Love

Love

I've got to give a quick shout out to my older brother, Jason, and his wife, Colleen. Three or four years ago, they left lucrative jobs in Las Vegas to try and return home to family, burning whatever savings they had acquired as they tried to push into the East Coast music and theatre scene. It's something I've always admired about them, and it's something that in the grand scheme of things has helped motivate and inspire me. Unfortunately, in early March of 2014 they gave in to the practicalities of life and packed up their amazing amount of tools to head back to the jobs that they had left. But they fought the good fight, which in my opinion is pretty damn cool.

I've also got to give a shout out to Uhaul, who royally f-ed up the reservation of the pods that were supposed to be ready to go on the day of their move. Jay had set things up way in advance. He had arranged for people to help move and timed everything really specifically, going so far as to pre-measure and stack cubes of his stuff. Basically, the plan was to move everything in a day, and all we had to do was move each pre-measured stack into a pod when it arrived. But they didn't. In fact, the pods were so far from ready to go that Jay had to drive to who knows where to get more and to haul them back for us to load. In some cases, he had to dig them out of the snow himself. 

Between each trip, there was a tremendous amount of downtime, and it was in that time that Jeff and I found Colleen's Martin acoustic and Jason's acoustic bass guitar. We honestly had hours that there was nothing to do in a house that was entirely empty, apart from the piles of stuff awaiting shipment. So we played guitar and wound up writing this song.

The essential chord progression of this song, the first five or so bars, is a piece of a music that I've been playing idly for years. I've always like it, but never followed through with the development of it as a song. It found a home in my most bored moments, strumming absently as life went on around me. But then in that space between Uhaul pods, Jeff and I were able to add to it, teasing it into the framework for a song that we both really liked. 

The best part (probably more for us than anyone else) is that we have a Voice Memo recording from that day. We turned on the recorder and just let it go. You can hear conversation in the background as our friend Pete talks about his upcoming move in Philly, which we helped with too. I like this track because one can really hear the process, the back and forth about how to continue with a shared creative venture.

We took this recording and used it to inform our decisions when we were at my house practicing in the basement. At first, we just played the tune. I'd never really written a song before, and with other people around, putting the lyrics over it was actually stressful for me. I was embarrassed in a way. I guess I felt a little vulnerable singing my own lyrics. But I remember singing it; I remember Jeff's enthusiasm; and I remember when he put some harmony parts over it and filled in the guitar tracks around it. It sounded awesome.

Here's a recording of one of the first few times we put the whole thing together. I mess up the lyrics, and several of my guitar parts are wrong; but I'm glad to have it. The original is super long, so I've cut to the part where I start singing. Also, I think there are some bad words at the end of this one...

And this is our 'final' draft. The one that we recorded between Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. Jeff recorded several different guitar parts that I mixed together - lead ins, some rhythm stuff, a solo, and a bass track. He's also singing harmony. I'm singing the melody and playing the that same chord progression I've been playing for the last several years. When I first sent the mastered track to him, he thought there were bells, but it's just a weird effect I put on his low track. We hope you like it.

Love
Well, I've always known I love you, but I can't seem to understand
The things I've said and done to push you to that other man
But I'll behave this time, I swear
You know, I'll do everything that I can
To show how much you care
and make you love me
make you love me
make you love me
make you love me

So I ain't staying out too late. I'm only drinking twice a week
and the girls you've seen me with, you know it's you I'd rather see
so if you forgive the things I say
and forget the things I do
You'll be happy on the day
you let me love you
let me love you
let me love you
let me love you

So each time you're out that door, you know I'm begging you to stay
I'm falling on the floor because it's me your making pay
so if you forgive the things I say
and you forget the things I do
you'll be happy on the day
you let me love you


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