For the third album in a row, I’ve decided to showcase each track in a “behind the song” blog series. I hope some listeners find it interesting or helpful. “I’ll Bring My Voice” is the eighth and final track from my latest release, The Fine Print. For convenience, the lyrics and YouTube & Spotify streams are at the bottom of this post.
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Aw, here we are at my last song blog for this release. But don’t worry, I’ll be releasing new music again at some point in the fall.
To be honest, I already did a pretty good press write-up for this, which was shared in a New Jersey Stage post. I don’t really see a point in duplicating my work, so to start with I’ll just repost that here:
I almost don’t want to share the inspiration for this sweet little acoustic song because it’s a little embarrassing and might ruin it! But I actually wrote this during a 50/90 (50 songs in 90 days) project last summer, where I was trying to write a mini-musical about a girl who tried a million different ways to become “extraordinary,” but ultimately realized that it was her efforts that made her extraordinary. The “musical” experiment was a pretty big failure and I didn’t really like any of the other 10 or so songs I wrote for it. But this concluding one really stuck out, and I knew right away that I wanted it to be the last song on this album. My musical’s theme was obviously autobiographical enough that the song perfectly describes my current feelings about my music career. I know that my music isn’t the same as the stuff that you would hear on the radio and a major label would probably never pursue me, but I don’t care about becoming rich or famous or validated by industry. All I want is a direct connection from me to another person through my music, and I’ve already done that many times, so I’m happy. I will keep trying to reach more people and express myself better in more songs, but I’m already happy.
Unlike most of the songs I release, I didn’t change very much about this one once it was done. I wrote it pretty quickly actually (feeling out the basic verse structure, deciding on what each verse would be, and quickly coming up with some lines for each one) and then I just kind of left it as it was. I must have been in the zone because I still don’t really see any lines in it that I’m unhappy with, and that is rare.
It’s the first time I’ve tried out a “picked finger picking” technique… I’m not sure what it’s technically called, but that’s what I call it because it’s when you use a pick to play an arpeggio pattern on each chord so that it sounds like finger picking. I’m sure it’s common enough, but like most techniques, I learned it from Frank Turner. I’ve still only written one finger picked song too, but I’ve been wanting to use both of those techniques in more of my songs. At least I’m happy I finally got around to my first song with this one.
I’m happy with the lyrics, the sweet melody, and the picking. For the arrangement/production, I decided not to fuss with it. Additional instruments didn’t really make that much sense for the mood and the lyrical content anyway. All I did was add a tiny bit of vocal harmony. In the end I was happy with it. It’s not “hit” material or musically the best song on the album, but it did its little job of expressing something within me that I wanted to express. And whether I ever break even financially or not, whether more than a handful of people ever cares, my life is so much richer just by being able to do that.
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LYRICS
I’m no diva, I’m no star
In a singing competition I wouldn’t get far
But many people like to listen when I sing
And in a noisy world, that means everything
So you bring that star power if you want to
I’ll bring my voice
Connecting with people, it’s my dream
It’s the only thing I know I really need
And the wealth that I need is only enough to survive
I eat beans for dinner and I don’t feel deprived
So you bring that fancy sports car if you want to
I’ll bring my voice
And I will never have a million fans
But that was never part of my plans
Just one connection means so much to me
Just being something to someone I never thought I could be
So you bring your stadium crowds if you want to
I’ll bring my voice
I’ll bring my voice
I guess I never really had a choice
I am who I am, and if they don’t like it
They can leave and I don’t need to know why