a combining of genres - a bit rock ballad, a lot of spanish rhythm - a love song, as if sung by a mariachi band - yet with a soaring sax solo to end the piece.
singer/songwriter, sax player and sound engineer, I have created multiple CD's in my home studio using pro-tools and plug ins.
Story behind the song
Late in 2013 I had a chance to see The Tubes in concert. In the middle of the song "I Am American", they broke into the mariachi tune Santa Maria, a tune I have always loved (especially the ripping guitar version by Robert Rodriguez's (the writer/director of El Mariachi and Machete) band Chingon. There is a Hispanic rhythm inherent in that song, a kind of drag triplet thing in 3/4 time that just speaks all things Hispanic to me, and I always wanted to incorporate that into one of my songs.
As I was driving home from that show, an old Scorpions song came on my ipod. The tune has lovely chords and a few really nice lyric lines, but somehow, at least for me, those few lines of love get lost in some pseudo psycho babble message about finding yourself. The song, To Touch Your Feelings then ends with a further unsatisfying bit of two women mumbling German. Again, I have wanted to cover this song in some fashion… and then came an epiphany: why not combine the two songs in some fashion. So I set out to compose something that had the same chord structure as the Scorpions song, but incorporating the Spanish feel.
Once that was achieved I began the lyric. I wanted to retain the refrain "to touch your feelings" and wrap a poignant and personal love song around it - with a chorus that would be right at home sung by a mariachi band - simple and direct.
When two souls join in love, it seems almost like they become one, dancing to the rhythm of the song in their hearts. This became the theme - celebrating the song of two heart's rejoicing at finding the perfect harmony and the state where two become one, yet are more than the sum of their parts - mystical and magic.
To complete the sentiment, I wanted a solo over the ending chords -something soaring and majestic that flowed with the increased passion of the triplet rhythm becoming more dominant - indeed, singing "our song".
Lyrics
a song was born on the whim of a wind
a song of hearts that are twin
a melody to stir your feelings
close your eyes and I'll try to begin
be everything, a yang to your yin
open your heart, I'll share your feelings
inside your heart
there is our song
sing it together all night long
inside your heart
is where I belong
sing to me
our song
beyond all words there's a place in the sun
a place where two become one
let my fingers learn your feelings