Take variety

Put it on your ring finger

Take the comfort of your mother's wedding ring

Real love is better

 

Take the algebra

Take the alphabet

Take computers and what hasn't happened yet

Real love is better

 

Take a year off

Bring me for the ride

See the Northern Lights

See continents collide

Real love is better

 

———

 

At the start of the new year, I made a goal to write 4 new songs in January. Today, I wrote a song using an instrument I’ve never played before — the mandolin. I bought the mandolin recently at a rummage sale but hadn’t gotten the chance to learn anything on it other than the tuning of the strings. I googled mandolin chord shapes and found A, D, and E (I IV V, old reliable). I learned the shapes and improvised the song using those chords.

 

The phrase “real love is better” popped into my head. I had already been thinking about love this morning so the rest of the lyrics kind of came out very naturally. That doesn’t usually happen for me when I’m writing a new song. Lyrics are usually a labor and sometimes a real challenge. It felt cathartic and freeing to experience that. Maybe I’ll do something with this song… it’s still stuck in my head!