If I was stuck on a desert island, and could only take three things with me, those three things would be a guitar, paints, and a journal. If I could only take one thing, it would be my guitar. The thing that keeps me going in life is being able to express myself, and my guitar is not only the most natural way for me to do this, but is the one thing that has been there through all my travels, and all the experiences I’ve been through in life. It’s the one thing I’ve always been able to turn to with whatever I’m feeling, and get the same calming reaction.
My Grandma was a best friend, and one of the dearest people in my life and on the day she passed away I found myself with my guitar trying to make sense of what I was feeling-trying to grasp the loss, and trying to see the light in it. My Grandma always taught me that there was good in everything. To make light of such a great loss, I decided I was going to write an uplifting song as a tribute to her.
I wrote ‘Nana’ just to play at Grandma’s funeral. However, after receiving such a positive response to the song, I decided to record it for the family in London that couldn’t make the funeral, and for anyone else that has lost someone close, either a ‘Nana,’ or anyone. To remind them that that person is just lighting up another place….a place somewhere over the rainbow.
‘When I Dream’ I also wrote that same day. My Grandma was my favorite person to go to for advice, and I feel like her voice and wisdom are permanently within my thoughts. I wrote the song as a promise that I would still continue to “call†her for advice. I was listening to a demo recording of this song, and thought I heard her voice, so went back to some tapes I had made of her telling her life story, and those are where the voices between the verses came from.
‘Being Human’ is a long long story. But suffice it to say I left everything behind to travel around the world to find happiness. After almost a year of traveling however, I realized that I couldn't find happiness in some distant place. That the only place I can ever find it is where I am today.
Would love to hear what you think. Drop me a line!
Elliott
