John Lennon famously said that songwriting was like cockroaches in your kitchen in the middle of the night–you turn on the light and they all scatter. (Clearly, he lived in New York.)
The point (I think) was that often, like lots of parts of life, we don’t understand exactly what we’re getting when we’re getting it, or where it comes from or where it will go. We have to trust what comes in when it does, and understand that if we shine too bright a light on the process it all might disappear.
To that end, I’m getting ready to record a new EP (yippee!). I was putting some demos together, which lead to combing through some older stuff, and I came across this song I wrote 4 or 5 years ago called “Come Undone”. The song came in quickly, and then I promptly set it aside, because I was scared of what it was saying.
The thing is, now I just like it. For what it was, for what it is, and for what it did.
Funny thing, those cockroaches… xox
Listen:
Come Undone
Lyrics:
Sometimes I manage to raise my head sometimes I don’t
Some days I manage to make the bed, some days I won’t
Sometimes I love you so much it’s all I can do
To keep from falling falling falling down on you
Hey you know I love you
Hey loving you is so fun
Hey although I love you
Hey sometimes I’m scared my love will come undone
And in the morning when the sun is shining
It’s hard to believe that anyone could lie
We all seek and search and want the truth but
When it comes down to it what we need is proof
Hey you know I love you
Hey loving you is so fun
Hey although I love you
Hey sometimes I’m scared my love will come undone
And in the darkness when I just can’t sleep
I slip away baby I crawl I creep
I never know if it will be all right
Or if I’ll come back at the end of the night
When it comes down to it what we want is love
When it comes down to it we all push and shove
When it comes down to it we’re all on a cliff
Shouting screaming falling what if what if what if
Hey you know I love you
Hey loving you is so fun
Hey although I love you
Hey sometimes I’m scared my love will come undone
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary to write something about opening back up after being closed up, about the search for connection, and the thrill and fear of the ride and the push pull and how cautious and reckless we are…It might sound a little something like this. This of course being a rough demo in preparation for some serious recording in a couple weeks! (In other words, be careful what you say. Ahhh–see what I did there?) xox
Be Careful What You Say
Be Careful What You Say (Take it Easy)
Wednesday night ain’t nobody’s fault
We didn’t think it was gonna be like this
We all thought it was gonna be a whole lot easier
Instead it turned out to be more like a near miss
Somebody asked me if you tell the truth more when you’re drunk
I say it doesn’t make a difference either way
If you gotta get a bellyful just to say something to somebody
Odds are the night’s gonna end with someone walking away
Be careful what you say
Be careful what you say
Be careful what you say
Take it easy
I spent years and years waiting on the truth
A truth that never got told
You spend that long waiting around for something you never gonna get baby
You gonna walk away feeling good and old
Yeah you think I’m a grown up woman
You look at the lines on my face
You say right there there’s your proof
Uh uh don’t get fooled by it
Ain’t nothing but a little girl in this place
Be careful what you say
Be careful what you say
Be careful what you say
Take it easy
And all of the things we say
The reasons why we run away
Are mostly just to make us feel
Like somehow we are
Safe
And all this experience leaves us somewhere
In between the old ways and the change
We get to choose which way we head from here baby
We get to figure out what things we want to rearrange
I might come a long long way just to meet you
I might leave with a smile on my face
I might be devastated, blown away just to see you
It might be the hardest thing to walk away
Be careful what you say
Be careful what you say
Be careful what you say
Take it easy 
