The phrase 'holding all the mirrors up' came to me while I was ill, just before FAWM. With Feb fast approaching I stashed it away, along with a few chords to encourage me to finish it. I didn't have time to record it until after February, and maybe that's due to a general feeling of not quite nailing what I was meant to be saying.
Mirrors are used a lot in plays and literature - relections, dual personalities, decisions, different paths, self love, self loathing. The list goes on in their uses. I was interested in who was holding the mirror and why. Were they looking at themselves or were they holding it up for someone else? Were they trying to get someone to see a truth or just look at something physical?
All of these are questions I didn't really answer. I'm not sure my heart was in it. I think by the third chorus I'm singing from the poont of view of the mirror. First chorus is the person holding the mirror, so maybe the second is the person looking in the mirror. It's all a bit of a mess.
I did like the line 'you left your breath on me' as a physical thing people do to mirrors when they clean marks off them with their breath. But then I'm not so keen on some of the shoehorned in phrase clumsily plopped into the bridge.
Musically I have been enjoying songs that just jump straight in this year, so it was good to start it with voice, although it's not the best I've ever sung. Probably could have done with some harmony to go into the chorus but I just couldn't get inspired to search for it!
I enjoy the guitar sound for the chorus and lead part, which ia made up of a mix of delay, reverb and phaser. Essentially it sounds like an e-bow, so maybe should have just used that in the first place :) I wanted to have a sorta spacey effect and make the drums a bit more interesting so added phasing to some of them at points... it works a bit I guess but not I could work on it some more.
All in all, not a failure, but I'm not as excited with this one as some of the others this year.
If you care, to stare
While I was holding all the mirrors up
Cursing my own stupid luck
If you care to share
Cos I’ve been piecing all the shards
We lost
Holding all the mirrors up
Holding all the mirrors up
So we can look inside
Oh madam I have needs
If only you could see
You left your breath on me
Through the smoke bet we agree
Staring back complete
If you stare for long enough
While I’m holding all the mirrors up
To check out what we might have won
And appears a clouded figure
Suggests I turn the mirrors back on me
Take a look and you’ll believe
Holding all the mirrors up
So I can look inside
Who is this standing here
Who is this we’ve become
You left your breath on me
Now staring back triumphantly
Br
I remember it as a colour
The image swept asunder
Lost and discovered
And I thought It was desilvered
It delivered a shiver
As I starred into the mirror
Reflecting back what I want to see
Oh the things that I have seen
Oh the places I have hung
You left your breath on me
And we’ve not even begun
Staring back complete
@chipwithrow Mar 2022
What a great song and yes, I like how you jump right into it! As soon as I started listening to this one, I knew I had to hear another of yours.
A dreamy song, with lots of cool treats in my headphones (backing vocals, guitar solo, etc.)!
@headfirstonly Mar 2022
Hmmm. Maybe take the idea of the clouded figure in the verse before the bridge and use the bridge to reveal it as a silver tongued stranger who is only showing you what you want to see?
Great backing track. Loving the deft use of the phaser.
@lyricslinger Mar 2022
Very well put together song. I love the guitar and percussion. And mirrors are a great inspiration for songwriting