By 2008, I'd been seriously practicing songwriting for about four years. I'd written a Christmas musical (book, music, and lyrics) called Beyond Bethlehem that was staged in 2004 and 2005. While I felt pretty good about my work for that project, I didn't believe I had the knack for writing non-theatrical lyrics. I'd started writing stand-alone songs with my dear friend Andy Brown, a gifted writer. Most often, I would set his words to music. I'll share some of the songs from Beyond Bethlehem and those co-writes with Andy later on.
In early 2008, I started writing lyrics again for the first time in several years. I decided to embrace my natural leanings toward storytelling and musical theater in a series of stand-alone songs. It was a productive period, and I began to develop a certain sense of confidence and find a voice as a lyricist.
When I revisit my songs from that time, I can hear a clear progression from piece to piece. Of course, some of the writing is rough around the edges, both musically and lyrically. But an artistic voice is taking shape. I was learning and growing as a writer, and I value those early solo songs and that period of my life greatly. Hearing those pieces takes me back to another magical time.
I was reading heavily (as always) during those days, and that spring I picked up a new book, Beautiful Boy by David Sheff, a writer for Rolling Stone. It was a beautiful, heartbreaking, and hopeful true story about his life as the father of a meth addict, his son Nic. I was blown away by the story and how it captured the experience of loving and trying to protect someone struggling with addiction while also needing to protect yourself. I was moved and quickly read Nic Sheff's own memoir, Tweak, which told the same story from his point of view.
On May 8, 2008, while living in a small apartment, I wrote the initial lyrics to a song called "Nicholas" and then set them to music, simple and hymn-like. Raised Methodist, I have always loved hymns and church harmony, and I felt it was the right musical language for the ethereal quality of the lyric I was working with. I wrote the piece as a piano-vocal score with solo cello.
In composing the song, I wanted to establish a dreamlike quality, which I did by using a borrowed chord very early in the piece. The song, originally in B-flat major, moves directly to D major, introducing an unexpected F-sharp into the musical landscape. It's a very churchy and spiritual sound that, I felt, immediately reframed the lyric and its story.
From there, I used stepwise, directional movement in the bass and chord inversions to maintain the hymn-like quality of the music, while avoiding large leaps in the vocal melody in order to keep the piece restrained. While the lyric is serious and somewhat sad, I didn't want it to be hopeless, and I needed the music to do some of that work. I wanted the harmonies beneath the vocal to be as important as the melody itself in telling the story.
I wanted the lyrics to have a soft, stream-of-consciousness style, like a worried mind turning over thoughts, memories, and emotions. I used the conjunction "and" repeatedly to tie the thoughts and images together in a "run-on" manner that expresses how we humans experience such things: disparate ideas stitched together as we form connections, uncover meaning, and make sense of our experiences.
I knew the song wasn't commercial in any way, but I really loved it. While it was loosely inspired by the harrowing story told in the Sheffs' books, like all artistic endeavors, it also touched lightly on biographical experiences in my own life. More than anything, it captured a feeling.
The song lived only on the page for a couple of years. In the early summer of 2010, I sent the score to Jon Statham, a talented Nashville-based musician who had previously recorded a demo of another of my songs, "Two Worlds." Jon provided the vocals for his recording of "Nicholas." He also hired a pianist to record the keyboard part, whose identity I never knew. I was pleased with the outcome. Jon sang lovely harmonies on the track and brought the piece off the page beautifully.
I sent the demo to David Sheff and was surprised to receive a quick, brief response via email on June 9:
"Jason,
Thanks so much for sharing this. I'm blown away. I mean blown away—almost too much for me to listen to. So beautifully done.
best,
David"
I've written much more since "Nicholas," but it has always held a special place in my heart. In 2021, I revisited it with my frequent collaborator, the wildly talented composer Matt Glickstein. I adjusted the lyrics a bit, and he experimented with a couple of new musical settings before we eventually abandoned the effort and moved on to other projects. In the end, I think the song probably belongs in its original skin.
With that in mind, I set out to create a new, fully realized demo, though I have continued to make very slight adjustments to the lyric over the years.
For the new demo, I stayed very close to my original concept, featuring piano and cello with a simple vocal, but added guitar and light percussion. It took a great deal of work to keep the track restrained and true to its hymn-like origins, and I'm not sure I completely achieved what I set out to do in that regard. Still, I'm happy to have a more fully realized recording of a song that has always meant a great deal to me.
*Note that it has the heading from
the fax machine at Cost Plus Pharmacy
where I was working at the time.
*The updated demo was created from the original demo
recordings and sheet music using a combination of virtual instruments and
AI-assisted production and vocal recreation. The recording follows the original
melody, harmony, and arrangement and is intended as a faithful, expanded
recreation of the original composition. It is presented here solely as a
demonstration of concept and as part of an ongoing effort to curate, catalog,
and preserve the work.
No comments:
Post a Comment