The Birth of When You Dream

Happy Valentine’s Day (belatedly)! I spent most of Valentine’s Day writing a song, which is why you are hearing from me now, after midnight. So the new song is very much about love, and in more ways than one. In the course of writing this song, I felt giddy with excitement as I eagerly anticipated how it would become something from nothing. Along the way, James Burgos asked me how long it takes me to write a song. As I told him, sometimes pieces might evolve over the course of several years. A part I might have written a while back may well find its home in something I’m working on now. At other times, it might take a few days or less to complete something. I just try to ride the idea (lyrical or musical) and see where it takes me, rather than trying too hard to steer it or force it in a particular direction.

In this case, the song was “conceived” on the evening of February 9. A musical idea came to me, just as I was about to get up from the piano and tend to dinner. I played around with it quickly and thought I would return to it later, thinking it would stay with me. Unfortunately, later that night I couldn’t remember it exactly when I tried to record it. Feeling a bit disappointed, I went ahead and recorded a variation of the idea. I felt a bit worried that I might have managed to lose a good idea. Though in my experience, recording or documenting ideas has its merits, but ultimately what is meant to be will be. Chasing an idea works about as well as chasing unrequited love. I shared my thoughts on my Artist Page on Facebook. Thanks to filmmaker Pratibha Parmar, who chimed in and reminded me to “trust”. In addition, podcaster Nesheba kindly shared with me that a misplaced item often reveals itself when we are not looking for it. Indeed, their points fully resonated with me.

I let a day pass. Some musical ideas are not meant to be songs, but I felt that this one was headed in that direction. The next time I worked on it was the morning of Feb 11, when I came up with the melody and most of the form. An unexpected situation arose, but I continued to think about the piece while I was away from the piano. A theme of sorts came to mind. It was a pleasant distraction while we spent several hours waiting in the ER. Late that night, after returning from the hospital, I took a few minutes to record the current iteration of the idea, just to be safe. Then, on the evening of Feb 13, I added another part to the song form. At this point, it was clear to me that the form was in place. Now I had to come up with lyrics. I decided to step away and come back to the song another time.

When I woke up this morning, I was feeling a bit blue and under the weather. Some worrisome events related to my Valentine’s health and other concerns were bothering me. I felt annoyed when I tried to watch the news and our cable wasn’t working. I tried to check email, in hopes of receiving some news for which I’d been waiting. Alas, the internet was down. What to do?!

So I sat at the piano and started playing the form of the as yet untitled song, tackling the decision-making process that is perhaps the hardest part of writing a song. There are so many possible directions. I had a pretty solid lyrical idea for the chorus, but what was going to lead me from the beginning of the song to the chorus? I had to be prepared to let go of the chorus, in case the verse ended up leading me elsewhere. I felt it was too early to get attached to any particular outcome.

Eventually, after some experimentation, I came up with a first verse. Pleased with this accomplishment, I just kept singing it over and over (and over and over). To go back to the birth analogy, this is when the “lyrical contractions” got stronger. I felt compelled to keep writing and re-writing, shaping and re-shaping. The fact that it was Valentine’s Day also inspired me to keep going. I suppose I owe a bit of thanks to the cable company, as its service failure this morning prompted me to “go into labor”. By the end of the day, a song was born.

My Valentines (husband and stepson), and sister are the only ones to have heard the song thus far, but I look forward to sharing it with more of you soon! I just now decided that I’ll debut the song in a solo piano/vocal performance at this “baithak style” event on February 27 in West Los Angeles (seating is limited so RSVP for information and directions). Also, I’ll likely perform this song with my band at my upcoming concert of songs rooted in folk, jazz, and Indian traditions at The Mint on Saturday, April 2.

“When You Dream” is about our inner beauty and learning to trust what we see in the midst of uncertainty, when we are in that place where “dreams meet sunlight”. As I was reflecting, I realized that this song also has a connection to the photography of artist Christopher Barbour whose work touches on similar themes. Check out the 2009 post “i woke to find myself”, in which I featured one of his photographs and interviewed Chris about his work. You might “see” what I mean.

And, now without further ado, please welcome to the world: “When You Dream”. I know that reading the lyrics is not the same as hearing the song, but hopefully this will do for now! All are invited to share tales of birthin’ songs or other creative projects in the comments below.

When You Dream
by Manisha Shahane, Copyright 2011 Bridging Hemispheres/ASCAP

VERSE 1
In the dream I had last night
I thought I saw you smiling.
I could barely breathe,
I could barely see through the fog.
pre-chorus
As the sun began to rise,
The fog slowly lifted
But in the light of day
Your face had drifted away, away

VERSE 2
I lie awake and look to my left
I see you sweetly sleeping
I wonder if you dream
I wonder if you see through the fog
pre-chorus
If we only took the time
To see what’s inside
Find the fortitude within
That we often strive to hide

CHORUS
So when you dream
Try to discover
The beauty inside
Now as we wake
It’s time to recover our sight

VERSE 3
In the dream I had last night
We were holding hands & flying
Over all the trees
Over all the seas, through the fog
pre-chorus
As the sun began to rise,
The fog slowly lifted
And in the light of day
Your gaze had not drifted away

CHORUS

BRIDGE
In the hazy phase,
Dreams meet sunlight.
Yet my heart can see,
And I feel alive! Yes, I feel alive.

CHORUS

ENDING

Update: On February 20, I reviewed the song form, to which I made minor adjustments. I also composed the instrumental ending, following which I refined the piano arrangement for the entire song.