I do a lot of solo traveling, and I adore writing on planes. Airports are the ideal place to people-watch and imagine their stories; where they might be headed, who’s waiting for them, what they’re leaving behind. Then I get to use the flight time to drift between sense memories and sleep.
I heard a flight attendant mention “rough air” and the phrase struck me as kind of funny. Anyone who’s felt turbulence knows that unsettling sensation. It doesn’t phase me anymore, but it did give me this song idea in 2020. I wrote just a verse and chorus then and circled back around a couple months ago when window seat photos were popping up on my feed after a friend’s vacation.
I recorded this demo quickly to submit for the NSAI Chapter Challenge, hosted by my songwriter’s group ever year. I’m getting a lot faster at roughing out piano, drums, and bass, but I’m itching to do better. I think next time I make a demo like this, step one is to delete the scratch piano track. The way I play when I’m self-accompanying takes up so much space, it dominates over any other ideas before they can even occur to me. It’s a “nonsense piano” approach when the records I love most as thoughtful and deliberate. I’m writing this now as a promise to myself from this point on. KM
Rough Air
I’ve always been afraid of heights
Barely five feet off the ground
And I’d be terrified
All that’s changed now that you’re in my life
Suddenly I’m brave enough to touch the sky
Where we’re going there’s no rules or guide
So buckle up, enjoy the ride
There’s gonna be rough air
When you’re flying this high through the sky
There’s bound to be bumps sometime
And when it gets tough, just
Remember how far we’ve come
There’s gonna be rough air
But I don’t care
As long as you’re there
And if I get anxious at night
I just reach and squeeze your hand
Then everything’s alright
We might disagree, but we don’t fight
Through all the wind and rain, we’re on the same side
There’s gonna be rough air
When you’re flying this high through the sky
There’s bound to be bumps sometime
And when it gets tough, just
Remember how far we’ve come
There’s gonna be rough air
But I don’t care
As long as you’re there
Stars above and clouds below
Don’t let me down, don’t let me go
In your arms I’m safe and warm
We’ll take the world by storm
There’s gonna be rough air
When you’re flying this high through the sky
There’s bound to be bumps sometime
And when it gets tough, just
Remember how far we’ve come
There’s gonna be rough air
But I don’t care
As long as you’re there
Stars above and clouds below
Don’t let me down, don’t let me go
Stars above and clouds below
There’s gonna be rough air
But I don’t care
As long as you’re there