This song is different from my usual tracks, because it was recorded with Siân White, a young singer currently living in London.

Some of you might remember one of my newsletters from about eight months ago, in which I said I was looking for singers to collaborate with. Well, Siân answered the call and once she moved to London earlier this year, we finally met and she came around to record this song.

I have to say, she was a natural and really impressed me. She had never recorded before and was naturally a bit nervous about it, but she had no reason to be as her first take was pretty good. She can sing, that’s for sure! What you are hearing on this song is her third take, without any editing.

The song itself came fairly easily, even though it was written over 2 periods. I started it in late March, with the melodic and lyrical idea for the ” mama said ‘don’t lose your cool’ ” line. Then the verses came pretty quickly but I couldn’t quite finish the chorus, so I left it off until August, when I finally managed to tackle the chorus.

Below, you can see the dates I actually wrote the song. As I said, most of it was spent on trying to finish off the chorus.

And below, you can see the different lyrics I went through before settling down for the current chorus lyrics. I also went through quite a lot of different melodies.

Once the chorus was written, I started recording the song and it was pretty easy, except that I felt my voice wasn’t carrying off the song well enough, which is why I asked Siân if she would like to sign it and she agreed.

Once I had recorded her vocals, I had to work on finishing up the instrumental part before the third verse because we both agreed it was pretty boring in the original version. But apart from that, it felt like the song was there, her vocals really made the song come alive.

Lyrics

(Verse 1)
I was walking down the river on my own
Someone behind me hit me with a large stone
Not sure if he was mad as he called me names
I was angry and scared, this was not a game
So I ran, and I ran
Catching my breath on the rocky steps
My heart is full, is full of hate

(Chorus)
Mama said ‘don’t lose your cool,
I know that you like to be wild,
But there is no use for bad mood,
You would see life is not so bad,
If you smiled’

(Verse 2)
I was laughing with my best friend late at night
Rocking in the garden lit by candle light
When my neighbour’s dogs jumped off their new fence
They bit my leg, I threw a chair in self defence
And we ran, and we ran
Catching my breath on the door step
My heart is full, is full of hate

(Chorus)
Mama said ‘don’t lose your cool,
I know that you like to be wild,
But there is no use for bad mood,
You would see life is not so bad,
If you smiled’

(Verse 3)
I was walking down the high street yesterday
Deep in my thoughts and disturbing nobody
A man asked me if I could tell him the time
So I said ’sure mate, it is half past nine’
And I smiled and I smiled
He looked at me with curious eyes
then laughed and gave me a high five

(Chorus)
Mama said ‘don’t lose your cool,
I know that you like to be wild,
But there is no use for bad mood,
You will see life is not so bad,
When you smile’

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