Colleen: Patty sent me these lyrics on Day One. I have finally uploaded my recording….enjoy. I could easily replace the names of Jennie and Mary Ann with friends of my own!
Patty: I am thrilled with what Colleen did with these lyrics! I knew she could put all the emotion in the music and delivery that I was hoping for when I wrote the lyrics. I will enjoy this song forever! Thank you, Colleen!
We were best friends all through grade school
Brave explorers in the park
Built a fort down by the river
She was Lewis, I was Clark
Then her Daddy got a new job. First time I encountered fate.
I learned something about friendship I did not anticipate.
Chorus:
Friendship hurts (3x) if you do it right
Jennie stormed in like a SWAT team, we shared books, and boys and beer
Listening to her secrets was like looking in the mirror.
She stayed on to get her Master’s. I took a job out on the coast.
When I hear two girlfriends laughing, that’s when I miss her the most
Chorus
I’ve had coffee with Mary Ann twice a week for thirty years
We’v had every conversation about marriage and careers
She’s the kind of friend who gets me. It took us years to build his trust
She’s been gone about a month now and it’s hard to readjust.
Chorus
Bridge:
Dive in or hold back? You have to decide
‘Cause friendship hurts if you do it right
Chorus
@oswlek Mar 2022
Oh man, I didn't expect Mary Ann to die! The other relationships were tough enough, but that was a serious guy punch. Excellent real world drama here, and super relatable.
Colleen, was that your decision to triple up "friendship hurts"? If so, it was a brilliant "musician's tweak". (And if that's how you wrote it, Patty, it was outstanding writing to punctuate the hook). Great performance, it was easy to feel the emotion of the story.
I know FAWM isn't really the place for suggestions, but I wonder how it would sound if the bridge happened after the second chorus. I think the song would have a more satisfying shape and it would gave the Mary Ann stanza a brighter spotlight. Even more so if you took the music down a notch to give the words heightened importance.
Great stuff!
@edward9thstreet Feb 2022
It's always good to hear Patty's powerful lyrics set to good music. Lovely vocal and simple but compelling melody. I enjoyed that!
@natalie Feb 2022
Tears rolling down my cheeks. What more can I say that will express how powerfully this beautiful combination of storytelling and pristine vocals delivers its message? What a truly wonderful collaboration!
@klaus Feb 2022
Good title and I also like all the concrete details in the lyrics. Very well written. Music sounds uplifting and vocals have a lovely bright tone. The way "hurts" gets a high pitch emphasizes it but it also makes it sound almost happy. Like a smile through tears.
@jerrypettit Feb 2022
Had to listen this, based on the title. (I just uploaded a "friendship and pain"-themed songs myself--much different from this, though.
Lovely, lovely vocal--and really terrific lyrics. Great collaboration, you two!
@kcc Feb 2022
WoW! A lifetime in just a few lines. For me it Really captures all the emotions felt Throughout the years. Great lyric, a wonderful performance and production
@richaaaay Feb 2022
Lovely heartfelt lyrics delivered in a genuine and heartfelt manner. Really nice collaboration. Such a well told relatable tale.
@kahlo2013 Feb 2022
I absolutely love these lyrics and the wonderful details of so many special friendships. The sentiment is so true. Gorgeous song. Colleen’s music is magical as she brings this to life! I love this in so many ways.
@andrea Feb 2022
Goodness these are very emotional lyrics. I connected with the character immediately. The last chorus has me choked up and teary eyed. Superb writing with a heartfelt delivery by Colleen. A stunning collaboration. Off to grab a tissue.
@gwyn1234 Feb 2022
A really lovely collab with such relatable lyrics delivered so wonderfully...
@crisp1 Feb 2022
Love the way each verse is a different friendship at a different stage of life. These are such cool lyrics, Patty. And Colleen has done a wonderful job of turning them into a song. Really love the chorus and bridge but it's all great.
@ineloquentsd Feb 2022
Gods, what a beautiful tribute to friendship over the years. The images are specific and evocative, and the vocal performance packs a lot of emotion into those lyrics without edging over into melodrama. An excellent collab!
@n24 Feb 2022
Love the wisdom and sincerity in this track. The lyrics are so lovely, particularly love the vivid descriptions in the first verse about being brave explorers! Really tenderly executed in the vocals and the guitar, really lovely collab and super emotive!
@katestantonsings Feb 2022
Patty's lyrics never disappoint. I loved this one the first time I read it. You took a great lyric and made into a lovely heartfelt song, Colleen!!
@jessicamoon Feb 2022
lovely lyrics! I love how you build toward the end and tell us she is gone, that really got me and brought me back to the title, which originally grabbed me because I wondered what it meant. "She was lewis and I was clark" - one of my favorites! I loved how you went up on the word "hurts" - really impactful. "when I hear two girlfriends laughing..." that lyric really got me too. great song!
@carleybaer Feb 2022
What an accurate and honest depiction of friendship through the years. That last verse really got me, as I imagine my own good friends and how lost I would be without them. That’s the thing about love, right? It’s guaranteed heartache in the end, but so worth it in the meantime. Really nice collab, you two.