Hi, my name is Lloyd, and this is an Introduction to a Song
This song, like many of mine, is first and foremost a story.
It is not a cautionary tale, nor advocating of its contents.
This is a song about the fragile nature of the world of a person under the influence of an illicit substance of sorts. It is a changing world, one that is influenced heavily by the surrounding environment and the emotional state the person is in. One little thing can be a catalyst for a gigantic change in the perceived world.
This is, quite frankly, a relatively dark song, which I wrote during a time when I was quite happy. When I'm feeling sad or depressed, I tend to write happy songs, or songs that inspire me. Conversely, when I'm feeling happy, or I'm in a really good place in my life, I might go ahead and write a song with darker subject matter. That way I can be more objective and not let my emotional state cloud the message I want to convey, or in any way weaken the overall impact of the narrative.
Writing this song was interesting, in that I wanted to reflect the feelings of the song's subject in not only the lyrics but in the music as well. This is the reason why the music leaps between soft and hard guitar almost jarringly, and why the tone of the song is subject to such unexpected changes.
Sailing Softly - Link
Sailing Softly
Verse 1
The wind is sailing softly
Through my hair
And the rain is falling
I don't even notice it's there
Verse 2
I think someone is calling
But it's getting lost in the air
And broken glass surrounds me
I must take care
Chorus 1
And someone's crying softly
And clutching their head
I know you won't get it off me
'Cause I don't want to share
You can do nothing to stop me
Because I'm already there, yeah
Verse 3
And the lights were pulsating
And now they're everywhere
And all the people were gyrating
A blink of my eye and then they're all gone
Chorus 2
And where could all of my friends be?
And will they be gone long?
Because I think I am hurting
Yeah, something feels wrong
And the world is starting to get scary
How long will this go on, on, on
On, on and on, on and on
On and on, on, on and on, on and on
Verse 4/Outro
And someone's crying softly
And clutching their head
Who can this someone be?
I think it is me...
During the song, the subject experiences a sense of displacement, of feeling apart from the things happening around or to him, which permeates throughout the whole story. We also see a sense of the slight stubbornness that can be a symptom of such experiences. In the second half of the song the drug starts to get more and more intense, and the situation starts to become slightly clearer to the audience, but more convoluted to the subject. Something bad has happened, and the other party-goers have fled the scene. As he starts to notice that everyone has gone, during the second chorus, he starts to comprehend that something has gone wrong, that he is in pain, and the world is starting to take on the negative aspects of the situation.
The instrumental following the second chorus attempts to illustrate the intensity of the following moments of confusion and uncertainty and fear, culminating in the soft final verse, where in a reflection of earlier clarity, the resigned subject finally realises that he is, in fact, the victim.
This is, quite frankly, a relatively dark song, which I wrote during a time when I was quite happy. When I'm feeling sad or depressed, I tend to write happy songs, or songs that inspire me. Conversely, when I'm feeling happy, or I'm in a really good place in my life, I might go ahead and write a song with darker subject matter. That way I can be more objective and not let my emotional state cloud the message I want to convey, or in any way weaken the overall impact of the narrative.
Writing this song was interesting, in that I wanted to reflect the feelings of the song's subject in not only the lyrics but in the music as well. This is the reason why the music leaps between soft and hard guitar almost jarringly, and why the tone of the song is subject to such unexpected changes.
Sailing Softly - Link
Sailing Softly
Verse 1
The wind is sailing softly
Through my hair
And the rain is falling
I don't even notice it's there
Verse 2
I think someone is calling
But it's getting lost in the air
And broken glass surrounds me
I must take care
Chorus 1
And someone's crying softly
And clutching their head
I know you won't get it off me
'Cause I don't want to share
You can do nothing to stop me
Because I'm already there, yeah
Verse 3
And the lights were pulsating
And now they're everywhere
And all the people were gyrating
A blink of my eye and then they're all gone
Chorus 2
And where could all of my friends be?
And will they be gone long?
Because I think I am hurting
Yeah, something feels wrong
And the world is starting to get scary
How long will this go on, on, on
On, on and on, on and on
On and on, on, on and on, on and on
Verse 4/Outro
And someone's crying softly
And clutching their head
Who can this someone be?
I think it is me...
During the song, the subject experiences a sense of displacement, of feeling apart from the things happening around or to him, which permeates throughout the whole story. We also see a sense of the slight stubbornness that can be a symptom of such experiences. In the second half of the song the drug starts to get more and more intense, and the situation starts to become slightly clearer to the audience, but more convoluted to the subject. Something bad has happened, and the other party-goers have fled the scene. As he starts to notice that everyone has gone, during the second chorus, he starts to comprehend that something has gone wrong, that he is in pain, and the world is starting to take on the negative aspects of the situation.
The instrumental following the second chorus attempts to illustrate the intensity of the following moments of confusion and uncertainty and fear, culminating in the soft final verse, where in a reflection of earlier clarity, the resigned subject finally realises that he is, in fact, the victim.
