Robert Young

You never know when it comes to writing. Words appear in your mind, some stick, and no matter what you do, you can’t get rid of them. So, you write them down, hoping that will ease the burden these words have imposed.

I’ve had certain words and phrases hanging around for a couple years. When I finally started writing them down, it became clear their presence would not be in the form of a essay or article or short story or screenplay, but in the form of a poem. The more I worked on them, the more it seemed they could be lyrics for a song. Hmm.

The little I know about music is best summed up as: I really don’t know much about music. A few chords, a couple songs, a little bit of rhythm. But I like music, especially blues and rock. And I could picture the words I wrote being sung in one of these genres, most likely blues.

It was apparent that if I ever wanted to see these words put into music, I’d need help. I thought about who these words might fit, and could sing them. It didn’t take long to come up with the name of Eric Burdon, whose music I have enjoyed since the 1960s. I’ve watched him perform on many occasions and even had a chance to meet and interview him for an article I was writing. By looking at Eric’s CDs, I learned that he wrote some of his music and collaborated with others. So, unaware of the ways of the profession, I sent a query to him, describing my lyrics and asking him if he’d like to supply the music part. I wasn’t optimistic about getting a response, so I wasn’t disappointed that I didn’t hear from him after a year.

Still, I wasn’t giving up either. I thought my words had value and that someone else might agree. So, I looked on some of Eric’s later CDs and noted the other people who write with him. When I narrowed the field down to my favorite songs, there was a common denominator: Terry Wilson. I did some research on Terry and was very impressed at his background and experiences.

When I contacted Terry with my idea, I heard back within a couple weeks. “Sure,” he said, “send along what you have. It sounds interesting.” Now that in itself would have been good for me, but it got better. When I sent the lyrics to him, he told me he would like to collaborate on the music. He also said that he was really busy with other projects, but he’d get to it when he could. He encouraged me to stay in touch.

Hey, no problem. I could do that. So, for the next six months I sent him an e-mail checking-in. His responses were polite and encouraging. The spring passed, then the summer. When I wrote to him in November, he said he was actually working on the song. And then on Thanksgiving (of all days!), he sent his first run at the song, or whatever you call a rough draft in music. I was blown away!

There they were, my words, being sung by a talented and respected musician. And the music, it was awesome! And it’s only the start, the first draft. What happens next, and where does this go? I have no idea. I just know how fortunate I feel, and grateful too, that Terry has seen the value in my words and is willing to spend some of his hectic life in helping develop them. You just never know…