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PrintThere are as many kinds of love songs as there are kinds of love. These Pittsburgh songwriters submitted their personal love songs and, in their own words, tell the stories behind them.
Liz Berlin
"Too Much" From Rusted Root "Welcome to my party" and "Rusted Root Live"
"I wrote the song 'Too Much' for my husband Mike Speranzo. It was during a time when he was in the middle of "too much" -- building Mr. Small's Theatre, his band, other things that were on his mind. He left to go to rehearsal one night, and the song came out of me in a half-hour. I was trying to express to him that he could relax and that I was there for him." Web site: www.lizberlin.com
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"The Absence of Her Smile" From The Gathering Field CD "So Close to Home"
"My wife Paula and I have known each other since grade school. Actually, the first song I ever wrote was about her. It was called 'You're So Stupid.' We were dating -- well, grade-school dating --and she broke up with me and I was mad. A long time later we got together again, and we've been together ever since. This song was about being apart." Web site: www.billdeasy.com
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"I Believe" Not available on CD -- yet
Berlin: "Probably one of the best love songs I've written is one I wrote with Bill Deasy. It's not on an album yet -- maybe the next one. I wrote it for my husband Mike and, I guess, Bill wrote it for his wife Paula, as well, because we had a lot of talks about the challenges of life and the strengths in our relationships and how lucky we were to have such beautiful partners to live our lives and create our families with. So this song is not a song about frou-frou-bubble-gum-pop-love. It's a song about really real love, the kind you have to work hard for over the long haul because it's worth it. Notice that the chorus gets longer and deeper every time. Like any good relationship it grows over time and becomes more meaningful and interesting and expansive."
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"I'm a Walker" From the compilation CD "Pittsburgh Songwriters Circle"
"I was talking with a friend about family. He told me that he had never really seen his family until he saw them through the eyes of a woman with whom he'd been involved. He was too close to that game to get an objective view of the pieces and their moves. I remember he used the phrase 'through her eyes.'
"At that point, in the anti-tradition of ADHD rude-niks everywhere, I stopped listening to him and went off on parallel trains of thought. One was a train to Epiphany, which was that I realized how much about myself and my family I had learned by seeing them through Camille's eyes. The other, slower train, was destined toward a new song.
"At first all I had was the thought, 'through your eyes.' I had been playing, and doing a poor job of it, a Robert Johnson song called 'Walkin' Blues.' I paraphrased some ideas from that song, which tricked me into feeling I was getting somewhere. Once the skids were greased, the song got written pretty quickly. I still haven't reached Epiphany. Can you get there from here?" Web site: www.jackerdie.com
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"Strong and True" From "Beneath the Same Sky"
"I know that the connotation of Valentines Day is for lovers, but the song I'd really like to submit is called "Strong and True." I wrote it for my best friend from college. I was living in Nashville at the time and she was, and still is, in Kalamazoo, Mich. She called one night very distraught about love, life and her direction in life, and we talked for hours. Our friendship remains strong to this day and, although cliche to write, we've seen each other through a lot of life." Web site: www.evegoodman.com
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"With This Ring" From "Swirly with Colors"
I was 30,000 feet over the Atlantic, looking out the window at the blue ocean, trying to find the courage to propose to the woman sleeping on my shoulder. Without waking her, I pulled out a pen and notebook and tried to say in words and music what I hadn't been able to say to her face.
Writing the song "With This Ring" helped me to understand what I was feeling, what I had been so afraid to say. Three months later I sang this song to her at our wedding party. I owe everything I have to this song and to Mary Ann Park, the woman who said "yes." -- John Hayes can be reached at jhayes@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1991.
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"Silly Goose"From the CD "The Road to Ubatuba," to be released in April
"I've written quite a few songs, but "Silly Goose" was different in that there was one person in particular I was hoping to please -- my fiancee, Janice.
"The title is a term of endearment, a nickname I occasionally call her. Because of the title, and because I wanted to write something as free of cliche as possible, I tried to mix in a little humor along with the heart. I also wanted to paint a recognizable portrait of a unique individual, to let something of Janice's beautiful, quirky personality shine through. Most of what I describe in the song is true, but I admit I took a little poetic license (she's actually a pretty good dancer).
"To make a long story short (because I'd much rather you listen to the song than read my analysis), I polished the song, polished it again, practiced singing and playing it on the guitar until I felt it was good enough, and then summoned my courage and played it for Janice one evening. She can be a brutally honest critic of my artistic endeavors. But this time, as her eyes brightened and a little smile spread across her lips, I knew it was a hit." -- Peter King can be reached at pking@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1458.
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"The Little Things" From "Black and White"
"Last year in the middle of winter, my wife Mary, our 6-month-old daughter Casey, my golden retriever and I were sitting in the living room with the fireplace blazing. Mary was feeding the baby while sitting on the floor. While watching them interact and the dog looking on, I wrote a song called 'The Little Things.' At that moment, I realized that those "little things" were the best things in my life, and that is because of my wife. I could see in Mary's eyes that she loved me, and that was good enough for me. The best gift she ever gave me was Casey. Because of my wife, those little things are huge." Web site: www.russelllauf.com
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"I Could Fall in Love Again" Not available on CD
"After a bad marriage that ended in a messy divorce and custody battle, I swore that I would never let a woman ruin my life again. I would never give a woman a chance to hurt me. But then along comes a beautiful, tall, kind and caring woman.
"Although I am still gun shy when it comes to commitments, she showed me that I could love again. This song is about realizing that. Happy Valentines Day, Kelly Kieffer." Web site: www.thedangershow.net
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"Heart's Friend" From "Impossible Things"
"When we got married, my husband Bruce Adamson and I chose verses for our friends and family to read at the wedding. He chose one I had never heard, 'The Heart's Friend, a Shoshone Love Song.' It reads, in part, 'Fair is the white star of twilight / and the sky clearer / at the day's end / But she is fairer, she is dearer / she, my heart's friend!'
"My song is a response to his. I added 'contented' in my lyrics because I certainly am." Web site: www.arts.iup.edu
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"A Tuesday in Pittsburgh" Not available on CD
"Lots of love songs are full of swirling emotion and swooning, probably because that's how falling in love feels -- like you've stepped out of your own ordinary life, into some grand opera, some carnival of ecstasies and agonies. That's certainly where I was in February 2003, a couple months into a new relationship with this lovely, slightly odd, warm-hearted woman, and I set out to write a love song. My ambitions were grand, but when I actually got into it -- guitar on lap, notebook on table, cheap tape recorder at the ready -- I kept coming back to these common, everyday images. It occurred to me that, aside from the rush of infatuation, smaller, quieter joys are also part of a new relationship: learning about her favorite writers and bands, having a new cat in your life, making each other grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.
"Finding the right person, I think, means finding someone whose very presence is an ordinary joy for you, everyday. Today, three years later, hearing the easy music of Patti's voice, feeling her walk into a room, seeing her name in my e-mail inbox, both warms and calms me. Her presence in my life seems to affirm I've achieved some small measure of wisdom. And it was a real kick to play the song at our wedding reception last September."
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"Deep October" Not available on CD
"Oct. 29, 1971: I finally got a date with my fantasy girl. Her name was 'Swish' -- she was a drummer, after all -- and I idolized her. I got off work at Kinney's Shoes on Main Street in Uniontown and went with a friend to meet Swish and sister. It was the '70s and we were not yet 20, so you can imagine our 'state of mind.' We set off into the night in search of the prize.
"Our adventures took us up into the mountains to Pine Knob, Wharton Furnace, Lick Hollow and beyond. The lace work of the bare trees against the night sky was exquisite. Somewhere south of Bruceton Mills, W.Va., we clambered out of our seats for a moonlight stroll on the red-dog road.
"What could only be a lynx or a bobcat screamed close by, just once. It was fierce and frightful -- exciting beyond words. We held hands from that point on.
"When I got home at 6 a.m., my father was shaving for work. I sat down on the bed with my guitar and began to write this song. He said, 'You may have something there, Gerard.' Time has proved him right. Marita and I have been together now for 34 years." Web site: www.newlanders.com
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"Soft as Cotton" From "Discount Stars"
"It was our second wedding anniversary. My wife and I have found that staying with traditional gifts is a little more imaginative and fun, and I found out that the second anniversary gift is 'cotton.' I wrote and recorded a song for her. It is called 'Soft As Cotton' and is about the most loving person I've ever met in my life.
"At dinner the next evening I gave her a CD of the song. She was so touched by the meaning and the gift itself, because it came from the heart. We're coming up on another anniversary and the traditional gift for six years is 'iron.' I'm open for suggestions on this one."
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"Step Inside (This Heart)" From the Blind Date CD "Restless"
"I started writing the song initially to imitate the style of Keith Richard's Rolling Stones ballads, which I greatly admired. They are intimate, kind of corny, and he sings them in a raspy way which has a combined effect that's really heartfelt. While this was a work in progress, I got deeper into my relationship with Kristen Somales, my girlfriend who lived in Monongahela. I started in putting lines about her, like 'You don't need no flashing smile / it just suits my style,' and others that she inspired.
"Later, my band Blind Date recorded the song, though in a more straightforward country-pop style. Late one night, while we were driving home from a gig, the Froggy radio station played the song as part of a local music show. Kristen was with me and she cried, and it was kind of great hearing it that way. We are married now, with a baby daughter Olivia, and we're buying a house. She still comes to the gigs sometimes, and I dedicate the song to her." Web site: blinddateband.tripod.com
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"One Excuse" From "Someday or Never," to be released in April
"Like many songwriters, I have a bunch of 'crush' songs, which start with me falling hard for some terrific woman with whom I had absolutely no shot, and ended with me in a room, alone, playing the guitar. There was, however, one crush, which in its overpowering physical symptoms and all-consuming emotional vortex, stands out above the others. It was Crushzilla, if you will, The Crush that Ate Tokyo, Crushissimo, a venti from Crushbucks, etc. Specifically, I had it bad for a fellow counselor at a summer camp I worked at back in the early '90s. It felt so overwhelming that I knew intellectually that the emotional chaos I was experiencing had to be about bigger things than just my longing for this other human, whom I barely knew, though she was extremely cool and screamingly cute.
"About six years later, I met up with her again. I expected to just hang out, catch up and enjoy her company. We did that, but I also experienced a 'relapse' of sorts, and was surprised by how quickly and strongly those feelings came back. This may sound twisted, but at this point I would never trade the songs I wrote about her (and still play) for a different romantic outcome. To quote one of those songs, "every poet needs a muse / from time to time I've borrowed you / but I don't know you any better than before.' " Web site: www.bradyoder.com
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"Lonely with Me" From "Lonely with Me"
"The darkest, saddest situations often give rise to the most enduring songs. But face it, those songs are often easiest to write. The drama, the tension, the telling details are often built in to a relationship breakup, a tragic parting. With 'Lonely With Me,' I deliberately set out to compose a happy song.
"It's not easy writing about things like new love without resorting to cliches. I wrote the song about and for my then-girlfriend-now-wife, Stacey. I had been married before and wanted to acknowledge that my relationship with Stacey represented a reawakening for me, an especially rich and rewarding form of love. I played the song for Stacey as part of our wedding ceremony. I avoided looking at her for much of the performance, though, so that we didn't both end up crying."
