Some years ago, I had a dream in which I was at an "in-store," an informal little concert in a record store, usually given to promote a new release. (These happen all the time in Austin, where I used to live.) The artist was Willie Nelson -- he was just set up with a mike and a guitar in a corner of the store. In the dream, I heard the song he was singing, and it was just wonderful, a beautiful song.
When I woke up, I remembered the key lyric and melody of the chorus, and had a very strong, clear feeling of the rest of the song, its mood and meaning. So I sat down and tried to "write" the song, hoping it would bubble back up from my memory.
Well, a song did appear, and a pretty darn good one, I think... but here's the amazing thing:
At the time, I had just had my heart utterly shattered out of the blue by a man I adored, in the middle of what had seemed to be a perfectly wonderful relationship. And this supposed Willie Nelson song turned out to be in that man's voice, from his point of view -- talking about how nothing really went wrong, it just fell apart, it was just over, he didn't understand, he still loved the girl but just wasn't in love anymore, and if it was anyone's fault, it was his own.
So I had first dreamed, and then written, a song to explain this man's actions to myself, in a way that I could accept. And it made me feel much better about the breakup!
I've always wondered if Willie dreamed that night about singing at an in-store...
When I woke up, I remembered the key lyric and melody of the chorus, and had a very strong, clear feeling of the rest of the song, its mood and meaning. So I sat down and tried to "write" the song, hoping it would bubble back up from my memory.
Well, a song did appear, and a pretty darn good one, I think... but here's the amazing thing:
At the time, I had just had my heart utterly shattered out of the blue by a man I adored, in the middle of what had seemed to be a perfectly wonderful relationship. And this supposed Willie Nelson song turned out to be in that man's voice, from his point of view -- talking about how nothing really went wrong, it just fell apart, it was just over, he didn't understand, he still loved the girl but just wasn't in love anymore, and if it was anyone's fault, it was his own.
So I had first dreamed, and then written, a song to explain this man's actions to myself, in a way that I could accept. And it made me feel much better about the breakup!
I've always wondered if Willie dreamed that night about singing at an in-store...
