May is my birth month and also brings us the Flower Moon. As the saying goes, "April showers bring May flowers," or as the saying went before, "March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers," or as the saying now goes, "Analog Moon's song-a-moon album brings May Flowers."
The last time we did this serial-style album format we did a song per month. It was in 2017, and in May, as a gift to myself for my birthday, I cowrote a song with my two dear friends and bandmates, Josh Sullivan and Matt Gentling. We called it Mayday, and we all shared the duties of singing and playing instruments on the recording. It never made it into our regular live rotation, and in fact, we never actually played it together again. But I still go back and listen to it on occasion, and it means a lot to me.
For this album, I took a different approach for May and wrote and recorded a song by myself. If nothing else, it helped me realize how much I like working with my friends to make music and how much of a social and therapeutic exercise that is. But there's something to be said for spending time with yourself as well. And in songwriting and arranging, you get to stretch muscles that don't always get stretched. Things move more quickly, and you can be more accepting of some things and more critical of others. As it were, I procrastinated on this one and packed the whole activity into about half of a day, from concept to mix, so pardon the demo-esque nature of it. It's more evident in this one than even the others. But it grew quickly and bloomed, and in a day or two, I'll be on to the next. Don't be afraid of a flower.
lyrics
God, please look at my hands
They are open to you
Don't be afraid of a flower
Don't let it rule your life either
Pick just what you need
And pass it on to your lover
Don't be afraid of a flower
Don’t let the world go by you
See it for what it means to you
Follow when you lose your way
And lead when you can’t follow
Don’t let the world go by you
Don’t live another’s wonder
Find a journey just for you
Trust in solitude when you can
Until you find another
Then share your bed with your lover
And don’t be afraid of a flower
credits
from To Owe To One,
track released May 26, 2021
Todd Britton: guitars, vocals, percussion