Series 1, Episode 51: That's the Way Love Works

From out of the blue came a song title. The muse in me grabbed it and ran with it. Yet another song title about love, but one with a twist. The true story (though partially imagined) of a romance that almost never happened. A series of near misses where finally that gigantic word “LOVE” simply takes over and leaves two people fallen. Love, the unstoppable, the irresistible, the greatest force known to mankind is indomitable and millions have experienced it! Join us as we take the journey of creating an ode to Love. It has probably happened at some point to you. If it hasn’t, then watch out. It may be coming just around the corner.

Theater of the Imagination is presented by Watchfire Music watchfiremusic.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:08

Welcome to Scatter Shot Symphony, the music of Peter Link. That's me. Hey y'all, this week being the 51st episode of this podcast. I prefer to let the music do the talking. However, if you need to know more about me, please visit Wikipedia.com, Peter Link. This episode is entitled That's the Way Love Works. I was partially watching a TV commercial, not paying much attention, and the man in the commercial said at the end of it, You see, that's the way it works. Curiosity stepped into my consciousness, and I thought, that's the way what works. But the commercial had ended and my program came back. However, suddenly my mind was elsewhere. That's the way what works. What works? I'll never know. Something works, but I'll never know it. I'll probably never see that commercial again. But who cares? But I couldn't get the question out of my mind. That's the way blank works. Then the lyricist in me whispered That's the way love works. I thought, what's the way love works? My lyricist Muse whispered again. That's for us to figure out. And we were off and running. I turned off my program, turned off the TV, grabbed my pen and paper and my trusty rhymer, and we went to work. Love. Love. I made a list. Love is unstoppable, unsurmountable, invulnerable, indomitable, unyielding, irresistible, all powerful, impervious. At least it is in my life. It is the single most important word in my vocabulary. It is the ultimate thing. It is the best definition for God I've ever found. That simple three-word sentence God is love. Love. I started with that. I knew I had to wrap a story around it. So I look back through my life at the myriads of love stories of my experience here on planet Earth. Far too many things where to start. I spent a couple of days searching through a lifetime of love, but couldn't settle on any particular story. Then one day I remembered Susan. Susan and I were pals. I think she was at first the roommate of my girlfriend. When it came to Susan, I've always said that Susan was the only girl I ever loved, but never dated. That relationship continued for about fifty years. We were pals, and I loved my pal, but it always seemed to be from afar. For whatever reason, this little story intrigued me. This is as far as the real experience went. The rest of the story came from my imagination. So is it a true story? I believe so, for thousands of people, maybe millions. It's the love story that never happened until the immensity of love stepped in. And when that happens, undeniable, unescapable, and irresistible love becomes unavoidable. This is my imagined story. It's a story of near misses until the inevitable happens. There is no more avoidance, no more missed chances, no more bad timing, no more hiding in the shadows. Love is the conquistador and so I wrote friends. We were always just friends. It was easier, it was simpler that way. No complications, no temptations, just friends. Then I wrote, and yet I loved you and at times I thought you might love me, but those times just passed by far too suddenly as life went on its way, and we hid inside our shadows and wondered what could have been what might have been. Then came the turning point to my imagined story. So then love came crashing in, taking control of our lives and taking command, pointing the way, pulling us out of the shadows. The rest of the lyrics I will save for the song to express. So when my lyrics were done, I went to work with my monologue. What does this mean? Whenever I finish writing the lyrics, instead of rushing headlong into the music creation, I take a couple of days and dive deep into the lyrics that I've written, and practice the lyrics as a monologue. I repeat them eyes shut, imagining the scenario that the lyrics describe. I do it silently and I do it out loud. I create my own imagined world around the story and live in it in monologue for a few days. I've found that over the years that this practice is invaluable to the creation of the music, because the monologues teach me the rhythms, the rises and falls of the notes of the eventual melody, the tempo of the song, the underlying feelings, the subtext of the song, and a raft of other things as well. Once I've done this and played the scenes of the song over and over again in my mind and consciousness, I have explored the life of the song. I'm ready to launch into the writing of the music. If I've done this right and explored all this subtext, the life of the experience, the emotions of every moment that the lyrics express, then it's time to go into my studio and put my hands on the keys. That's when the miracle happens. The song usually just pours out of me in this new language adaptation called music. If the subtext has been fully explored, the feelings of the moment just make the notes of the words go up and down in the same way as when you speak, when you are fully committed to the scene, and its energies, and its rhythms discovered in the monologue. This subtext is all important. It's the subtext that drives the creation. Why? Because music is pure emotion. It is the magical language of emotion. It is the miracle. It is the underlying path that leads me from moment to moment through the song. Without this subtext, a song is just a bunch of notes one after the other. But with the subtext it becomes a song that shares drama, touches the heart, brings the smile to the listener, makes one want to get up and dance, or produces a tear down the cheek. From this, the combinations and sonorities of the chords and the chord progressions are discovered and massaged to reflect the feelings of each of the moments of the scenes discovered in the monologue. The melodies also are discovered and created, with the backing and support of the previous monologue, and the foundational sonorities of the chords or movement of piano, guitar, keyboard, and orchestral instruments that are at my beck and call. I know these learned feelings and actions of the moments, and therefore simply let the music pour out through the consciousness of the actions and doings of the song. If this all sounds a little complex, it's actually not. In this particular song with the orchestration, I worked with an image of several rivers rolling on and on, and mingling with each other, and then all joining and emptying into the sea on the climax of the song. Here is the track I developed, and worked with to find the melodies. This process of finding the right melodies was simultaneous. I did not create an orchestral track and then lay a melody on top, but rather created each moment together, following the leadership of the monologue. Listen with me to the musical emotions of the song. This is the orchestral track only. Also note how near the end the six French horns create an atmosphere of triumph and finality. Love conquers all. As it so happens, the track you've just heard was not in the key that I created it in. I had, in the process of finishing the orchestrated track, a keyboard instrument playing the melody, and I orchestrated it in the key of G major. It was then time to figure out who should sing it. I did a demo with me singing it, and decided from that journey that I was not the guy for it. I needed one of my many choices of studio singers, or one of my coteries of those whose albums I have produced. I leaned in the direction of it, being first time out, a woman's song. Trying it myself taught me that. I ended up going with Jenny Burton. This was not a gospel-based song, but Jenny is one who can stretch into other genre styles pretty easily. Also, she was free, schedule wise, to work on it. But Jenny is an alto, and the key it was written in just was not right for her. I needed a second soprano, but others were busy, so Jenny was it. I work in a system called Logic Pro made by Apple. It's a DAW system, a digital audio workstation. It is essentially a recording studio in software. In logic, one can change the key of an orchestration up or down to three half steps without losing fidelity. So I moved the key up two half steps, and Jenny settled right in. This saved us, along with Jenny's ability to handle a large range, beyond most singers. She was a real trooper, and we rehearsed the song and found our way through it surprisingly well. She worked with it at home for about six weeks, and we got together to note check and coordinate several things three or four times before recording. Then came the day of the recording. I think she knocked it out of the park. Jenny is an extremely instinctual artist. She grasps the subtext of a lyric and a song very quickly. It is her exceptional talent. She responds automatically to the sonorities of the orchestration, and she finds easily the roots of behavior in a song. This is why her rehearsal process was a matter of weeks and not days or hours. She was learning to live inside the song and make it her own. So she always brings something new, fresher, and deeper to a song. It's why I've worked with her for over thirty years now. I was excited to finish the song and give it to my master, Phil Clum, to put on his finishing touches. As it turned out, I was too excited, and my head was full of other projects, and so I made a big mistake. Rushed the mix. It took me another week to figure out what I did wrong, and getting away from the song for a couple of days gave me the chance to reapproach it with fresh ears. After some hours of adjustment, I finally found the mix that was in my imagination, and found myself at peace with the song. Phil did his usual beautiful mastering job, and here it is from Jenny Burton and yours truly. That's the way love works.

SPEAKER_02 23:20

It was easier, it was simple that way. No complications, no temptation, just friends. Shadows we were always like shadows. It was easier in the absence of light in my imagination and expectation in shadows, and yet I loved you, and at times I thought you might love me, but most times just pass my fall too suddenly as life went on its way, and we hid inside our shadows and wonder what could have been, what might have been So the Love and Crashing, taking control of a life, taking command, pointing away, pulling us out of the shadows, pulling us out of the shadows, pulling us out of the shadow. Yeah, that's just the way love works. And so I loved you, and at last I knew we were set free. It was love that seized the moment in its arms and caused a change of heart as we hid inside our shadows and wonder. Leading the sea light. Yeah, that's just the way love works. Right out of the blue. That's the way love works.

SPEAKER_03 29:10

Also, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. And to keep abreast of the latest episode, you can subscribe to Scattershot Symphony from your podcast app of choice. And thanks to Watchfire Music and the entire staff for all your work in producing and promoting this podcast. A very special thanks also to Stuart Barefoot, our associate producer, for all your invaluable knowledge and great vibes. And lastly, a posthumous thanks to Ludwig von Beethoven for your opening four bars.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

This podcast is presented with loving care by the staff at Watchfire Music. If you liked what you heard, we got lots more where that came from. In the meantime, you can find the songs you just heard on WatchfireMusic.com forward slash podcast. There, you can purchase the singles or albums and have access to all the lyrics. Also, there you will find all previous podcasts and future scheduling. If you just became a Scattershot fan, tell your friends and stay tuned.