Day 1: Everybody Loves You

“Everybody Loves You”

It's a party, and you're the host
Greeting guests and making toasts
As you raise your glass and wave
All your friends are laughing hard
And they stay until they're tired
Say their thanks, then go away

And all of the joy that had filled up the room
Will soon disappear with a dustpan and broom
And none of it fills up an empty home
Everybody loves you, but you go to bed alone

You're a woman on the town
And you never wear a frown
'Cause you have a job to do
You're a man who must be strong
You never hint that something's wrong
So that they can count on you

And all of the gratitude makes you feel good
But it still doesn't add up to all that it should
And sometimes the evenings feel so long
Everybody loves you, but you wake up all alone

I wish I was the President or King on this date
I'd take all the givers and find them soulmates
But I know things rarely change
And I still hold on

Smoke and mirrors, slight of hand
It's a card trick, not a plan
Where you stand before the crowd
It's a prison that you built
Bars of shame and walls of guilt
You can't bear to let them down

And all your disguises, they cover your flaws
Why not reveal them? You've broken no laws
You don't have to live in a private hell
Everybody loves you, you should learn to love yourself

Details: The past couple years, I already had a basic idea of how I wanted to start off the first day of Song-a-day January (whether that be a general mood, or that I wanted to focus on lyrics, or something like that). But as of early this morning, I had nothing, and was starting to get nervous. There are going to be duds throughout the month, but I always hope the first song is a good one.

I've been thinking lately about what it means to be lonely. I'm at a point in my life where I have a lot of friends and acquaintances, and I'm very socially active (despite my social anxieties). And yet, I still feel lonely. Maybe it's because I don't have a partner right now, but even then, there's no guarantee that solves anything. Whatever the case, I decided to make the song about somebody who has lots of love in his or her life, but still is missing that certain something.

Musically, I was influenced by David Mead's song "Comfort" and particularly its refrain "I sleep alone with the radio on," which is something I totally relate to. I also felt a bit like I was touching on some twee pop, more specifically Stuart Murdoch's music & film project "God Help The Girl". On that point, I was trying to sing a bit like Catherine Ireton-- I failed, of course, but it informs what I'm doing to some extent.

All-in-all, I'm pretty happy with the song. The lyrics definitely need some tweaking and the chord progression is still a bit loosey-goosey in parts, but I'm optimistic about where it'll end up. This song took about 4 hours to write and an hour to record.