This song had it’s start under bogus circumstances. Learned through the Grapevine that LeeAnn Rimes was looking for material. At that time I was still toying with the idea of expanding my craft to write for other artists. I thought a mainstream Nashville player like LeAnn could use some street cred, a closer-to-the-bone personal thing, like George Jones tried to do with “Choices”. Never underestimate the power of my delusional mind to get it wrong. Here’s the 3 ways I blew it.
1. “Grapevine source” evaporates.
2. I am not a crafty tunesmith.
3. My friend Alissa sets me straight.
1. “Grapevine source” evaporates: Just like that. Turns out LeAnn was not at all looking for outside writers. C’est la Vie.
2. I am not a crafty tunesmith: After attending a couple of Durango Songwriters workshops and seeing and meeting a bunch of writery writers, I found I did not relate so much. The concrete they have to shift around and the connections they nurture and enjoy nurturing seemed outside of my grasp of understanding. The best knowledge I gleaned from Durango was that I am a performer who writes for himself.
3. My friend Alissa sets me straight: I ran the song by the circle, (see blogpost Dec 23 2009 • Burn Down Start Over, paragraph 2) I said I had written the song for a woman to sing. Amazing performer/songwriter/force of nature Alissa Moreno said it was too straightforward, lyrically. Although she loved the song (especially the way Leslie King sang it on the demo), she didn’t see it as a woman’s song. Rich later concurred, saying it so goes against my type as a performer that I should “cover” it myself. I think it works.
Love Me
©06 Chuck Lee Bramlet
Why don’t you let me sleep
I want to dive into your deep
But I’m high and dry
like a fish out of the sea
Answer my prayer
Love me
You were walking in my dream
I was frozen in a moonbeam
I was high and dry
and you couldn’t hear my plea
‘Cause I couldn’t say it
Love me
Love me like the nightingale
That sings out in the heather
Love me like the last day’s here
and there’s no more tomorrow
left for us to be together
This chance will go away
And silence rules the day
So won’t you take me now
Like it was always meant to be
Now and forever
Love me
Now and forever
Love me
