Smoke and Ash

Writing is so weird... creating is weird. The variety of ways you can get to where you need to be on any particular piece of creativity... you just never know how it's going to unfold, what the end result will be, and how it will relate to where you started and what you intended when you started.

In general, I find it's just best to as open to the possibilities as possible... work hard, be honest... be ready for anything. I finished writing (really, rewriting) a song last week and was curious as to when I had first started experimenting with the chorus... I knew it had been around for awhile and gone through (at least) two completely separate versions and several other false starts. According to my writing book, I first jotted down the words to the chorus in April of 2009... so about 10 months before I finally hit upon the "right" setting for them.

In between, I can trace the evolution (and de-evoluation) of the song until last week... truly a bizarre map... But... all's well that ends well. So...

SMOKE AND ASH Is this any way to live? Filling the silences with words poured through a sieve Into your heart Until it pulls apart Is this any way to die? Falling into days until we close our eyes And moving on And moving on No it's not okay if you go And go fading away into smoke And ash from fires we'll always regret Is this any way to be? Sorting through photographs and dreaming of the sea And who we were So unsure Is this any way to try? We pack up boxes and stack them to the sky To build a wall Until they all fall No it's not okay if you go And go fading away into smoke And ash from fires we'll always regret

jbg