“And, I’ll be with you”.
Filler has it’s place, I suppose.
It was common, for example, on country albums in the sixties (one big hit, followed by an assortment of covers and curios). And in one-hour television series in the seventies (Bigfoot vs. The Six Million Dollar Man). And in commercial dog food (you’re a dog, you like rice and potatoes). Nature abhors a vacuum, and filler steps in, whether welcome or not, to fill the void.
If one can help it, filler in songwriting is generally something to be avoided. The best writing is re-writing, and all that. Not that I’m any kind of expert.
Now, being a McCartney guy, I have happily hummed along with a vacuous lyric from time to time. Bip bop, bip bop bam, bip bop bip bop bam (catchy, though, innit?).
Which brings me to my debut solo single, Be With You (out everywhere today).
Sincere as it is, I like to think of Be With You as one of those aspiring ear-worms with an uplifting message and endearingly simple musical structure. An unabashed ditty.
When I asked Peter Hicks to produce this single for me, which is, incidentally the first time we have officially “worked” together (and a pleasure, it was), I inundated him with songs that I considered an influence. There were lots of “ditties” in the playlist:
Make It With You, by Bread
Saturday Night, by the Bay City Rollers
Love Grows, by Edison Lighthouse
Get Down, by Gilbert O’Sullivan
Draggin’ the Line, by Tommy James & The Shondells
Darlin’ Companion, by The Loving’ Spoonful
I am pretty sure that these slices of sunshine bubblegum pop are not exactly in Peter’s wheelhouse, but he was a good sport, and was willing to indulge my musical inanity, to a point. The final result is, I think, a combination of Peter’s indie workmanlike edge and my head-in-the-clouds naïveté. Sleepy Driver meets Tuckersfield, if you like.
The repeated use of the word “and” in the song is not merely tripe. It is purposeful, and, I hope, meaningful. Here is my excuse. Be With You’s core message is that no matter how difficult things get “out there”, at the very same time I am blessed to “be with you”. These things co-exist. No matter how dark things may become, light remains. “Dismal days have got me down, but I will come around. And I’ll be with you”. It’s rarely all bad, and love is always there for us, gifting us another possible path. I love that thought. It provides some comfort.
Shawn Corey Music, the musical equivalent of a comfy pair of slippers. A broken flower - but still a flower. Maybe I’ll start a fan club called The Seedheads (respect to my Deadhead friends) - sowing the seeds of love. Isn’t that a Tears For Fears song?
Either way, here ya go. Be With You is out there now for you to enjoy, consume, sing along with, dismiss, or decry. I hope you do.
I don’t apologize for wanting to put more love into this world, even if I had to employ multiple “and’s” to achieve my goal. And, you never know, I may just do it again.
Listen to Be With You now, wherever you get your music.