Here is the link to our song, “Anything Else.”

 

My brother Sam and I collaborated on the song that you just listened to. I initially wrote the lyrics, then he started working on the music, then he tossed in a few ideas regarding the lyrics and before it was over, we went line by line matching the lyrics with the music to make sure the song was exactly as we wanted it. I have never collaborated creatively on something as much as I have on this piece of music. We completed one other song before this one but it was more clearcut: I wrote the lyrics, he handled the music and we offered a small amount of input to each other in our respective areas. On this one, we truly worked hand-in-hand and it was wonderful to share that creative experience, particularly with my little brother.

For those of you who read my blog regularly, you may notice that the first rendition of the song is quite different from the finished product here. The chorus with the hook, which I included in a second blog post, is not too far from the original but includes some changes to show movement in the story. From a writer’s point-of-view, it was fascinating to watch the evolution of this song from start to finish. Initial images gave way to more refined ones and Sam and I discussed every change we made to make sure we both felt as if it was the right decision.

I hope you enjoy our effort. You will see that Sam brings sizable musical talent to this effort. He is, after all, a professional musician. He did the singing and also did all the music production.

Here are the lyrics:

Anything Else

Remember the time when we first met
Those were the words I can’t forget
Every pretty thing that you said
Playing like a melody in my head
Still in my head

But what you said and what you meant
Two crossroads into one dead end
You began swerving all over the lines
I still remember that look in your eyes
All that time
What was on your mind

You wanted…

Anything else
But the love that I could give
Anything else
But the life that we might live
I thought I might be enough
But you didn’t know how to love
Think I’ve had about enough of this
Anything else

Like a wildfire in a summer drought
We didn’t know but, honey, we found out
A little less like a summer rain
Whole lot more like a heartless flame
Like ashes falling down
You kept floating round town

You wanted…

Anything else
But the love I had to give
Anything else
But the life we could live
And I thought it might be enough
But you didn’t know how to love
Don’t you think we’ve both had enough of this
Anything else

Now it took a long time for me to see
I ain’t in love but I wanna be
Was that the sound of an outbound train
Somebody else maybe calling my name
And I wave goodbye

More than anything else
There’s a lotta love that I can give
Anything else
There’s a life I’m gonna live
Never gonna be enough
Maybe we didn’t know how to love
Ain’t we both had enough
I gotta a little too much love for
Anything else…

Written by Len Leatherwood and Sam Leatherwood