About "Each Day": Success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, or so the saying goes. But in this song, the muse was with me and it was more like 5% inspiration. The first sentence and melody came to me in a dream, fully formed, in fact fully orchestrated. I awoke with it ringing in my head and had to transcribe it before it faded away. So I got up, staggered down the hall, got paper and pen, and went back to bed. As I lay there half asleep, other images appeared. I wrote them down. I left the paper untouched for a couple of weeks, until the time was right, and then spent a day or so doing the hard work of building the story. For me, the visual images are strong in my mind. I can still see the street, the storefronts, and the wind howling above in the grey sky.

Each Day

Each day becomes such a heartache,
since your love's gone away.
Someday I'll beat the heart break,
but now my skies are so grey.

Stumbling in the lamplight of an old town street.
Cold storms are blowing winds that trip my feet.
I huddle in the doorways yet the chill comes through.
But I'm still surrounded by you.

They say that time heals the darkness,
but I think the wind doesn't care.
I seek a dawn that will move me,
to find me a heart I can share.

It may be that sorrow is an empty cup,
and mem'ries of together will fill it up.
But this night was a journey and the morning has come.
A new love may show me the sun.

This day I face my heartache,
but I'll still love you each day.
I'll still love you each day.

On a technical note, Each Day was conceived as a jazz ballad with an unusual structure. There is no chorus. Instead, it has two sets of alternating verses, and the key modulates between verses: 1st and 3rd in F major, 2nd and 4th in Eb major. Also, the line-end rhymes are A-B-A-B, then A-A-B-B, except the 3rd verse which goes A-B-C-B. I don't know why. The melody line of the 2nd and 4th verses is a kind of inverted version of the initial melody which came to me in the dream. Quite a lot of the original imagery still lies on the cutting room floor. It just wasn't all needed to make the point. But, even today, I'm still adjusting a word here and there. It's a living thing.

About "Smiling": Looking at this now, it occurs to me that it might be somehow related to Each Day. Maybe some kind of epilogue. I don't know if that was my intention, but there are several common concepts. The workings of the subconcious mind, perhaps.

Smiling

I'm smiling and I don't know why.
It's not as if I own you - nobody could.
But you're an inspiration. You're infectious.
I can't resist.

Don't make me laugh, it hurts.
I know it shouldn't. It's supposed to be fun.
But I love the feeling that you give me.
And I need it.

 That's a funny way to get my attention.
 But it worked.
 I'm all yours.

Now you're smiling and it's good.
Look at the sunrise, bright and clear.
Something's right, the way it should be.
And we're smiling.

 That's a funny way to get my attention.
 But it worked.
 I'm all yours.

And now we're smiling.

About "You Know I Love You": Most of my songs have too many chords, or too many words. This is true whether I cover a classic, or create a new one. So this song is deliberately crafted in a simpler format, following the traditional blues formulas. When I perform it, it comes out as a soft blues love song, which is a fairly rare thing and makes up for the simple format.

You Know I Love You

You know I love you pretty baby, love you all through the night.
You know I love you pretty baby, love you all through the night.
You know I love you pretty baby, so why you put up such a fight?

I know you love me pretty mama, I've seen it for my self.
I know you love me pretty mama, I've seen it for my self.
I know you love me pretty mama, so why you put me on the shelf?

You know I love you pretty baby, and you always ask for more.
You know I love you pretty baby, and you always ask for more.
You know I love you pretty baby, why you push me out the door?

I know you love me pretty mama, a love that can't be beat.
I know you love me pretty mama, a love that can't be beat.
I know you love me pretty mama, so why I walkin' on the street?

You know I love you pretty baby, more than all the world.
You know I love you pretty baby, more than all the world.
You know I love you pretty baby, I don't need another girl.

I know you love me pretty mama, don't you hear me knockin' on your door?
I know you love me pretty mama, don't you hear me knockin' on your door?
I know you love me pretty mama, why you don't want me anymore?

About "Our Last Conversation": This one is structured like one side of a conversation, perhaps overheard through a window. The "thing" could be anything, real or philosophical or spiritual. It's not important. What matters is the change it brings. Is it disruption, or revelation? Truth? Spite? Freedom? And who's side of the conversation is this - your side, or the other side?

Our Last Conversation

Huh?
What's this?
It's not mine.
No, it isn't.
No. I mean it. It's not mine.
It's not like I have that kind of thing tucked into the back of my drawer.
You must have brought it home.
Sure you did.
Don't say that.
Where have you been? What've you been up to?
Oh, c'mon. Stop that.
Man, I don't get it. I just don't. Isn't this enough?
Oh.
You want more.
Well, I can do that.
Maybe I can try.
Yeah, I know, I'm just saying that.
I can't be anything but ... me.
No, I'm not angry. Not now, anyway.
Not yet.
Later, it'll hit me.
And you.

About "There Was Something": There's no attempt here to rhyme, at least in the normal sense. Instead, there's a kind of "structural rhyme", where corresponding lines of each verse are similar in syllable count and subject matter. The most obvious example is the identical fourth line of each verse. But also: the first and second lines set the scene, the third lines are about the connection, the fifth and sixth lines are about opportunity lost, the seventh lines are about the distance, and the eighth lines pose the questions.

There Was Something

I know there was something.
I saw it just now.
She looked at me. And again. And again.
There was something in her eyes.
We never even met.
She was across the room.
As she left, she looked back, then was gone.
What does it mean?

It happened before.
Another she.
The looks exchanged. And then more than once.
There was something in her eyes.
I should have spoken.
But she was passing by,
And went away, never to cross paths.
Why does it happen?

 We search and can never find.
 But when we're not trying, something comes.
 Something.

Another time and place.
A train to London.
She smiled as I struggled with my bags.
There was something in her eyes.
It could have been good.
Different destinations.
We parted, forever oceans away.
Where am I headed?

 We search and can never find.
 But when we're not trying, something comes.
 Something.

In the early springtime.
Life so fresh.
More than just looks, more than just smiles.
There was something in her eyes.
She was nearly mine.
But summer came and went.
And now we are a lifetime apart.
Who have I become?

There was something.
And it's gone.

· Random Thoughts ·

If it's not win-win, it's lose-lose.

Don't try to fathom what makes the World tick. Make it tick!

While crossing the river, each stepping stone is equally valuable.

Your dreams come true where opportunity and courage meet.

"Don't you know who I am?" he asked. "No sir," I replied, "but I do know one thing: the music doesn't care."

Singing is the fire that fuels itself.

Some of us are employed by the government, the rest of us just work for them.

Life is an infinite buffet. What do you want?

Oh Spirit of the Universe,
Please give me the
Clarity, Strength, and Wisdom
To see within me
Truth and Love
To share with my Friends,
And bless them with
Peace, Happiness, and Tranquility
For Now and for Ever.

Fear is temporary. Regret is forever.

Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think.

Take the music very seriously, but not yourself.

You can give everything to someone, but it's up to them to accept it.

You don't realize how much you've changed until you experience people who haven't.

We have art in order not to perish of truth. - Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Alas, for those that never sing, but die with all their music in them! - O. W. Holmes

Sometimes good things falls apart so better things can fall together. - Norma Jeane Baker

Success is never final and failure never fatal. It's courage that counts. - George Tilton

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. - Chinese Proverb

He who works with his hands is a laborer. With hands and head, a craftsman. With hands, head, and heart, an artist. - Louis Nizer, 1948

It ain't what you don't know that gets you in trouble; it's what you know for sure that ain't so. - Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw)

Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done. - Andy Rooney

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. - Albert Einstein

The important thing is to be able, at any moment, to sacrifice what we are for what we could become. - Charles DuBois, naturalist

Courage does not always roar, sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying "I will try again tomorrow". - Mary Anne Radmacher

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained. - Marie Curie

Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher 'standard of living' is worth its cost in things natural, wild and free. - Aldo Leopold (1887-1948)

I have not ceased being fearful, but I have ceased to let fear control me. I have accepted fear as a part of life - specifically the fear of change, the fear of the unknown; and I have gone ahead despite the pounding in my heart that says: turn back, turn back, you'll die if you venture too far - Erica Mann Jong