What Became Of Love?

“Lido be runnin’,
Havin’ great big fun ’til he got the note
Sayin’, ‘Toe the line or blow’
And that was all she wrote

He be makin’ like a beeline
Headin’ for the borderline, goin’ for broke
Sayin’, “One more hit oughta do it
This joint, ain’t nothin’ to it
One more for the road”

Boz Scaggs/David Paich, “Lido Shuffle”, from the album “Silk Degrees”, 1976

Another one from 2012/13 and another one where the music came first, but theres a twist in that particular story.

It might sound particularly bouncy and “up”, but like a lot of tracks, it has a soft, dark underbelly, so to speak. Well, it wouldnt be one of my songs if it didnt….!

The opening line of “driving down this highway to Nashville” was originally “running down this pathway into Liverpool”, which refers to the now defunct Liverpool Care Pathway used for palliative care in the British Health system, which I readily admit, I had more than a bit of a beef with at the time of writing. The “thousands of souls on this street” was a reference to the amount of other people who had seen the LCP manage the decline of their loved ones and a reminder to me that I was not alone in watching it happen and feeling powerless, even if my circumstances were different to someone elses. “Kicked out of the kitchen” is wordplay but symbolic of being in a heated situation that you’re ill-equipped to handle.

Although the typical pastiche of a country song is one that includes themes of a mans wife leaving him, the dog dying and all that stuff, its a genre that has transformed itself over the last decade. I’m happy with the structure of the song and its overall feel.

Or rather, I was until a close friend of mine played me a Sarah McLaughlin track called Vox, which has near as spit an identical instrumental break, certainly close enough for a lawsuit. So, quite what I’m going to do with it when it does finally see the light of day, I dont know.

I’m guessing I’ll have to include Ms McLaughlin amongst the writer credits, because if I dont, I’m sure her publishers will not be backwards about coming forwards.

But, back to the song itself. Apart from the opening line which would have had that element of darkness in it, the rest of it is a series of contradictions, of wordplay, about someone who is (arguably) hung up on making grand gestures for the wrong reasons and ends up apologising for what he feels and denying what he feels in the hope that the intensity of what he feels doesnt end up with him being hated or denounced as a fatuous dreamer or drifter.

Ultimately, providing we do no harm, we shouldnt be embarrassed or apologetic for what we feel, especially where affection for another human being is concerned – but the real world isnt always like that as most of us have no doubt found out by now.

There is a version of this “in the can”. Definitely modern country in its feel.

EDIT, 30/12/2017.

The track has been renamed What Became Of Love? (as the topline says) and the pay off line in the chorus has also been changed accordingly. The track has been completed and is likely to be released on the London Road EP. I have reached out to Sarah McLaughlin’s management company, seeking their permission or at least clarification around the use of a keyboard line that sounds very much like the one Sarah used in Vox. To date, I have had no reply from her manager. I am taking from that, that neither Sarah or her Management have any issues therefore with me composing, producing and performing this track. I have still volunteered Sarah a composition credit, because I think it is appropriate.

Another Accidental Love

Verse 1/
Im driving down this highway to Nashville
Cruising past thousands of souls on this street
Everybody’s looking at me like I dont belong
Thrown out of the kitchen
Kicked out ‘cos I cant stand the heat.

Instrumental break/

Chorus/
And I’m flyin’ cross the ocean to be left standing in a field
My life’s a joke and I’m flat broke with scars that just wont heal
You’re sayin’ that I’m lazy and I’m driving you crazy
And now you think enough’s enough

I cant help it ’bout the way that I feel
So tell me…
What became of love?

Verse 2/
I’ve run too many miles in someone elses shoes
I’ve blistered the soles of my feet
I’m being pulled this way, that way, ev’ry way but home
And cant find the doorway, don’t wanna end up on the street

Instrumental/

Chorus/

Verse 3/
And now I’m back right where I started from
I just dont know when I’m beat
Everything is telling me that you think I’m wrong
And it’ll not be much longer til you run out of patience with me

Chorus/

To fade/