My sister is an author (Jenelle Leanne Schmidt), and she shared recently that her characters sometimes have different plans for themselves than she has for them. Sometimes they take over their own destinies. How is that possible? Well, it happens in more ways than I might’ve thought... In fact, it has happened to me! Here are some songs from "Leavin' Home" that had different plans.
Sometimes songs come quickly...
“Meet Me in the Wildwood” was written overnight, and “The County Fair” was written in a day and a half. "The County Fair" was unique in that it was so... easy. “The County Fair” practically wrote itself--that doesn’t happen often, but it’s so much fun when it does! These are two songs that took on lives of their own.
But sometimes they take a long time...
“Letter in the Attic” was a song I started thinking about the day my family moved away from Pearl Rd. I had this song in mind for almost two years before I finished it, and it took that long for several reasons... It wasn't ready, and I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to write it, so it proved stubborn until I was.
And sometimes they surprise you...
With a week and a half to go before my final recording session for "Leavin' Home" and just a couple days before my demo had to be in the mail, I had two original songs and two cover songs selected that I was planning on recording, but my mom asked me if I had another song of my own... She wanted me to record three originals and just one cover song. That was what I wanted too, but at the time, I didn’t have another one of mine that I wanted to record. Well, that challenge was accepted. The next day, I played my brand new song “Adventure” for my mom and dad for the first time. Funny thing was, I wasn’t sure about "Adventure", but with my parents’ encouraging, I polished it up. Fast forward a few months, and it was nominated in the Independent Music Awards. Surprise, Brittany!
Sometimes it’s good to go back...
“She Almost Did” is a song I wrote in high school. People who know my older songs (the ones I haven’t performed or recorded professionally) often tell me I should revisit them. That’s difficult for me to do. It’s hard for me to look back on the songs I wrote when I was 16 and 17 and compare them to the songs I’ve written more recently. However, “She Almost Did” came back and made the cut. Sometimes it isn’t a new song you need to write, sometimes it’s an old one you’ve already written that wants to be heard...
And sometimes a song has a better idea and switches directions...
“A Little Bit of Someday” was written at a time when I felt stuck. I wanted to be in Tennessee--I wanted to be “finally on my way”, and I didn’t see how I was going to get there. I wanted dreams to start comin’ through. I was so impatient. So... I started writing this song about places I want to see, but it quickly took a different turn than I was expecting. Instead of being a bucket list full of longing and dreams, it became a song about being content with and remembering to be thankful for where I was. My dreams are still just as big, but I don’t want to miss the beauty of where I am right now. “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”
Yes... I just quoted Dumbledore.
So sometimes it's good that songs don't go according to plan.
If you made it this far... :)
Happy Friday, my friend!
-Brittany
