Day 16: Alone Forever

 

Day 16: Alone Forever

Part of my song-a-day writing project for January 2024.

Lyrics:

Squeeze blood from a stone
To reanimate this
Dusty bag of bones
Or raise up a clone
Teach him all of the things
That you've done wrong

Or just write out a letter
Explaining all of the ways
That you're doing better
Your words may be clever
They won't bury the fear
That you'll be alone forever
Alone for ever

Your dreams have been cached
You have visions at night
But you're blind in the day
Made your feet out of clay
They may not be strong
But you can't run away

From the hands of the Maker
With his fingers of glass
And thumbs made of hammers
And once they've been shattered
You can pick up the pieces
And still be alone forever
Alone forever

And don't ask for favors
Don't ask for favors
Don't ask for favors
Or Love

Say your name, only backwards
To undo the delusions
That led to disaster
Detach from the tether
Of your sorrows and maybe
You won't be alone forever
Alone forever

***

It was a weird day, and I ended up feeling alone come the time I started writing, which wasn't until about 9:00. I totally had writer's block and couldn't come up with any words that didn't feel completely fake, so I decided to try doing an instrumental (I try to do one every Song-a-day January). But that didn't really get anywhere. Usually when I'm on a writing spurt, I actively try to explore interesting guitar hooks, but I haven't done much of that this year. Not sure why. Still, it came from exploring guitar licks that I stumbled onto this grunge-like chord progression.

Grunge, of course, is a perfect style for when you're feeling mopey. Like with "Now's The Time" and "Sandcastles, Snow Forts (and Gingerbread Houses)" I tried to do stream-of-consciousness lyrics, though I was definitely writing about loneliness. At one point I decided I was actually liking the song, so the stream-of-consciousness slowed to a more deliberate pace. The first verse and part of the second had rolled out easily, but the rest of the second and third verses took a while, and then the bridge just got kind of thrown together because I was running late.

I hate to say it, but I didn't get this done until after midnight. But hey, it still got done. First song for the second half of the month.