Slice of Life: You Make It All Right

Sometimes, I pick up the guitar, and the songwriting flows as if it were something else beside me. As if the song were just there, waiting patiently for the moment. This demo of You Make It All Right (Glitter and Gold) is one of those songs. I randomly sang the first line, and in that moment, I knew the entire song and story. The chords fell into place immediately. I wrote this whole song, which I really like, in about 15 minutes, tops. Maybe not even that.

Songwriting rarely goes that easy. Usually, it’s a struggle with parts of the song, moving words and editing phrases and adding bridges, and reworking the entire meaning. It’s not unusual for me to start writing a song about one thing and end up with something else entirely when I am done.

When the song just falls into place, it’s a strange, magical feeling. I’m proud of this one, for the story it tells of friendship in the face of hardship, for the mandolin-sound of the guitar (the capo is the neck) and for the possibility with my bandmates. We’ll see how it goes. Sometimes, a demo falls apart when it becomes part of the band sound.

Peace (flowing in song),
Kevin

4 Comments
  1. Kevin,
    Thanks for sharing your creative work and the process! So many times we talk to our students about the process of writing…but I don’t think they always get it – sometimes it just flows, and other times it is hard work.. other times, when we collaborate, it becomes better – other times, our own voices get lost… It must be a delicate balancing act to maintain your own voice in that creative process. What was actually meant to be said at the end of the day. When all that comes together, like you describe in this song, it must be tremendously satisfying. Congratulations!

  2. I can’t relate, but I’m in awe! I have never written a song (other than a parody of someone else’s song with a group of other kids at sleepaway camp). I’ve never been great with rhyming, but have the utmost respect for anyone who can do it artfully.

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