Song 28/52: “I Should’ve Asked”
Lyrics:
Shirtless and worthless, I wipe off my mouth
And wonder what all of that work was about
I put on my clothes and head for the door
The head’s where your head’s at; you’re ready for more
But I don’t know why I did that
Or how I can give when you never give back
They say that a slut has no self-respect
But when I look back, I have just one regret:
I should’ve asked for what I needed
I should’ve drawn a line in the sand
And who knows if you would have succeeded
With your lips or your tongue or your hand
We can’t rewind time, can’t redo the past
But if I could go back, I know what I’d ask
I should’ve asked for what I needed
But maybe you’d never come back
Why are you trying to see me again?
I was excited, but that was back then
I thought our chemistry fizzled mid-date
You thought the evening went totally great
And I don’t know why I did that
A perfect performance – fake moans and fake laughs
They say that a slut sets the bar way too low
My bar is in hell now, and here’s how I know:
I should’ve asked for what I needed
I should’ve said, “Could I get a little help?”
I could’ve begged and I could’ve pleaded
But I want you to want it yourself
We can’t rewind time, can’t redo the past
But if I could go back, I know what I’d ask
I should’ve asked for what I needed
I’ve gotta get braver and fast
But what if you froze and then wrinkled your nose
And said, “How dare you think you deserve that?!”
What if you balked and were visibly shocked
Or just said, “No, I wouldn’t prefer that”?
Sure, it’ll be scary, and I should be wary
Of pressing how I have been pressed
But if you’re a giver, then you might consider
And maybe you’ll even say yes
You’ll say:
I’m glad you asked for what you needed
I’m glad you drew your line in the sand
And I’m glad that I clearly succeeded
With my mouth and my strap and my hand
You can’t rewind time, can’t go back where you’re from
But thank you for letting me make you come
I’m glad you asked for what you needed
It’s fun when we both have more fun
Songwriting diary:
The writing process for this was magical. One day I slathered on some sunscreen, walked down to the beach, staked out a lounge chair and took out my notebook to write some lyrics. I was staring out at the lake for a few minutes, trying to decide what I wanted to write about, my mind totally blank. But then this line seemed to appear in my head fully-formed: “Shirtless and worthless, I wipe off my mouth.” I wrote that down and then started pondering (as I often do when a seemingly random lyrical line comes to me) who would say this line and why. And the answer, it was quite clear to me, was “me, in my early twenties, after one of many unsatisfying Tinder hookups.”
I think those memories were already floating in the periphery of my consciousness that day because 1) my therapy session from the week before had largely been about my issues with sexual assertiveness, and 2) I had recently seen the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical A Strange Loop on Broadway and there’s a song in that where our hero says, after a disappointing and scary hookup with dubious consent, “Why did I do that?/ What did that do for me?/ What a performance/ Where are my boundaries?” I cried a lot when I heard those lines because they resonated so strongly for me.
I wrote the entire lyric of this song at the beach, and made a windswept little recording on my phone where seagulls chirped in the background as I sang the melody I heard in my head for the chorus. Then I packed up, walked home, sat down at my piano and started trying to figure out all the chords I was hearing and nail down the melodies.
The line “Why are you trying to see me again?” was originally followed up with “This always happens with desperate men,” but ultimately I decided that was unnecessarily mean and not really what I was trying to say there. The first and last choruses originally said that my paramour could please me with “your mouth or your toy or your hand,” but that kept landing weird for me so I changed it; it was my spouse who suggested “strap” for that line in the last chorus because of its dual meaning (strap-on/spanking strap).
The last line felt important to get right. I tried a few different options: “I hope that you’re not one-and-done,” “I hope that you don’t think we’re done,” “Next time let’s do it again.” But the option that felt the closest to what I wanted to say was what I went with: “It’s fun when we both have more fun.”
Song 29/52: “Celia”
Lyrics:
Celia says that she’s tired of waiting
For me to come out and let go
I wish we could tell the whole world that we’re dating
I’m not sure I want them to know
Celia says that she knows why I’m nervous
Celia’s fearless and good
Celia’s living with power and purpose
Just like I wish that I could
Every time I think I can do it
Something whispers “Why even try?”
I swear I never mean to put her through it
But if you ever see her cry
I’m the reason why
Celia says that the times are a-changin’
And soon we’ll have rights like the rest
While they’re out rioting, I am arranging
The roses and pens on my desk
Celia says that there’s nothing to live for
If we don’t live life like we like
Celia’s dragging her bag out the back door
Celia’s leaving tonight
And even as I wish I could stop her
Something whispers “Why even try?”
I got a lot of shots, but I lost her
And if you ever see her cry
I’m the reason why
Celia’s having adventures without me
She should’ve been my wife
Guess that she’s probably not thinking about me
Celia’s gone from my life
And even though I say I don’t miss her
The truth is that I’m barely getting by
And every day I wish that I could kiss her
So if you ever see me cry
Or see her with some guy
I’m the reason why
Tell her I said bye
Songwriting diary:
I recently read the wonderful novel The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and this song was directly inspired by some of what happens in that novel. I won’t say more, lest I give too many spoilers!
I literally don’t even remember the writing process of this because it flowed out of me while I was in a trance-like flow state, as sometimes happens. But I had fun putting together the R&B-inspired musical arrangement for it, which allowed the song to make way more sense sonically than it did when it was just me and a ukulele.
Song 30/52: “Mr. Mean”
Lyrics:
Each day at work, I sit and pray
That when I get back home today
I won’t be face-to-face with Mr. Mean
Thought I knew the real you
And now I don’t know what to do
When did you turn into Mr. Mean?
You love me when I’m needy
You love me when I shrink
You hate when I get angry
Or when I dare to think
Your rage is like a fire, and I guess I’m gasoline
It feels like it’s my fault you’re Mr. Mean
I used to count the hours until
I’d see your face, and now I still
Watch the clock and wait for Mr. Mean
You lured me in and got me hooked
There was a lot I overlooked
Until I was in bed with Mr. Mean
You used to love my body, used to kiss every freckle
I’m waking up with Hyde when I went to bed with Jekyll
You need to clean your act up, Mr. Mean
You love me when I’m tragic
You love me when I’m weak
You hate when I get angry
Or when I dare to speak
I’m not your little dolly and I’m not your troubled teen
And now I think I’m done with Mr. Mean
I’m off to find another who will treat me like a queen
And now I’m finally done with Mr. Mean
Songwriting diary:
I pulled some tarot cards to inspire a song, and they were the Five of Wands and the Two of Cups. This is quite a striking duality because the Five of Wands is all about conflict and disagreement, while the Two of Cups is about love and partnership. It immediately reminded me of the Betti song “Ordinary,” one of my favorite songs, which is about a tumultuous relationship between partners who are constantly arguing. I decided I wanted to write something on the same theme, in a similar style (“Ordinary” sounds like a classic midcentury jazz-lounge standard, the likes of which someone like Ella Fitzgerald or Billie Holiday might have sung).
I sat at my desk and just sort of quieted my mind and listened for anything that was coming up and might work well in a song. The words “Mr. Mean” came to me. This was especially strange because I hadn’t even seen those Mr./Miss/Mx. memes that started to go around shortly thereafter (although I did read some of those books as a kid, so maybe they were in there somewhere).
I wrote a complete lyric for the song, without playing an instrument, and then tried to take the melody I was hearing in my head and translate it to chords that could be played underneath it. It took a few rounds of lyrical and melodic edits to get the song done and it turned out exactly how I was hoping it would!
Song 31/52: “Hasn’t Happened Yet”
Lyrics:
Love is hard – yes, this I know
All my friends think I’m too slow
But what they forget
Is: it just hasn’t happened yet
Love’s a hidden pot of gold
At the end of the rainbow
And I could make the trek
But it just hasn’t happened yet
I’m not exaggerating
It’s been devastating
When everybody’s dating
And I’m still here, just waiting and waiting
Love can’t really be that great
If it makes me wait and wait
And I’m a bit perplexed
That it hasn’t happened yet
Love is really overhyped
Sorry, but you know I’m right
And I’m not that upset
That it hasn’t happened yet
Why am I still debating
When I should be mating?
It’s so frustrating
That I’m still here, just waiting and waiting
Am I right or am I wrong
That someday love will come along?
On the world wide internet
Or on a mountain in Tibet
Or on a private jumbo jet
It just hasn’t happened yet
Songwriting diary:
This was another one inspired by tarot cards. I pulled the Nine of Pentacles and the Ace of Cups. The former is about abundance, living in luxury and self-sufficiency, while the latter is about (among other things) new love. Those two ideas paired together made me think about what it would mean to be abundant in love – i.e. to finally be in the exact sort of happy, fulfilling relationship you’d always dreamed of – and then also what it would mean to be the opposite, to be bereft of love or to have never even experienced it.
I wrote a full set of lyrics which was pretty close to what ended up being the final ones – there were just a few tweaks. I made a recording of the melody I heard in my head to accompany those words, but the melody I ended up with was totally different than that first one I’d tried out. I’m always listening to and reading interviews with various different songwriters these days to inspire me, and a theme that’s come up in a lot of them lately is: don’t necessarily go with the first melody that comes to you. Try a few things out first. So I did, and found something that worked a lot better.