Music Monday – “In This Life”
i wrote this just before we moved to seminary. when my life was consumed with goodbyes… consumed.
its about how stinkin’ tough life can be sometimes.
anyway, many of you will recognize the bridge from the sneak peak a few weeks ago. i must say that i was THRILLED by your comments because SO many of you felt a sense of hope in the emotions of the music.
i passed along the full copy to a couple of you – and you gave some VERY INTERESTING input, which challenged me to add a new melody to the bridge. i think the two of you will be pleased with the final product.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR INPUT!!!! i won’t regret throwing these songs out there for y’all to hear. what a beneficial experience.
so, whaddya think? y’all like the bridge?
In This Life – copyright Mandy Thompson, ASCAP, 2007
Verse 1:
In this life many promises are broken and many words may go unspoken
And many souls may find no place to rest.
In this life if we fight for all that matters we find our hearts may end up shattered
And we are lonely and afraid at best.
Chorus:
But we know life has a way of turning the warmest of colors to the coldest of grays.
Oh we know life has a way of turning the warmest of colors to the coldest of grays.
Verse 2:
In this life if we love it we will lose it but its better if we choose it
Than to hold it ‘til its torn away.
In this life letting go does not come easy but to love in sight of losing
Bears the promise of the greatest pain.
Bridge:
Can we find hope at the end of the day?
Can we find a rainbow when the cloud rolls away?
Can we find love and laughter in the midst of the pain?
Oh can we live someday?
great song as usual, Mandy! Love all the extra instrumentation on there. I can’t wait to do stuff like that on my songs. Love the gutsy bridge.
Carrie: thank you – that means a LOT from a fellow songwriter! be warned: all the “extras” have come from probably a year of chiseling away at this song. posting a “finished” product of this song feels like turning in a dissertation or something…
I like
One thing about the bridge though. It’s so AWESOME, but it’s so short. I feel like right when I’m relating to it it’s sailing away on a ferry that I don’t have a ticket for.
Great stuff!
Wow yerself. I only hit your worship blog – not this one. Love the song…is there a cd? Good on you, Mandy. Sounds great…
Russ: short… good point!
i’m imaging what that intensity drawn out would sound like… listening to it in my head.
very interesting.
i’ve got two thoughts to go with that… 1) the song is really long (5 1/2 minutes). 2) i didn’t plan to sit on that feeling, since its not what the song is aiming for. the song is presenting a problem. the bridge escapes to ask the question if things are gonna get better. but i didn’t dwell on that emotion, because it might over power the rest.
with those two considerations in mind, should i have stayed “up” for the vamping after the bridge instead of everything settling down into that free-flowing section??? or should it stay short – leave you wanting more, since that’s what the song is about? is your frustration a fitting effect? or is this intense chord progression that i can now hear in my head with the repeated phrase “some day” the way to go? ……hmmmm….
dang.
you’ve ruined me.
Beth: no CD. well. i had one a few years ago. sold ‘em, though. now you just get my annoying little songs here – and you can find most of them on the music page of my blog as well. sorry! maybe someday someone will wanna snatch this stuff up and make it into something worth putting on iTunes!
Yep, yep, yep I do love it! I love power in the bridge.
Wow, amazing! I love it now better than the first time… you sent this to me on a cd about a year ago before you finished it… even your voice has evolved. It’s gorgeous! I’m proud of you!
HisLife: thank you!!!
Heather: yes – i re-recorded the vocals after i re-worked the bridge. thank you….
why can’t i find a dang clapping emoticon??!?!?!
****APPLAUSE****
****APPLAUSE****
****APPLAUSE****
You get the point!!
Fan-stinkin-Tastic! Mandy Girl!!!!
You are my hero!!!
I like Russ’ suggestion (even tho he gave me a hard time on my southern) and i like your brain storm that followed too!
For some reason I cannot hear it … it keeps buffering. I’m sure it’s great though
!
Tam: many thanks – you helped me with that!
Heather:
this happened to someone last time…. sad!!!!
What a beautiful song. Thanks for sharing.
I don’t know anything about music so bear with me on this. Please. The way the song builds–and believe me, having the lyrics REALLY HELPED–I’m waiting for, let’s say, a revelation, a cresendo. I found it in the bridge. And that fit my expectations perfectly, but I’d have to agree that it is too short. If you’ve ever heard “Ideas Are Like Stars” by Mary-Chapin Carpenter, I got the same sense as that song progressed, but just when I’m expecting that musical cresendo, Carpenter holds back and leaves me with the anticipation–like being moments from a kiss and then the kids start crying. In your case, however, the kids never woke up. And to continue with the same analogy–God forgive me!–the kiss was too short. The anticipation is fantastic, but I want to feel all those wonderful tingles for a few minutes more…Excuse me…
[To submit or not to submit, that is the question.]
Aw the heck with it!
Maybe I just should have said, “That’s a good song, Mandy. Thanks for sharing…”
TheNor: listen… i honestly have NO idea what i’m doing. believe me, i WANT input. amazing that y’all want more of that. very interesting! makes me smile!!! thank you
Great song Mandy! You have talent!
okay the tears are filling fast! bravo girl!! i love it. have you recorded on a cd or anything??
Music, voice, ‘restrained’ emotion, bridge – LOVE IT !!!
personally? to me? – the words need a re-think!?
You prefaced the song with your situation before writing it a while back – Understood.
But i am so coonfused by what you are trying to do here and i think you might feel the same way? Yes?
Do you want people who are saddended by ‘loss’ to relate to your experience?
Do you want to offer them some hope?
Do you want to ease or just relate more to their personal pain?
Are you recommending we let go of our own life? – because it turns warm colour to cold grey? (what about the reverse also being true? What goes down can also come up!))
Is the promise of the greatest pain something people are going to want to receive?
The bridge sort of reverses the overall ‘mood’ – making an attempt to offer some hope and inspiration for all who feel the pain of loving and losing… but those you are relating to ( and yourself when you wrote it) are most likely to answer “NO” to each line’s question – where’s the ‘payoff’ for them?
Will people who hear it understand the difference between living ‘their’ life and living (choosing) Eternal life OVER their own?
Your Talent with music is undeniable – but i think you would probably gain immeasurably from deciding what it is you want a song to achieve – for yourself – or for others when working on the words
I get a very confusing ‘message’ from this song – i am a very literal person and the words impart to me more of a song’s ‘meaning’ than the emotions of the music.
It is a beautiful song – i just find it full of ‘ambiguity’ – it does not ‘lead’ me anywhere out of my pain. Did it lead you anywhere or was it more of a ‘release’ – a venting?
Sorry if that only adds to your ‘uncertainty’ but it was an honest assesment of my thought.
I fully realise that artists have to battle between letting their emotions come out freely and being ’selective’ of their ‘logical and literal’ side of their brain.
That’s probably why collaborations work so well in modern music (Lennon/McCartney; Taupin/ (Elton) John)
<B
Love: i think your comment will go down in history as my favorite for this song. why? because you get the meaning. the song is a question… the song intentionally has no hope. its very existential… and there are times in our lives when we hurt and we don’t know why. there are times in our lives when we want things to get better, but they don’t. there are times in our lives when gray is all we’ve got. life isn’t easy… and we don’t always have the answers.
most of my songs have a nice little spiritual ribbon tied neatly around them – a nice glimmer of faith/hope/mercy/light.
not this time. this time i wanted to sit in the fact that it stinks. it hurts. it isn’t always wrapped in an “obvious” bow. yes, the bow is there. but we don’t always see it.
sometimes, in THE moment of pain, there is no resolution at our fingertips.
only questions.
and only a longing for hope.
a longing.
i was aiming to capture the moment – take an emotional snapshot of heartache.
definitely a release and venting. yes.
so. from where I sit as a songwriter, you have FULLY grasped the meaning of this song… FULLY.
your questions were MY questions when writing it.
and i’m “happy” to know that your literal heart felt the same literal confusion and pain that my heart felt when i was writing it….
thank you for being so honest.
thank you for conveying these questions/objections to me.
i’ve THOROUGHLY enjoyed your rant!
Meg: no cd. nada… its on this mp3 that’s playing up there in the post. but that’s about it.
maybe one day……
great job Mandy, but I expected nothing less. personally, as a guy, I’m not a fan of ribbons on anything. they’re so, not manly. This song has the feeling of “good friday” (Sunday/Easter is coming). Knowing the other work that you’ve created and your faith brings the hope to the forefront. However, like you said, it brings forth the honest hurt and pain we all experience!
Dan: i think i’ve been living in Good Friday for a while now….
woah…
i love, love, love this. it really resonates with me.
i’ve been ruminating over “but its better if we choose it than to hold it ‘til its torn away…”
Al: yep. “its better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”
but man oh man, it hurts.
yeah. that’s the whole stupid point of the song.
i know, i know…
@mandy: taking into consideration the lyrics AND the emotions of the music, what love is asking/saying makes mucho sense!
Me being more of a composition/theory buff, I’m approaching it from the musical side of things…so me, I’m looking for balance.
Not necessarily symmetrical balance, but mood/emotional balance. To me you’ve got a lot of the free flowing stuff at the beginning already…Why go back to it at the end?
The bridge brings in this “other” thought, this other idea to the song, but it’s like a teeny little glimpse. If that’s what you’re after, then by all means, leave it as is. But just from sheer enjoyment, that bridge is gorgeous. I hate that it’s so short. I just want to bask in that moment for a while too, as I’ve lingered in the other thoughts/moods/emotions of the song before it.
Again I’m not talking about putting each segment of the song on a scale and trying to achieve symmetry, but just from the aesthetic side of the song.
If that doesn’t make sense, than never mind…hehehe.
Russ: i was talking to my husband about yours/TheNor’s wanting more of the bridge.
i really really wish i’d thrown this song out there before the HOURS of production, because i think both of you are right – i could’ve soared longer.
but, dang, it’d take another few months to re-make all of it!
the perfectionist in me won’t be able to sleep now…..
“sometimes, in THE moment of pain, there is no resolution at our fingertips.
only questions.
and only a longing for hope.
a longing.”
My God, My God! – Why have you foresaken me??? (
)
Of course He never did – it was the last vestige of doubt of Just One Man.
Almost immediately afterwards all doubt was removed and life eternal began.
I understand fully now
Thank You ‘young-un’
<B
Love: thank YOU for having this discussion with me. i can’t tell you how much i’ve sincerely benefited from our exchange. it will go down in history as a GREAT one for me as a songwriter. you have impacted me. thank you….
this post, and the ensuing comments, have me SOLD on the idea of throwing my songs out there for you all (yes, y’all) to critique. its too beneficial. and, y’all are right – you see/hear things that i can’t!
Beautiful.
The song really rocks!