On songwriting "Because of Me"
“Because Of Me” shares the landscape of a relationship I was trying to resolve my feelings around. It took very little coaxing to pull out this song out of me. It wanted to be written. And, I needed to write it.
Songwriting. Enlightens me. Untangles me. Heals Me.
This song took very little coaxing.
It wanted to be written.
And I needed to write it.
This is for those of you who are curious to know about how this "Because of Me" was shaped.
This song took very little coaxing. It wanted to be written ... and I needed to write it. This song shares a glimpse into a relationship I was trying to resolve my confusion around. Did it help? Lol. Somewhat for sure - and even more so with time and having this song in my rear view mirror.
I write quite often in open tuning - this time the tuning of E, A, D, G, A, D and the quiet of a late night candle pulled me in. I let my heart find its way to the words. Immersed in the visual aspects or the ‘movie’ of the song, I observed my surroundings, connected with what I was feeling and found myself where I could see this person sitting right in front of me, and wrote the lyrics as if I was having a no-holds-barred, heartfelt conversation with them.
I build my thoughts on top of what I refer to as “landing lines”. Landing lines anchor the emotive message of the concept - and what is often times referred to as a lyrical hook. Sometimes I don’t know fully what lyrics will sit above the ‘landing line’, but I do know that all the thinking and all the lines will serve that landing line. In this case, the landing line because of me spoke to my conundrum, the why of journeying into this song, and the emotional weight I felt in this relationship.
This song fell effortlessly onto the page.
Once I had all the pieces in front of me, I did my typical editing, fine tuning and finessing of the pieces to arrive at the “I’m good with this” finish. “Because Of Me” had found its way to the hauntingly intimate lyric that fit perfectly the telling of my story, and that captured the sentiment in my heart.
The importance of your Producer and the production of the song.
A point of critical importance found through my many years of sharing who I am through songs is to work with a producer who truly understands you, your heart, your vibe, and the intention behind your songs.
I had originally thought that “Because of Me” might be a bigger, more fully ramped up production track. However, my producer, Will Schollar listened for what he also felt the song called for. He suggested that an extremely simple production approach, coupled with the already vulnerable vocal and lyric, would have this song speak much more loudly than a bigger produced version of it.
“Because of Me” became a lovely landscape with production that perfectly fit the telling of the tale. A track where you can’t escape the lyric, the intimacy, or the haunting loss that’s sitting at the heart of it. Produced, and arranged by Will Schollar. Mixed by Ben Pelchat. Recorded at Kensington Sound. And there you have it - insight on my current single, which is track #8 from my soon to release new album, “Sorry I'm Late” which lands in September!!
Thank you for taking the time to dive in - R ❤️