It’s Only Love… Inspiration is everywhere [lyrics, image, story]

It's Only Love... Luna Jade ~ BeautySuspended.com

Inspirational funk…

It’s Only Love

words & music by Luna Jade

Standing there on the steps of time
(mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm)
Thinking it’s just a “do or die”
(oh, ohh, ohh, oh)
You ain’t needin’ no shock & awe
(mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm)
Child, that’s not what we’re living for

chorus:
Oh, it’s a lonely ride
’til you find
it inside
You know what I’m talking of,
it’s what we all need plenty of…
Oh, It’s Only Love

Love can weather the test of time
(mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm)
Put the reason back in your rhyme
(oh, ohh, ohh, oh)
Shine your heart like the stars above
(mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm)
Baby, all that we need is love.

chorus:
Oh, it’s a lonely ride
’til you find
it inside
You know what I’m talking of,
it’s what we all need plenty of…

You know, it’s a lonely ride
’til you find
it inside
Just shine like the stars above,
it’s what we all have plenty of…
Oh, It’s Only Love

Artist’s notes: Inspiration truly can come from anywhere.
This song had a very interesting start: it’s creation was inspired by a rhythm… the rhythm of my suitcase wheels as they rolled across a patterned sidewalk.

I was walking with a friend in front of a convention hall, on our way to an event we were attending. We had to walk the length of the building to get to where we were headed… a long enough walk to make carrying my gear for the event uncomfortable, so I used a small rolling carry-on bag. The bag had seen a lot of use and its wheels were a little wobbly and embarrassingly loud when rolling across all but the smoothest of surfaces. The concrete walkway in front of the hall had been designed with a series of ridges every few feet and each time my case rolled across them, the wheels loudly rattled a syncopated pattern that reminded me of the staccato hits of a funk horn riff. The rhythm was infectious and I started mimicking it as we walked; my friend laughed and chimed in.

As we walked on, we talked about songwriting and I told her how little things like this can inspire creation. She thought that was neat and wondered if I could write a song from this rhythm… so I did. By the time we got to our destination in the convention hall, I had crafted a melody from the sidewalk rhythm that became the verse (with response horn parts/vocalese… I’m a huge ToP fan – more inspirational seeds). That evening when we went back to our hotel room after the day’s events, I finished writing the chorus idea… creating the first version of the song melody. I sang the song into my iPhone recording app to capture it.

Fast forward to the present, a couple of years later: I was cleaning off my iPhone to free up some space and one of the song idea tracks I came across was this Funky Vox idea. I had forgotten about it for a while, but listening to it again left it rolling around in my brain. A couple of tweaks to the verse rhythm and chorus gave it more room to sing, which opened up the flood gates for lyric ideas. Rhythm and melody patterns have a way of suggesting lyric lines for me. I kept hearing “It’s Only Love” for the last line of my updated chorus melody. That felt right, so I built on it from there. I may tweak it some more, maybe add a bridge, massage the lyrics, etc… evolution and refinement continue.

I thought it would be interesting to note that the updated version of this song was written while I was working on the little inspirational oasis I’ve created on our patio. Filled with living green energy and good vibes, it truly has become a Space of Love and Inspiration.