Songwriting the Pandemic
Letting you in to witness the birth of a song
I’m going to take you behind the scenes of the writing of one specific song. I hope you find it interesting.
First: I’m back at Tomato Joe’s on Saturday, September 21st, 2024 - 6pm-8pm. Here is the Facebook event page.
How “Take Your Cares Away” was written
The song is uncharacteristically autobiographical. That is not necessarily the case with most of my songs. In fact, many songs I write carry the essence of situations and emotions while keeping most specifics obscured.
Not because I’m unwilling to share specifics but because I find songs with overly specific references to sound cliched and trite. Particularly when you write about an event.
If you write a song about, let’s say, the battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War, you might avoid mentioning Gettysburg at all and certainly don’t use it in the hook of a chorus.
To me, inference and allusion is more interesting in songwriting.
With Take Your Cares Away, you’ll note that it was/is directly inspired by the Covid 19 Pandemic but NEVER mentions the pandemic.
That’s a songwriting (and poetry) tip.
(not a rule, just a suggestion)
Let’s dig in.
April 7, 2020
I know the exact date I wrote the song - or, at least, the bulk of the song, for two reasons. First, I opened the Google Document version history and April 8th, 6:14am, is when I started the document and added the first two verses.
I know that I wrote the song the prior evening. It was during a rainstorm and I checked the weather in Los Angeles for the 7th- and yep - rain!
Then, I went through my songwriting journal from that time and found the page the initial lyrics were written on. The image below is the first verse and some of the second. If you are interested, I have images of both pages from my journal below my signature line.
Two things that stuck out to me. As usual, my writing is hardly legible. Also, I was not very efficient with how efficiently I used the page. Lines be damned!
The Setting and First Line
It was raining in Los Angeles. This was prior to Deb and I moving in together. We were splitting our time between my house in East Los Angeles and her condo, where we live now.
The lockdown had started a couple weeks prior in March. Deb had lost a cousin to a sudden respiratory illness a month prior to the lockdowns. We’d had breakfast with he and his wife the week prior to his death.
The office she worked at had been closed down.
She would lose a second cousin to Covid later that year - though that does not factor into the song.
While I was never that concerned, statistically, for myself, Deb was more fearful. After losing a second family member, we wondered whether there might be a genetic predisposition to a more harsh response to Covid. It is still something we think about.
But, even prior, on this night, Deb’s anxiety was significant.
The red lit room, marijuana, and a rain storm
I love LED lights, specifically those that allow you to set the color. I had such a light in our room. I’d set it to a deep red and brought down the brightness to about 50%.
We had the window open. We were listening to the rain, the distant sounds of the city, and there was moist cool air coming into the room.
We were sitting on the bed, smoking some marijuana, smooching a bit, and playing guitar.
The vibe was relaxed, comfortable, with an underlying sense that things were strange.
I was casually playing a slow, even, E minor riff. Nothing complicated… It just sort of fit the mood.
Deb said, “You should write a song to that. About what’s going on. About the pandemic!”
I demurred.
I explained that I disliked writing about specific events; that they often feel clumsy and forced.
She asked me to try.
As a joke, I wrote the following.
In a red lit room, smokin’ some dope
My girl and I are visiting, she’s giving me hope
It’s so directly specific. Smooching and guitar are pretty hopeful activities. Just sayin’
If you notice the image of my songwriting journal, I changed “a red lit room” to “the red lit room” I’m not sure why… It’s more direct… more real.
Reading it back that night, I liked it. So did Deb! She asked me to continue.
I stopped and told Deb that when I write I like to be alone.
Writing is an exercise of internal musings. I didn’t want to bore her because, the reality is, if I started writing we would NOT be visiting. I disappear into my head when I write.
Deb pushed my writing journal and pen back to me and said:
“Do it! Write the song!”
Deb can be persistent; annoyingly so but with a humorous “cuteness” that makes me laugh.
There was some back and forth but I relented and said:
“I’ll give it a try. No promises. I’m letting you into a sacred place.”
And that’s the truth. Writing for me is solitary. Me and a pen or me and an open document and keyboard. Close everything and everybody else out and let the synapses churn.
But on this night, fueled by the ambiance, the altered state of mind, and my annoyingly persistent hope, I wrote the following.
VERSE
In the red lit room, smoking some dope
My girl and I are visiting, she’s giving me hope
The city is silent, though she weeps and she moans
The sound of the rain ain’t all that’s keeping us home
(chorus)
CHORUS
So much I want to do, so much I want to say
Will you let me take your cares away
VERSE
There’s a specter on the street, a demon in your head
What’s known and what is not drives the sleep from your bed
But I’ve got you and we’ve got time
Is this sin or redemption? I can’t make up my mind.
(chorus)
I initially wrote “the bed” but changed it to “your bed” soon after. Also, by the time I recorded it, I’d added, “and” to the line, “But I’ve got you (and) we’ve got time”
A few days later, on April 11th, I added the final verse:
VERSE
Is it shelter that you seek, shelter that you lack
The shelter of your lover’s arms, the shelter of your past
The uncertainty of life meets the certainty of death
Until these moments that we share are all that we have left
(chorus)
I recorded the song in January of 2021. However, this is prior to my more recent focus on better engineering and production and vocal coaching. I’d like to come back to this song in the near future.
While that is true, I like how my Covid/pandemic inspired song turned out. I like how it never mentions the pandemic. Also, at its core, the song is really about intimacy and finding refuge in each other… and a pandemic!
Enjoy!
Thank you for joining me on this journey!
With Love and Gratitude,
Matthew Moran
September 9, 2024
One of the things I love about going to the Huntington and visiting the manuscripts room is seeing the process of the author in writing what are now iconic works. Computerized creations sadly lose these insights. I really enjoyed the chance to see behind the curtain of your creativity! Thanks for sharing.
J