Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Carmelita Street

Tash and I have never really made a big deal about Valentine's day. Flowers maybe, dinner every other year. We really should be more romantic! We did promise each other to make some sort of effort this year - and this is part of my effort.

An early acoustic version of this song was a birthday present for Tash's 26th birthday. She used to live on a cool little cul de sac called Carmelita Street. Creating the song was one of those rare and delightful occasions where a song presents itself from my sub conscious, whole and complete. I was walking over to her apartment one evening, and the first verse and chorus popped into my head; the second one arrived, just as complete, later in the night. The next day, I picked up my guitar (which happened to be tuned to dropped D tuning), and my fingers just picked out a little pattern which perfectly suited the lyrics (ah yes, only if it were so easy with every song...)
I recorded a rough version, just me and a guitar, and stuck it in her tape machine (anyone remember those), on the morning of her birthday. I made her cry! - and for once it was with happiness, as opposed to complete frustration and annoyance :)

I like the song - instead of being about the melodrama that precedes the death of a relationship, or the altered state of bliss that occurs at the start (standard love song fare), this is about the comfort and security that a good relationship brings. It's about that moment when you realise that you have moved beyond the initial heady romance, and you know that someone fits you like a comfortable piece of clothing, and makes you happy.

Click the link to play, right click and select "save" as to download.

Carmelita Street

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