I used to be a singer-songwriter before I divorced my guitarist twenty years ago. Not an incredibly good one, because my husky contralto voice wasn’t trained or crystal-clear, but good enough for folk music. My ex would write intricate tunes on his guitar in his semi-fingerpicking style, and I’d listen to it, and the conversation would go like this:
Me: I have words that fit with that.
Him: How can you? It’s seven-fourths time.
Me: Try me.
Nowadays, we’d say “Hold my beer” instead of “Try me”, but this was the early 1990’s.
I believe that I posted some of my old lyrics here — I don’t sing those songs now except a cappella, because I didn’t get the chords in the divorce, nor did I learn to play guitar. My ex still performs and has CDs out I hear. For any reader who knows him, please tell me if he ever performs the stuff we wrote together, because there are intellectual property issues involved there.
Anyhow, I hadn’t written a song since 1997, because even if I had tunes in my head, I would not be able to write them down or play them on a guitar. My voice has become somewhat rusty out of lack of practice and age and the medication I take.
Yesterday, I posted the first song I’d written in maybe 20 years (see the post called “Christmas in a Time of Despots”). It didn’t take me long to write because I’ve been stewing for weeks about our current sociopolitical situation here in America.
On Facebook, I posted the same thing but asked if anyone could come up with the music part. And one of my musical colleagues/friends answered!
Sometime soon I will get with her to play with the music/words and have a song! For the first time in twenty years.
I don’t know if you’re reading, Mary Shepherd, but thank you!!
Words Like Me 