Slice of Life: A New Song on the Mind

Slice of Life(This is part of the Slice of Life project at Two Writing Teachers)

I spent much of the morning yesterday writing a new song because late today, I am going to be getting together with some colleagues from school to jam and write songs and make music. That prospect always gets me fired up and this will be our first time together, for the most part (a few of us played at our recent benefit concert).

So, I figured I would challenge myself by writing a new song. I had the words and rhythms floating around my head all day and through the night, too, which is how I write. I get sort of obsessive about it. OK, not sort of. Very obsessive. The song becomes the inner soundtrack of my days.

I am always afraid that I will “lose” the song (which has happened more than once) and so, repetition is key, and also, that repetition (even in the comfortable silence of my own mind) allows me to try out new words and phrases.

For example, I later thought that “ease” should be “change,” as that would be a more powerful story — asking someone to change their mind about a relationship is much different than trying to ease their fears. The narrator here (it’s not me) would be a bit more desperate in their message if they knew they had to change their lover’s mind about the relationship. I’ve kept it as written, for now, but I thought a lot about how that one change would change the entire mood and meaning of the song.

Here is it:

Ease Your Mind
(listen to the demo)

You sound so lonely
I can hear it on the phone
Baby, if only
I were there to hold you
I’d take you in, so let’s begin
to ease your mind

We’re walking on the tightrope
and we might fall
I’m holding out for hope
Hope that we stand tall
inside this place where there’s some space
to ease your mind

Hold out your hand
and watch as the world slips away
We can talk about it later
While we’re living here today
and I need you here

I hear the distance
and silence of the days
I’m lost in the whispers
coming through the haze
I keep you close just like a ghost
and ease your mind

Peace (in the muse),
Kevin

10 Comments
  1. Loved it Kevin, the lyrics and the music sound very upbeat. Great that you have a new group forming. I know you’ve been missing that collaboration. Have fun today. What will the rest of your family be doing?
    Bonnie

  2. Kevin,
    Thank you for sharing your song. I write songs for my classroom kids, mostly I write lyrics and attach them to existing music. Like you it is all done in my head with a lot of practice. It does not go down on paper until I am satisfied with it. Rehearsal does not have to take place on paper or a computer screen. As a teacher, I need to remind myself of this because there are children in my classroom who rehearse in their brains!

  3. My husband writes songs and often they come to him when he is on the trail and he tells me he has to keep it in his head until he can get home and write it down. What a fantastic outlet.

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