Behind the Lyrics: Bedroom Musings and Only a Few Days

     I consistently sleep 8-10 hours a night, depending on the context of my life.  I have found that is pretty good for a busy college student.  Even though I value my sleep and rather early bedtime, my habit of songwriting precedes it.  It could be (and has been) midnight after a long day of writing papers, coaching basketball, and reading books, but if I come upon a song, then I must write it.  Mostly, it takes me a couple days to flesh out the melody and guitar parts while refining the lyrics; occasionally, the song is done in thirty minutes or so.  Most of my thoughts regarding my songs come in bed while I attempt to fall asleep, hence the name Bedroom Musings.  A very fitting title for a first album that was written during quarantine and recorded in a bedroom and bathroom.  I know that I will never be famous or make the top charts; that isn’t the goal.  But if I’m able to challenge even a few people and bless some others, my music will be considered a success.  I’m just happy to have a platform to share and create music.  I think we forget that our talents and gifts aren’t only for others.  Our talents and gifts can help us grow and challenge us.

 

               Only a Few Days was my first single.  It was not the first song I wrote, but I chose it as my single because it accurately portrays the hope I seek to find in times of isolation—it also was my mom’s favorite.  Genesis 29:20 states “So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her."  While reading scripture at night in my bedroom, I came upon this verse.  I have never been a huge fan of Jacob.  It always seemed like he was messing up and disobeying God (not to mention he lived in a polygamous relationship for the entirety of his married life).  But I found this verse to go deeper than just Jacob’s life.  The seven years he spends working for the one he loves were not easy, but yet they felt like only a few days once he began living with Rachel.  I have been single my whole life.  And while there is nothing wrong with that, it does become draining.  You see people around you get married.  You go to events by yourself and leave by yourself.  You even put yourself out there only to wish you had continued to hide under your shell.  You don’t get invited to couples events.  Third wheeling is only fun for so long.  You wish you had someone to be loyal to as you pause from reading your book.  Our world, and especially the church, has told us that we are more or less identified by our romantic relationships.  This is wrong, but it does not make being single any less easier.  I have been wrestling with these thoughts of loneliness since high school.  Only a Few Days is a way of me giving these thoughts to God while finding my identity in the person he has created me to be.  I have faith that God will provide, and when he does the time I spent in dark, all the years apart, will have only been a few days.  

I’ve lived long but I’m still young

Each passing day brings a new lump

But I can wait

The journals I’ve filled from all what could have beens

While thinking of what I should

But I still wait

When I finally hold your hand and sing

When I feel the gaze of your eyes

All the time apart, all the years in the dark

Will have been only a few days

I’ve thought of all the places we’d go

Maybe the ocean and definitely Chicago

I only imagine

I’ve thought of all the names of our kids

Cedric, Karen and definitely Liz

I can only imagine

Life isn’t bad now but I know you’re still out there

If time moves fast now then it will blow by

When we get to know one another

I don’t care what you look like I just want to know you

And make our few days count

It’s not as if happiness is only found in romantic relationships or marriage.  That’s one of the truths I try to hint at through the song.  I’m not lost without a girlfriend; I don’t need romantic love to feel joy.  But there is something special about the process of falling in love and getting married.  Time will surely fly then.  The relationships that last and flourish are those that are built upon a love deeper than physical infatuation.