I believe in splitting cowriting credits evenly between every soul in the room. Songwriting is such a weird, intangible process. Sometimes there are crumbs of the process that get left behind in doodles or voice memos, but a hook could just as easily start as a dance move or facial expression. As much as I scribble and record everything, once an idea gets flying around in the ether of a session, it’s hard to judge who hatched it or how crucial may be to the song’s essence.
That said, this particular song was as perfect of a 50/50 as they come, largely because it was created as an exercise in writing on a specific theme, in a specific style, under significant pressure.
Patrick and I brainstormed for roughly an hour before landing on a title. We wrote the chorus lyrics together; he played piano and worked out the harmony, I scribbled and hummed the melody. Finally, we split up and wrote our own verses separately. My punch clock reports that the total writing time was one hour, 58 minutes.
I’m biased of course, but I think my verse is better. Slightly. 😉
It’s now been almost a year since we “finished” the song, and about six months since we sang it at Christopher and Miranda’s wedding. Why then, has it taken me so long to record? Laziness? Busyness?
The honest answer is fear. Fear of all the things I don’t know about recording; and fear of what people may think, silly as that sounds. It has nothing to do with the strength of the song and everything to do with the weakness of my ego. Even with as long as I have been making music on artist’s side, playing engineer or mixer feels intimidating and downright depressing, when I have a specific vision for a production and no means to bring it down to earth.
I’m not super satisfied with this production. I’d like to thin out the piano arrangement, layer in acoustic guitars, and add strings. Our vocal performances are pretty good, but there are some spots where my tongue is not hitting my vowel targets, and I would have had Patrick punch a few spots to match breathing phrases. I can’t tell if the piano sounds like a piano, and I may have de-essed myself into a minor lisp. I scoured forums and YouTube tutorials on reverb and basic commands in Logic until my head spun, then Googled college programs in audio engineering that I can’t afford.
But as they say, it’s a baby step. Next time, I’ll know a little more and suck a little less. KM
How I Fall in Love
In love I thought I’d gone too far
I hung my hopes on shooting stars
And what was theirs was never meant for me
Just when doubt had filled my mind
I found what was I could not find
My problems turned to plans with you in my hand and I knew
The sunshine you hope to see
Or what you might grow up to be
A far off place I’m only dreaming of
The seeds you plant that wish to grow
My beating heart plays steady so
But this I know is How I Fall in Love
A symphony, an angel’s song
An echo that was never gone
A fairytale I’d written long ago
The mystery of a melody I never thought I’d find
But your voice captured in a whisper every single word I heard
The sunshine you hope to see
Or what you might grow up to be
A far off place I’m only dreaming of
The seeds you plant that wish to grow
My beating heart plays steady so
But this I know is How I Fall in Love
Hearts race, worlds are spinning
Now is our beginning
This I know is How I Fall in Love