reworking

as a rule, i don't rework my old songs, but i think it's time to try.

my book of songs is split in two, basically the good and the not-so-good. i was surprised to find the one i'm thinking of in the front half. i don't play it often, because it seems to fall flat when i do. but i think its potential is what made me put it with the "good". i really want it to work.

it's a song i wrote from my wife's perspective, a rather ambitious notion at the time, and a bit of a stretch. risk is good.

it started with a simple, killer chorus, the main idea:

"Don't say goodnight - say everything is gonna be all right".

and there's the problem. i'm an acoustic roots player, and it's a rock chorus. hell, even now i can hear the explosive horn section.

when i look at the song as a whole, it's pretty good. maybe what i need to change is HOW, not WHAT. do it more gently, without the bombast i hear in my head. hey, it's cheaper than hiring a backup band every time i want to play that one song.

and it's supposed to be from Deb's point of view. she's not the rockin' shout-it-from-the-rooftops kind of gal. it should suit her style as well as tell something of her story.

it's entirely possible that the lyric will need reworking as well, once it's done differently. probably best to try it out, see if it simply FEELS better, and then adjust the words to better fit the new mood. yes. i think so.

hey, thanks for listening. you've been a great help. if you've got another 3:47 to spare, close your eyes and listen to this. tell me what you think.

"The walls are spinning madly off in every known direction
The sanity that's with me still is in need of your protection
It won't take much to help me out, love and trust and patience
A few words at the right time could be my salvation
Don't say goodnight - say everything is gonna be all right

The book i write consumes me, i'm disappearing ink
Omen crows and deadlines loom in shadows, i can't think
The geometric tangle is of my own design
Life and Art don't imitate, here they intertwine
Don't say goodnight - say everything is gonna be all right

I know the work is worth it
Its beauty i conceive
I know my life is better still
Still i don't believe

Sometimes i forget to breathe, colours pull me in
A sea of grace so deep, i sink until i swim
And swim until i'm grounded on your foreign shore
Lift me up and take me home, and promise me once more
Everything is gonna be all right
Everything is gonna be all right
Everything is gonna be all right."