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SONG FACTORY: THE SONG GROWS UP BY ELLIS PAUL
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INNOCENCE & THE AFTERLIFE BY ELLIS PAUL Here’s the acorn to the oak tree story of my song, “The Innocence and the Afterlife”. This song came from the guitar first. It was a Celtic styled pattern I fell into one day that sounded both very somber and beautiful, like it could played at an Irish funeral. I decided to bring my father’s death into it, and I remembered the day I explained his passing to my daughter who was five and how beautiful that conversation was. That became the idea for the lyric. The challenge here was making it believable. Vulnerable. So I start with, “This is my true life story.” It’s a universal conversation parents have with their kids about the passing of loved ones. But not many songs have been written about that moment. That makes it unique, and why it should be heard. It’s a private conversation but one we all have with our children. It’s universal in that way. I explain how the song drifted across the wheel and became refined draft to draft. The poetry was important. The flow of the words had to be in a perfect dance with the flow of the melody. The key was how the phrasing and melody weaved together like a braid.
‘The Innocence & the Afterlife’ First Draft Song Concept
‘The Innocence & the Afterlife’ Mission Statement
‘The Innocence & the Afterlife’ Final Version Performance
ELLIS PAUL
ELLIS PAUL
ELLIS PAUL
SUMMER 2019 | ISSUE 18
