I Knew Then (Glosa - You Needed Me by Anne Murray)
 |
Let's Keep It That Way - Anne Murray
Album Cover
|
Song: You Needed Me
Album: Let’s Keep It That Way
Label: Capitol Records
Year: 1978
Genre: Pop
Song Selection/Research:
So, I had a couple of songs rolling around in my head from before my previous selection. So much so that I began composing late at night on my phone as I lay in bed; I got about 5 lines of the first stanza before I put it aside not really sure yet that it would be my next piece. With uncertainty, I began looking for another song.
Having recently written “More On the Role Music Plays,” I was reminded of an artist with whom I grew up listening to; I can still picture my mom pushing the cassette tape into the brown-n-tan station wagon and us singing along. Even now, I find myself singing “A little Good News” for no particular reason. It only seems logical that I felt compelled to pull up some of Anne Murray’s lyrics and see what inspiration might hit.
After identifying three songs that struck a chord, I managed to narrow it down to two. The trouble with the first selection was that there were really only three lines I wanted to used and I struggled with the idea of deviating with a cabeza that was not a quatrain – though I’m sure eventually I will tackle this variation. Before completely deciding not to use it, I did several things. One I did some more research on the glosa and found some interesting things (which I may save for a later entry) and I did some research on the song that ended up being my selection.
My research initially led me to a blog where a woman discusses how the refrain “you needed me” didn’t fit the rest of the lyrics, and it is interesting as I had never really thought of it before. When I gave pause though, it made sense to me – though I don’t know at that moment how well I could have expressed it. In continued research I found the answer to my inability to articulate my thoughts. This came from the song writer, Randy Goodrum, in an interview with Song Facts where he says, “It was sort of about unconditional undeserved love.” In that moment, I knew this was the next song on my glosa journey.
Cabeza:
"You held my hand when I was cold
When I was lost, you took me home
You gave me hope when I was at the end
And turned my lies back into truths again."
The Writing Process:
(01/25/2018)
While I thought about the fact that I needed to work on composing this newest glosa, I did not pick up the pencil until today, three days after finally settling on the next inspiration. Truthfully, aside from a perusal of rhyming words for both ‘cold’ and ‘home’, the words pretty much flowed. Still, there are two things to note about today’s writing.
While working on composing the first stanza, I decided to repeat the tenth line’s rhyme ‘cold’ in the sixth line. Having made this decision, I was compelled to do the same in the next stanza. This compulsion I have for balance or structure has always plagued me. I wager that at some point I will employ this double usage in only one stanza…only time will tell if I’m right.
The other thing, which did not really impact me or dawn on me until the end of the second stanza, is that the cabeza lines are all past tense and while the first line, “you held my hand when I was cold” seemed to fit it with me noticing. I wonder if my choice to write in present tense is going to work or not. I may have to go back and adjust. But I’ll give myself a little time to digest the way things sound now before I make any alterations.
(01/28/2018)
I finished up the glosa yesterday. Before I began working on the last two stanzas, I decided to do some slight tense modifications to the first two stanzas. In addition, I felt compelled to tweak the last line by adding a word before it. This actually followed in the third stanza with all three tenth lines beginning with ‘for’. As for the last line…well, it did not escape the addition of words, but this time I added in two words just after the first word of the line. So, it now reads, “and suddenly you turned my lies back into truths again.”
As previously mentioned, I did maintain the consistent use of the rhyming word at the end of the sixth line. I have also realized, if I have not already said this, I need to work on choosing cabezas with less challenging rhymes. Admittingly, I’m not 100% sold on how the ninth line of the final stanza came out. Yeah, so I paused from my journal entry after that last revelation and returned to the last stanza. After revisiting other rhymes, I realized the one I had was probably the best. Still…I couldn’t leave well enough alone and ended erasing lines eight and nine to rewrite them. I definitely feel better (though still not 100%) about the ending lines. Oh, and of course just because those last three words of the newly rewritten ninth line are now the title of the poem.
The Finished Piece
(01/27/2018)
Again, I will be sharing the cabeza and opening stanza for this glosa. That said, here is the beginning of “I Knew Then”.
"You held my hand when I was cold
When I was lost, you took me home
You gave me hope when I was at the end
And turned my lies back into truths again."
–You Needed Me
Anne Murray
At times it felt as though it were impossible
that love would fine me
and wrap its arms around me.
Even now standing here,
your warmth seeping through me,
I never realized how lonely and cold
my life was.
But now, there is no doubt,
one day our love will be retold
for you held my hand when I was cold.
…
…
…
Work Cited
Kate. “’Somehow you need me…’.” Thoughts Gently Whispered, 26 June 2007, http://stoneriverstudio.blogspot.com/2007/06/you-needed-me.html.
“Let’s Keep It That Way.” Cover Art Image. Anne Murray – Let’s Keep It That Way.jpg, Fandom, 22 March 2011, http://lyrics.wikia.com/wiki/File:Anne_Murray_-_Let%27s_Keep_It_That_Way.jpg.
Murray, Anne. “You Needed Me.” Let’s Keep It That Way, Capitol Records, 1978.
Wiser, Carl. “Randy Goodrum (Oh, Sherrie).” Song Facts, 12 October 2008, http://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/randy_goodrum_oh_sherrie_/.
Comments
Post a Comment