Day 25: I Want To Write A Love Song

 

Day 25: I Want To Write A Love Song

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

Lyrics:

I want to write a love song
With the sweetest words
I want to write a sonnet
'bout the butterflies and birds
I want to wax poetic
'bout the moon, the stars, the sun

But I don't want to write a tune
That no one hears
Or write a verse for someone
Who is blank between the ears
Or craft a clever lyric
That details the ways
The days turn into years

I want to write a love song
With a catchy melody
Bring in an ensemble
With angelic harmonies
And play it with a rhythm
So we all can dance along

But I don't want to write a tune
That no one hears
Or write a verse for someone
Who is blank between the ears
Or craft a clever lyric
That details the ways
The days turn into years

But I can't deny
The music in my mind
The underlying structure
And the phrasing of the lines
And I think of someone beautiful
And then I think I'm just the fool
To try

I want to write a love song
Dedicated to the void
And play it for the ladies
Even if they get annoyed
And strum on my guitar and sing
Until somebody comes

And write for them a wistful tune
They'd love to hear
Compose a set of verses
That are pleasing to their ears
And craft a clever lyric
That details the ways
Our days turn into years

***

Details: I saw a clip on Instagram of Ray Davies of The Kinks accepting their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In his speech he said "I guess this means that Rock & Roll is finally respectable" (pause for the applause from the audience) "What a bummer..."

This had me thinking about The Kinks who, on any given day, I might consider my all-time favorite band (there's certainly no band I like more). Ray Davies was a very prolific writer, and to be sure, he wrote a lot of songs I don't like. But his good songs are truly glorious (not to forget his much less prolific brother, Dave Davies, who wrote some of the band's best songs-- very talented family).

So today is my tribute to The Kinks. Their song "Animal Farm" is one of my all-time favorite songs, and I found myself playing around with that chord progression. I wasn't going to try to write up to that standard, but I did want to write something that felt Kinksy.

The theme is me just working through stuff from the last year. When you're grieving, it's a tough time to be alone, and it's hard to turn it around on a moment's notice. Not in a healthy way, that is. But there have definitely been times in my life when I had love to give but couldn't find the right person to give it to.