Over the course of my life as a musician, I’ve collaborated with and for a lot of people. Sometimes they were other professional musicians, and sometimes they were just musically inclined people who wanted me to write something for a family member. I had this friend David in Vegas who passed away recently and used to pay me to write songs for his wife on special occasions. And, of course, for years in Los Angeles my primary project was Jariya, an original project created by me and my best friend Eve, that we co-wrote many songs for.
So when an old friend from high school, Susan, asked whether I could help her write a song for her mother who suffers from vascular dimentia, of course I said yes. Susan is musically inclined and had some strong ideas how she wanted the song to go. She sent me some lyrics and some rough vocal recordings. And off we went.
The result is a song she’s entitled “Sally” that tells the story that honors her mother in this difficult time of their lives together. I’ve often told people at songwriter gigs that I have in the past given myself writing assignments - songs that have nothing to do with my own experience, but are designed to stretch my ability to put to words and music any story or style that might present itself. It took roughly three weeks to finish this project going back and forth over lyrics, melodies, time signatures and tempos, but I think in the end, it’s a worthy creation. I can honestly say I would never have written this song otherwise, so I’m grateful for the opportunity to stretch my skills, as well as help a dear friend express her emotional journey and deep love for her mother. You can read the lyrics while listening by clicking on the transcript button.
This one goes out to all the caregivers out there.
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