. I don’t have enough pieces yet to know how it’ll turn out. But I can share a possible chorus, and I’ll share some of the more interesting lyric sets I’ve come up with so far. And you may see a more-finished version of this in the future.

First the proto-chorus:

Wouldn’t life be easier

If we walked each other home?

We could all get where we want to go

If we walked each other home.

And some lyrics:

The slamming closed of a heart’s own door

Is the saddest sound there is

Forever trapped in too-small armor, bonsai of the soul

The world is full of magic, for those with eyes to see

Like the sparkle in your gaze every time you look at me

Cassandra tried to anchor the news, but everyone changed the channel

And that’s where it all sits right now, along with some other bits that I don’t like as much. 🙂 Hopefully a bit more brainstorming will give me something I can use.

In the meantime, thanks for listening and have an awesome week!

Loren