Song Club #26: Letting Love In

On writing songs about our heart's journey to trust & openness

The song ‘Andromeda’ by Weyes Blood came on my shuffle earlier this week. It’s a beautiful and skillfully crafted song that follows a protagonist, hopeless and closed to meaningful relationships, as they slowly open their heart. It starts with these playfully self-piteous lines: 

Andromeda's a big, wide open galaxy
Nothing in it for me except a heart that's lazy

This is followed by clear declaration in the chorus:

Stop calling
It's time to let me be
If you think you can save me
I'd dare you to try

The lyrics in this section change cleverly throughout the song as its protagonist becomes increasingly open to letting love in: 

Love is calling
It's time to let it through
Find a love that will make you
I dare you try

There are thousands upon thousands of songs about letting love in: songs where the broken-hearted and perpetually lonely find someone to love who loves them back. Makes sense. It’s a profound human experience to think you’re incapable of feeling something, then suddenly finding yourself feeling that same thing, bigger than ever. It can be life-changing. So, this week in our writing, let’s explore letting love in and all that surrounds it.

Big love and keep going, 

Lucy 

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SONG PROVOCATIONS

Write a song where the chorus shifts to reveal the changing emotional state of the protagonist 

Experiment with an opening or closing line that stays the same while the other lines move, giving the repeating line new meaning each repetition. It might help to plot how you want the emotion to shift. Does your song start with someone feeling lonely and end with them feeling met? Is it the other way round? Can it maybe move in both directions?