glad.

i think i've mentioned already that, following a friend's advice, i've been exercising my songwriting skills recently with my dear friends natalie and cathi. the hope would be to one day sell these little gems, but in the meantime, stretching these creative muscles feels pretty good...and it has been a bit of stretch. the music market is largely dominated by songs written about and around romantic relationships...love songs, if you will. an interesting topic to write fluidly about for someone who has never, in fact, been in love per se. thankfully, i'm a girl, so this stuff seems to be born in me intrinsically (yes, i did just say that...no, i am not regressing into sexism).

in a recent session, natalie and i were discussing break-ups. i've never actually been broken up with (i was the breaker-upper in all two of my meaningless high school relationships), but i've seen A LOT of break-ups. the whole concept of "breaking up is hard to do" rings true for pretty much every break-up i've witnessed. i honestly don't understand why it is always so hard. i know that many times one person is really and truly more deeply invested than another, and i understand the tragedy there. but it seems like so many times a coupling is just very obviously not right...that the pair is simply forcing themselves to make it work because they do care about each other and they don't like being alone. but if being apart is better for one, isn't it better for both? i don't understand how splitting up can make one person go from loving to absolutely hating the other. that's a really weird and extreme reaction to me...all this regret, all this "wasted-time". if you loved them, how is that a waste? why does it have to mean nothing when it ends? but maybe i would react the same way. who knows? anyway, all that to say, natalie and i wrote a song about how we wish it could be for those in such situations.


glad goodbye

i wanted to tell you in some other way
it was supposed to be sweet and honest
but i couldn't find the words to say
i might have been mean
i might have been cold
i might have hurt you, but
what i really meant to tell you was

i don't regret one moment with you
it's hard to see you walk away
but it's the right thing to do
feeling love isn't something you choose
so even with tears in my eyes
this is a glad goodbye

just 'cause it's over doesn't mean it wasn't real
and i'll have these memories
this pain can never steal
so i'll let you go
i'll try to move on
darling, i'm grateful
this time healing will come easier because

i don't regret one moment with you
it's hard to see you walk away
but it's the right thing to do
feeling love isn't something you choose
so even with tears in my eyes
this is a glad goodbye
goodbye
darling goodbye
even with tears in my eyes
this is a glad goodbye

(c) 2009 paper strings music