Man, it’s been a while since I’ve posted here. A lot of time ticked by and a lot of songs under the bridge… ahem, little guitar joke there.
Anyway, I started this song a week and a half ago with a groove I had clamped down on the bench. I wrote it over a couple days when I had time. It’s been laying around here until I got a chance to slap down a dirt roads version of it.
I decided to write this one out loud, if anyone is interested. That means you’re witnessing my changes and etc. as I go along.
What to say about it?
As I got to messing with the groove, it just felt like a driving song about a young guy with the attitude, “no one is ever going to tie me down.”
While that may be the case for a few, it’s not for the rest of us, and somehow we’re all perfectly happy with it. This song actually went through 3 or 4 title changes. In fact, the song started out about a lady feeling bad about her sweetie’s old high-school jacket getting eaten up by moths. It was an interesting concept and I had a verse and chorus written. It wasn’t bad, but it just felt wrong for this song, so I scrapped it.
That’s the thing about songwriting. You got to be willing to slay those ideas. Oh, it’s there if I ever want to go back, but I like the direction I took once I stuffed the jacket idea in the glove box of the song’s journey.
The title came to me from a line in a John Legend song, All of Me.
“My head’s under water but I’m breathin’ fine.”
I thought, dang, I like that. So began to work around the idea of this kid feeling like getting tied down would suffocate him or stop his breathing, you know, kill him.
But as second verses would have it, you have to go someplace with it, so I turned verse one on it’s ear, then outward into the universe in the bridge. Does it work? You decide. Lyrics below player.
One note. There are changes in the works. Ditching the “slamming” bass. Also making it clearer who said what. No, the kid in the song did not say “screw that” to his mom. See what happens if you get too much in your own head when writing? A couple other changes too. Just hadn’t gotten to them yet. When I do, I’ll post them.
Still Breathing Fine
I remember it well
Eighteen and cocky as hell-yeah-yeah
When my old man
Turned down our showdown slamming bass
Well Mom’s got a couple of odd jobs for me out back
Th’ew the cooler in my truck looked up and said “screw that…”
Chorus:
Man that’s one cold day
When a woman tries to tame this stray, and I
Think I’d turn blue and die
Funny how choices change
When someone comes to shake that stage of life
Thank God I’d chosen right
And still breathing fine
He’s doing well
43 and cocky as hell yeah-yeah
My old man
Rolled in with a thing for those old Bass
Well dad my bad but I promised the day to Beth
He gave in to a crappy grin and faked a blue-faced breath
[Repeat chorus]
Yeah I’m thinkin’ some kid’s fishin’
Somewhere out on some lake
Hearin’ voices, feelin’ choices
To keep fishing or cut bait
[Repeat chorus]
Man, that’s one cool day
When we’re in that boat with a choice to make and I
Thank God I’d chosen right
And still breathin’ fine
And still breathin’ fine
©2023 Brad Dunsé, ASCAP