When Spring Comes Marching In…
Ahhh. March … when spring is in the air and winter tucks itself beneath the earth not to rise again until Fall.
Spring means playing basketball at night in the driveway and Winston lounging on the patio (his favorite spot) even before it’s warm enough to bring up the cushions.
I took a trip to Seattle for a company orientation and I’m always awestruck by the variety of landscapes in our country:
Music
This month I performed at Perch Open Mic in Philadelphia. It’s an intimate, supportive group of creators that gets together to share their creations. It’s not like your typical open mic at a bar where you’re competing with March Madness on TV.
I had wanted to give try again at singing my new song, ‘Notte e Baci’ to an audience. My first go at it at Puck in Doylestown was not successful (by my standards) but I learned something about my voice in that moment. I have always had a challenge dealing with nerves in my upper register, and I felt my throat closing up even before I went onstage. This can clearly make it difficult to sing high notes without them sounding (or being) painful and causing damage over time. But being able to make the distinction and knowing it’s the nerves I need to address and not my voice so much, gave me a lot of clarity. Perhaps some other vocalists can relate.
My second attempt was much better, and even if I didn’t sound perfect, I moved the audience which is more important than anything else. I also reminded myself to sing to the back of the room, which helped me open up more.
Here is a video of me singing it on my livestream last Sunday on Instagram - and yes - if you’ve been following, the Ukulele is a new addition to the one-person band I am.
Notte e Baci was a song I wrote during FAWN (February Album Writing Month) and I used ChatGPT to help with the lyrics since I don’t know Italian very well at all, especially not well enough to rhyme in it. The prompt was to write a song in another language. So I wanted to mimic something like The Waters of March that goes back and forth between Portuguese and English. I was inspired to write about the feeling you get when you dream about someone you’ve lost so vividly that you can feel their touch and hear the vibration of their voice in your ear. Then you wake up to realize it’s a dream and feel the pit in your stomach that brings back the pain all over again. I’m sure everyone can relate to this at some point in life, but there is no word for it, so I wrote a song about it. The lyrics are below, along with the chords, in case anyone wants to play their own version:
🎶 Notte e Baci / Night and Kisses 🎶
Verse 1
(Dm7) Sotto le stelle ti (G7) cerco nel buio,
(Cmaj7) Un dolce sospiro, un (A7) brivido puro.
(Dm7) La notte ci avvolge, ci (G7) lascia sognare,
(Cmaj7) Due cuori che danzano (A7) senza parlare.
(Dm7) Ma sfiori le mani e (G7) svanisci nel niente,
(Cmaj7) eri solo un sogno (A7) che muore nell’alba.
Chorus
(C) Notte e baci, un’(Am) illusione,
(F) Eri solo una (G) canzone.
(C) Una melodia (Am) nell’aria,
(F) Che svanisce all’(G) alba chiara.*
Verse 2
(Dm7) Under the stars, I (G7) search for your light,
(Cmaj7) A whisper so soft, a (A7) shiver so right.
(Dm7) The night wraps around us, it (G7) carries our dreams,
(Cmaj7) Two hearts that are dancing (A7) in moonlight’s beams.:
(Dm7) But I reach for your hands and (G7) you fade into air,
(Cmaj7) Just a dream that is (A7) lost in the dawn’s silver glare.
Chorus
(C) Night and kisses, just a (Am) dream,
(F) You were nothing—just a (G) moonbeam.
(C) Like a melody (Am) so fleeting,
(F) Gone before the (G) dawn’s first greeting.
What’s next…
I’m currently in yet another songwriting challenge for April - and I have been (so far) successful in my commitment to write something every day. The creative process is incredibly gratifying and having a small group to share it with is even better.
I’ll be sharing these on my weekly livestreams on Instagram which start sometime between 7 and 8 on Sunday evenings along with your favorite jazz standards to wind down the weekend and keep away the Sunday blues.