Original Song: Stars

Although I may have recorded this over 8 months ago, it still stands out as one of my very favorites. For me, it attaches itself quite firmly to a particular time in my life, to a memory I could never forget even if I wanted to. It's not perfect, not quite where the little composer in my mind wants it to be, but it does its job better than I could have reasonably hoped. It represents the feel-good, motivating side of nostalgia, not the sweet-yet-painful side...

This song was recorded on the same days I did the wedding songs (see older posts) back in June and haven't recorded anything since. After a long day of recording tracks for soon-to-be-wed Judah and Arielle, I was pretty confident that I had depleted all my creative reserves for the day. But instead of calling it quits right then, I was determined to record just one more. Lynn (my engineer) and I were on the brink of exhaustion. My fingers were not yet cramped, but they would soon get there. And while I knew exactly what I wanted to dedicate this last song to, I was having trouble calming my terribly fried brain. So, in half-desperation, I closed my eyes and forced myself to focus on just one thought, one image. And with my eyes still closed, this is what I recorded.

It's not simple because I was allowing my hands a break, like with some other songs. It was simple because, for once, I was actually able to narrow my mind for the entirety of the song. The subject matter, that image I was focusing on, is not something I can ever clearly put into words. It's not even something I can perfectly put into music. But this is the closest I've come to capturing it... so far.


There are two other songs from the same sessions that represent different memories, different sides of nostalgia. Together, these three songs sort of form what I call the "Nostalgia Set". They are probably my three favorites out of all my recordings, left out of the wedding sets because they were too personal, too applicable to my own life.



Soft Madness. Feeling no regret for late nights. Ok, maybe a little. Well... maybe a lot. I could tell you exactly what this song represents. Yes, I could. Or I could leave it to your own interpretation. See, sometimes vagueness can be a good thing. Or something.



Prettily Cynic was the first song I recorded in the session. I had a stirring conversation the night before, and as I came bursting through the door of Lynn's house the following afternoon, I wanted to record something as soon as possible while I still had this conversation fresh in my mind. The result surprised me. It ended up being much more intense and emotional than I intended, but that's precisely why I think it works so well.

If these three songs are played in a set, the order should be reversed. Have a nice day.