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Below is my vocal for my latest song, “In Every Smile.” The arrangement is so beautiful, that I am sharing it also.
IN EVERY SMILE-2/20/15 Copyright 2015 by Judy Unger
IN EVERY SMILE Arrangement-Copyright 2015 by Judy Unger
From the time I was young, I have always loved to smile.
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SEE ME IN EVERY SMILE
Copyright 2015 by Judy Unger
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One day I’ll be gone, but love cannot leave
I’ll be right there beside you, can you believe?
if you’re crying ‘cause you miss me
and feel you’ve lost your way
You know what I’d say . . .
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See me in every smile; it’s okay to cry awhile
But smiling can lift you up
Feel me with love you share; in your heart I’m there
I’m not really gone when my love lives on
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Remember the warmth, your heart next to mine
I’ll still be hugging you in warm sunshine
When storm clouds overtake you
and everything seems gray
You know what I’d say . . .
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See me in every smile; it’s okay to cry awhile
But laughter can lift you up
Feel me with every touch; I loved you so much
I’m not really gone when my love lives on
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You might be scared and think you’re alone
Let my light surround you, the love you’ve known
From the moment I first held you until I had to go,
I hope you know
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See me in every smile; it’s okay to cry awhile
But my love can lift you up
Feel me with love you share; in your heart I’m there
I’m not really gone when my love lives on
When my love lives on
Music captivates me. Except for times of great emotional upheaval – I usually don’t feel like writing lyrics. But when music and melodies grab my heart, I become inspired to find the words that will express my feelings and bring a song to life.
Finding those words can be very challenging. Yet when it comes together for me, the experience is glorious and unlike anything else in my life. I’m actually dancing with joy at those times.
These are lyrics in progress – not ones that I actually used.
When I am not composing a new song, I continue to arrange older songs. “I’ve Always Cared” was my last song arrangement and for that song story I shared how my old boyfriend, Sam and I reconnected because of my blog. I had written that particular song long ago when we were dating.
But there was also another story of reconnecting related to him. Sam helped me find an old friend of mine named Carol. They were once engaged to each other (they did not marry) and I lost touch with both of them after that.
Below are links to those stories:
#153 WE’LL STILL FEEL THIS LOVE
#154 HOPING I’LL SEE YOU AGAIN, PART 1
#155 HOPING I’LL SEE YOU AGAIN, PART 2
Well, after I wrote about “I’ve Always Cared,” each of them left comments on that post. It gave me goose bumps!
For fun, I’m sharing some big smiles with Carol – when we were 19 and after we reconnected four years ago.
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Just last week, Carol and I walked around a beautiful park near her house. I brought my guitar along and was excited to share my newest song with her. I also knew it was a great opportunity for me to ask her some lyric questions.
Every single word makes a difference when I sing one of my songs. I have a lot of choices and usually my lyrics evolve slowly over time.
When I took lessons with Peaches Chrenko several years ago, she had wonderful lyric advice for me. She always told me, “It’s very cool when you’re able to get rid of those unnecessary words – like ands and buts.” I’ve never forgotten that.
Carol was especially brilliant. A few years ago she helped me with my song “Alabaster Seashell” and I continue to thank her for her input. I originally wrote a lyric line of: “That seashell once was a living thing.”
Carol suggested instead that I say: “That seashell once held a living thing.”
Her suggestion definitely made a lot more sense since the creature inside was more of a living thing than the hard shell exterior.
Carol and I enjoyed our lovely picnic lunch and afterwards I sang my new song for her. I was hoping she’d help me find a name for it.
I was certain I wanted to use the word “smile” in the song title. I had two choices but neither one grabbed me. They were “See Me in Every Smile” or “Every Smile.”
In a heartbeat Carol said, “IN Every Smile.”
That was it! I was exploding with excitement. How could a single word like “in” make such a difference? But it did!
I let her know I’d think of her every time I sang “In Every Smile.”
I had many choices for my first verse and ended up going with the version above. But the last line wasn’t set. I couldn’t decide between “If you believe” or “When you believe.”
“If you believe” sounded very judgmental, like I’d only be there if there was faith. And so was “when you believe.”
But with the question of “can you believe?” the words suddenly became magical because I wasn’t imposing. Now the line was more of a suggestion, which I found far more touching to sing.
With these words, I imagine myself holding one of my babies against my chest.
WRITTEN TWO WEEKS AGO:
I didn’t feel well and barely ventured out of my house for over a week. My eyes were the worst part. I could barely open them and everything looked foggy and gray. My “mild flu” was definitely no picnic.
But it wasn’t really that terrible because my heart was exploding with the birth of a new song. The music was absolutely gorgeous and I allowed it to softly wrap around me.
I hummed the evolving melody and strummed the chords whenever I could. I wished I knew what to name my beautiful new song. I did write some lyrics for it but my first ones did not really express what I wanted to say. My song was incomplete.
I knew eventually I’d find the special words that would make my song soar. From experience, I’ve discovered that touching lyrics cannot be forced; they often happen when I least expect it. Nothing inspired me; I was sick and couldn’t even type with a pounding headache. I decided to just give in and lay down on my bed.
It was the same bed my parents once slept on and was of a very good quality; it comforted me and I felt their love close to my heart. When I first moved in, I was sure I’d replace it. I slept at the edge and didn’t need such a large bed in my small bedroom.
Then it occurred to me that I actually loved this bed. It was a perfect place for each one of my large children to hang out with me when I was sitting at my computer nearby. They would come into my bedroom, lie on it and spread out. And if I were on my bed, sometimes they would lay down next to me just like when they were little.
This past year, I was blessed with wonderful income as an illustrator. I decided to splurge on my children and a month ago I purchased new queen-sized beds for all three of them. Each child said to me, “Mom, we hope it’s just like yours.” I ended up getting my sons firmer beds – they were large men and it made more sense. I was relieved when they told me, “It’s pretty firm, but we’ll get used to it. Thanks, Mom!”
I hoped my cold would let up so I could sing again soon. I smiled picturing my kids in their new beds; I felt better just thinking about them. Then I closed my eyes and could hear my new song’s melody playing in my mind. The music was so sweet that I found myself crying.
After a few moments, I sniffled and realized I felt better. My tears had softened my sadness. And then the words came into my mind!
“It’s okay to cry awhile . . .”
I was so excited! The first line of my chorus was: “See me in every smile.” I liked that line a lot but hadn’t been able to rhyme anything with smile in a comfortable way. I couldn’t commit to that first line unless I had a second line that worked.
“It’s okay to cry awhile” conveyed exactly what I wanted. At that moment, I was elated because my song was almost finished!
I believe that crying is not only okay – it’s very healthy. I learned the hard way because for years I suppressed all of my feelings – I was emotionally deadened and considered my life to be “Zombieland.”
The most amazing part about my song was that I wrote it for my children – but when I sang it, I could feel my parents and even Jason hugging me with every word!
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My parents were completely devoted to my children and me. I treasure every picture with them and sometimes find it hard to believe they are gone.
These are my first lyrics where I hadn’t found “It’s okay to cry awhile” yet. I did not like rhyming “smile” with “trial”.
Creating a will and outlining medical directives was a way for me to make things easier for my children if anything drastic happened to me. Even though my kids are adults now, I am still very involved in their lives.
I live with my two sons (ages 18 and 24) and my 21-year-old daughter moved out a year ago. For a brief time in 2013, I had all three of them living with me in my two bedroom apartment. I had just separated from a long marriage at that time and both my sons slept in the living room. Our former home was huge and had four bathrooms. It was quite an adjustment for them to deal with having a single bathroom.
But I love my cottage/castle!
My daughter lives with roommates in an apartment nearby and we see each other frequently. Two weeks ago, she called me in the middle of the night.
When I’m jerked awake, memories come flooding back. It would be an understatement to mention that I was frequently woken up at night all through the years when my children were growing up.
My heart pounded with fear when I heard her quivering voice; she was chattering from a high fever. The first thing I did, was ask her if she had a pain reliever in her apartment. She wasn’t sure but promised she’d find one. Then I gave her instructions to take a bath.
The next morning, she came over to my house. I made her tea and she shivered under the covers in my bed. I had an illustration assignment to work on and it was one of those times where I was glad I worked in my bedroom.
In the evening, her fever came back. I drove her to the doctor to check for strep throat and thankfully, it was negative. We came home and my daughter told me she was able to drive home.
The next morning, I sent her a text to see how she was feeling. She replied: “Mom, I’m doing much better. I started feeling a fever coming on – but I took a bath and some Tylenol. So now I’m fine!”
That gave me a big smile. Even though she’s 21, she understood now about the benefits of taking a pain reliever and a bath whenever she had fever.
I love these big smiles of my daughter and I in this picture that was taken 6 months ago. My daughter took a selfie of us!
I wished I could have smiled a little longer. The very next day, my 18-year-old son also became ill. He woke me up from a sound sleep to tell me, “Mom, my temperature is almost 105!”
He went into the bathtub quickly and took a pain reliever while I spoke to a nurse on an advice line. So once again, I was back at the same hospital with my son. He looked so miserable and the doctor told me he was almost certain that both my son and daughter had influenza.
The doctor prescribed Tamiflu for my son but wanted to wait for the results of a swab test he did before prescribing it for me as a preventative.
On the way home, my son threw up in my car. He had just taken his first capsule of Tamiflu. I held my breath as I drove. He peeled off his clothes and threw them in the backyard when we came home.
Now my supermom veneer was starting to crack. My heart was pounding – it was a little hard to swallow. Could I be getting influenza?
That evening the doctor called. My son had tested positive for the flu; He recommended I start taking my son’s Tamiflu until I picked up my own prescription.
I began taking the medicine – my stomach was queasy and my body was in the throes of resisting the virus. I cancelled all of my plans and did very little for an entire week. I ended up with a terrible cold, but the classic flu symptoms such as an extremely high fever never materialized. I had dodged a bullet.
My son was still very sick the rest of that week. I told him, “Now that I’m sick, I can’t really take care of you the way I did before that.”
He replied, “Mom, I’m so sorry I gave this to you! But don’t worry – I can take Tylenol and a bath whenever I feel feverish. So you don’t need to do anything. Can I make you some tea?”
So this past week two of my children learned the same lesson, even though they aren’t young children.
Whenever I can make a difference in their lives – it is like “living on.”
And that comes from a place of deep love.
Those lessons will always be there to remind them of my love, even when I’m not.
This picture definitely conveys warm sunshine for me.
These pictures were taken at the Kulak’s Woodshed Open Mic about two months ago. Lately, I have not been up to performing, but hope I’ll be able to soon.
