Song #51: La Pelea

"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." [Victor Hugo]

Having covered a wide spectrum of genres and textures in "One Love, One Year," as I begin to bring it to a close I find there are still infinite ways that music can speak to us about love. Sometimes - maybe many times - raw, composed, instrumental music can express depths that lyrics and sung words cannot quite reach.

This week I dusted off a classical piano piece that I spent many, many hours composing years ago and finished it up to incorporate into this project. As with anything of this nature, it is open to a variety of interpretations, but to me this piece speaks to love as a sort of violent, yet sweetly playful tussle -- often oscillating between order and chaos, majesty and misery, clarity and confusion.

"The inexpressible depth of music, so easy to understand and yet so inexplicable, is due to the fact that it reproduces all the emotions of our innermost being..." [Oliver Sacks]

PLAY:

Song #36: Bliss (You Take Me There)

Love has the capability of taking us - or rather opening us - further than we could ever hope to go on our own.

PLAY:

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LYRICS:

There's a bliss that most will never know
There's a depth that most will never go
There's a place for which the angels groan
Now I know, I know

You take me there

There's a touch, makes me glad to be alive
There's a path into the heart of God
There's a taste thick like the richest spice
Now I know, I know

You take me there

Going deeper, pure surrender
Going deeper, pure surrender

You take me there

Song #24: Ellipses

"It's so easy to think about love, to talk about love, to wish for love... but it's not always easy to recognize love, even when we hold it...
in our hands." [Jaka]

PLAY:

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LYRICS:

when words become ellipses
when knowing glances become kisses
you can't miss it
when all day long you listen
to dreams that say "you'll be his Mrs."
and oh the kisses
that's when you'll know

when you come home some evening
to find that love makes life worth living
are you kidding?
that's when you'll know

when you find that your guy
is quite unlike who came before
and in his presence you are not less, you are more

when you tell all your friends about him
and well up with pride because of who he is
it may be it
that's when you'll know

when words become ellipses
when knowing glances become kisses
you can't miss it
that's when you'll know

Song #11: All of It

Turn on any pop radio these days and you're likely to hear Bruno Mars crooning about how his girl is "amazing... just the way [she is]." While it's a great song, what irks me is that he praises only her wonderful qualities and how great he makes her feel. The thing is - once you get past the initial stages of dating, no one is all bubbles and unicorns all the time - even the most beautiful woman on the planet. Once lusty attraction turns into a committed relationship, some of the more... hidden... sides of our character start to rear their heads. This is where love begins to replace lust: when we begin to accept and even love ALL that makes someone who they are, rough edges and all.

I thought it'd be fun to write an honest song that challenged the Bruno Mars track - praising a lover's "shadow side" and loving someone TRULY "just the way they are."

PLAY:

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LYRICS:

I could write a thousand lines
about your hair, about your smile
it's true you are beautiful the way that you are
but we've all got our shadow side:
bad mood and fears and age-worn lines
and just as many times as you make me laugh,
you can be a real pain in the ass

your tears mix with makeup and create a mess
you're out late with friends sending drunken texts
you kick back at home in old baggy sweats
and I just can't get enough of you

and I choose all of it
I'll take all of you
if it weren't for all of it,
you wouldn't be you,
and I wouldn't know what to do

the worst thing I could ever dream
is your compromising anything for me
you were fine before you even knew my name
so don't you dare go change a thing
or settle for less than amazing
and I promise you that I'll do the same

so what if it's been months since you touched a broom
and damn girl if you can't clear a room
I just can't get enough of you

and I choose all of it
I'll take all of you
if it weren't for all of it,
you wouldn't be you,
and I wouldn't know what to do

you sure clean up nice when you go out to dance
but I like you in that tank top and those yoga pants
it's safe to say I'm your biggest fan
and I just can't get enough of you

I choose all of it
I'll take all of you
If it weren't for all of it,
you wouldn't be you,
and I wouldn't know what,
no i wouldn't know what to do

Song #7: Home to You

The last few songs have been pretty thematically heavy, so this week I wanted to do something a little more light-hearted. Enjoy...

PLAY:

LYRICS:

good morning sweetheart,
I hope you slept well
had to leave for work early,
didn't want you to worry,
but there is something that I wanted to tell you
because it's true:
that my favorite part of leaving every day is coming back home to you

I may be out there
on the other side of town
working hard in my office
with profits and losses
but all I'll be able to do is spend my time
thinking through
what I'm gonna do to you tonight when I return home to you

and just like this morning light
filters in through the blinds
and rests on your hips and closed eyes
I'm gonna be on you, when the day is through
so all day just keep that in mind

I die a little every day
to leave you there sleeping
it's just the world needs me
but before i go let me say:
you're way friggin' cute...
and this too: 
I just can't wait to see your smiling face when I get back home to you

see you tonight, lovely
hope this made you smile
and as you go through the day
know that not far away
some crazy fool thinks the world, the world of you,
yes, it's true
and that his favorite part of leaving every day is coming back home to you
it makes life worth livin' in the knowing I get to come back home to you

Song #1: Witness

We all want to be seen. A woman, especially, wants to be noticed, known, understood. This is ultimately the purpose of a relationship: to co-create life; to partake in life's depth of experiences with another. As Christopher McCandless said in Into the Wild:

Happiness is not real unless it is shared...

PLAY:

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LYRICS:

there will be times
times when you cry
when find yourself alone in the night

there will be days
when your beautiful smile
will light up the night sky like a fire

there will be days
with all you hold inside
you'll long for a man      
to come along your side
and that's where you'll find me
I want to be the witness to your life

when that old movie makes you laugh
when you can't believe what you've just seen
when you have a dream that no else believes in

when your heart, it takes a hit
when you just don't give a shit
when you look at your life wonder, "Is this it?"

there will be days
with all you hold inside
you'll long for a man      
to come along your side
and that's where you'll find me
I want to be the witness to your life

you are seen
you are noticed by me
you are lovely

when you slide on that dress
and fix your hair just right
when you spend all that effort and that time

I want to be there right behind you
look in the mirror and smile too
and gently whisper, "sexy girl you're fine,
you're beautiful and I'm proud to call you mine
I'm so lucky; I get to be the witness to your life"