Hey everyone. Happy holidays and happy merry to you and yours. I hope you’ve been having a wonderful and happy time with your friends and family.
Now, this isn’t your typical happy-go-lucky chirstmas/holiday post; this is more one of reflection of lost loved ones and a way to immortalize them through song.
Let’s give the song a listen and then get into the discussion of how it came to be.
Listen here:
I wrote the music for this track a few weeks back when one of my friends suffered several losses in their family in a fairly quick succession. This reminded me of how the holiday season has been a period of loss for so many, including myself. Then, last week, my family lost a cherished loved one that has been with us forever. The combination of these events, and reflecting on other losses right around this time, provided the lyrics for this song in quick succession.
Lyrics
Verse
Have you ever looked inside of yourself
Only to see that you’re empty
Attempting to fill it back up
You fail again and again
You’re trying so hard not to lose it
But life finds a way to go on
Any time we try to choose it
We fail again and again
Prechorus
Why can’t the ones we love
Stay the same?
Is there a way we can
Avoid the rain, wash away (the pain)
Chorus
The pain that we carry
Is the love, all left behind
And the days, we remember
Are where we’re happy, with them back in time
With those left behind
Verse
A quiet night with you beside me
I feel but can’t see your face
I take in the room that’s around me
The first time alone in this place
I never thought I’d be without you
But life finds a way to go on
This isn’t how I would choose it
I see you again and again
Prechorus
Why can’t the ones we love
Stay the same?
Is there a way we can
Avoid the rain, wash away (the pain)
Chorus
The pain that we carry
Is the love, all left behind
And the days, we remember
Are where we’re happy, with them back in time
With those left behind
I think it would provide a more personal experience for you to interpret these lyrics as you see, feel, and hear them, rather than me explaining what I was thinking throughout each line.
Form
This song is in 6/8 time at 88 beats per minute and is, mostly, in the key of E major
- Intro – just guitar. Chords: E A E A B
- Verse – intro riff expanded with vocals. Chords: E A C#m A B, E A C#m A
- Prechorus – introducing the rhythm for the chorus. Chords: B C#m A E B C#m A B
- Chorus – using the rhythm from the prechorus. Chords: E A E B, E B C#m B, A E F#m B
- Intro – same as before but with strings entering and staying until the end of the song
- Verse – strumming instead of picking the notes; same chords
- Prechorus – same as the first but with added vocal harmonies (and strings)
- Chorus – same as the first but with added vocal harmonies (and strings)
- Solo – D#m E G#m A, D#m E G#m A A – this changes keys between B major and E major throughout.
- Prechorus – same as previous
- Chorus – same as previous
- Outro – intro with strings.
Parting thoughts
We’ve all experienced loss in one way or another. What matters most is how we remember those we lost and how we carry them with us moving forward in a world without getting to physically see and be with them. We can’t see the pain in each other, and sometimes even in ourselves, but we can try our best to treat ourselves and others with kindness and compassion. Through those kind and thoughtful acts, we help remember those we love by sharing the love they gave to us with those we encounter in our lives.
This is the last post of the year. I hope you’ve made the best of the time you’ve been given this year and have gotten to spend a lot of time with those you love. If you love/appreciate them, tell them. It doesn’t hurt to say “I love you” to those you love. It does, however, hurt to regret not telling them that. We never know how much time we have. But we do have the choice to respond to a friend or loved one that’s reaching out, or to reach out to them. If they mean something to you, tell them.
I’ll be back with more next year. In the meantime, and to shamelessly plug my services, feel free to contact me or email me if you enjoy what I do and would like to learn from me. I’ll be open for lessons in the new year and I’ll do my best to help you out with your musical goals and aspirations.
Thank you for all of your time and support and I hope you have an amazing time with the ones you love and have had as wonderful a year as you could. I’m here for you and many people are here for you as well.
All the best,
– Matt