Behind the Song: Saying Baby
With Saying Baby being released this week, I wanted to write a blog about the experience that was creating this song. this blog contains start to finish the journey of the song. If you are interested in hearing the finished product, it is streaming on all platforms. Also check out the Spotify playlist below.
Saying Baby was my third song to write start to finish and really feel like it was what we could call a song. I called it the summer of songwriting, but really, it was the first summer where my step kids had moved out of the house and my son had officially turned into a teenager who didn't want to do things with mom anymore. I did what I do best, and filled up my summer with focusing on a hobby. That's why that summer was the summer of songwriting.
Each morning, I would wake up, walk and listen to a creative meditation. Then I would split my time between chores, lounging on the deck and getting some sunrays, or just sitting in my studio room to focus on writing. That's where the magic seemed to happen. The process where you open yourself up to listening to the quiet. Somehow in the quiet, that's where the music stands out to me the most.
The day that I wrote, "Saying Baby", I was on the porch soaking up the sun. Lunchtime hit, and I went to make a classic summertime staple. A loaded BLT. One thing my husband and I can agree on is when making food at home, to make it up to its full potential. With this sandwich, I loaded it with a home-grown tomato, a large portion of bacon, and hoagie sandwich bread. Though I pride myself in being an independent woman, I laughed when I handed the plate to my husband. Here I am saying baby and making sandwiches. The irony wasn't lost on me. After I ate, I went outside to continue my summer fun. It wasn't but ten minutes later that the hook started playing through my mind. Thirty minutes later, I was trying to find all my chords on the guitar. A month later, I was outperforming it at open mics.
One of my favorite aspects of this song besides the story behind it is its fifties sound. As I grew up, one of my major musical influences included the, "American Graffiti" soundtrack. It was one of the few vinyl's that my grandmother would let us play, and I made sure it had regular spins. To be able to write an ode to those times seemed fitting, and I am honored that it turned out to sound straight out of the fifties once finished.
As we went to record this song, my producer John and I were tracking the vocals, and he made the joke that we should add some doo wop to the background vocals. I didn't think it a joke, and that's exactly what we did. As we continued to listen, we decided a saxophone was needed to round out that fifties sound, and I think that is exactly what it did.
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