Great song ideas are all around us, but to hear them, one must listen intently and have pen and paper or a recording device of some sort quite handy. For example, a plain statement nuanced a bit differently can be fascinating. People speak “hook lines” all the time. Song ideas, of course, come from every aspect of life. Songwriters look for “hooks” in everything they do: listening, reading, viewing, thinking (and simply conversing with a cowriter). For this month’s song inspiration, see below.
“’Til You Find Me Another You” came from an experience my cowriter, Jon Ingram, once had. He witnessed the breakup of a relationship in which one party wanted out but the other did not. In trying earnestly to explain in heartfelt terms that she wanted the relationship to continue, she told her significant other: “You can’t leave ’til you find me another you.” When you appreciate the literal impossibility of “another you,” it brings home just how serious (perhaps even desperate) the speaker is in wanting things to go on. It is undoubtedly one of the more heartrending statements I’ve ever heard. When Jon told me the story, he said he had been carrying the hook around for at least 30 years just waiting for the right time to write the song. I am privileged he shared the idea and the writing with me (it is our 51st song together). I believe it is in the top five of songs I have written or cowritten (out of more than 600). The thoughts of the lady in the song drip with emotion, and I feel her anguish. Enjoy!
For information, please email don@solidsterlingmusic.com.