Day 27: A Little Left Of Heaven (with Karen Horan)

 

Day 27: A Little Left Of Heaven (with Karen Horan)

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

Lyrics:

I let her go a year ago
Couldn't hold her anyhow
A restless heart is a slippery one
That can't be tied down

She saw the world in colors
But numbers were my thing
I kept the ledger balanced
She brought the mystery

A decorated envelope
Perfumed with her scent
An open invitation to

A little left of heaven
A little left of heaven
A little left of heaven
Come join me
In my creation

I thought it all was frivolous
She left with my regrets
I thought her lost forever
But I held on to her address

A cottage through a forest clearing
Wildflowers, flowing creek
The vastness of the cosmos
As far as you can see

A little left of heaven
A little left of heaven
A little left of heaven
Come join me
In my creation

My ledger was unbalanced
Each day became more grey
My frozen heart could only thaw
If I dropped my rigid ways

I had your invitation
With it's colorful bouquet
What would happen if I joined you now
And told you I had changed?

A decorated envelope
Perfumed with her scent
An open invitation

A little left of heaven
A little left of heaven
A little left of heaven
Come join me
In my creation

***

Details:

This was Karen's first co-write! She had a quote in mind from Robert Plant; when asked to describe Jimmy Page and his guitar playing, Plant apparently said that Page is "a little left of heaven". And that's what we decided to work with.

We came up with the chord progression for the verse and pre-chorus first, before we had any words. Then when stumbled on the chord progression for the chorus and the words "A little left of heaven" fit perfectly. It was the words around that nugget that took some work.

Karen likes to do something I often do, which is mumble sing until more coherent words form. That's really great for co-writing, because your partner starts hearing the ghost of lyrics, too. Once we got a few words down, we developed a whole story about someone inviting an ex- to her new, somewhat non-traditional home.

Karen and I really worked at each line in this song, and I think our sensibilities supported each other pretty well. We were running a bit short on time when we finished up, so we had to make some quick choices. But I really like what we came up with! I look forward to working on it with her some more.