2012 IN REVIEW - CD3

I am always especially fond of new songs and thus this is the batch of songs that currently receives this extra affection. Inevitably my feelings about some of them change over time, but that is for another day :) Only three out of the thirteen songs included on this CD are yet to be debuted in my shows in, SecondLife. 
I was pleased with what began to flow when this songwriting burst began in mid September so I worked hard to capture as many songs as I could before I ran out of inspiration and energy. Which I did, but not before completing a group of songs I am very fond of.

Unexpected
Jasmine
Innocence
Photographs
Pretty Boy
Will You Be
Afterglow
The Garden
Charon's Moon
The Hourglass
Connecticut
Many McLean
Only Yesterday

When I had almost finished writing, Innocence I knew that there was so much more that could be written about this story than would fit into one song. I decided instead to write a separate song, Jasmine to tell more of the story that came before, Innocence. At the same time Experiment and I had been discussing an unnamed song (became, Unexpected) we had begun in mid-2011 but not finished. We hadn't finished it because we felt that the imagery we had used in the lyrics was somehow incomplete and we weren't sure how to solve the problem. However in the context of, Innocence and Jasmine we came to see that it made the ideal first song of what is now a trilogy of songs telling the one love story. Love found unexpectedly in an exotic location, Mandalay!
Photographs followed quickly. A simple idea that took much trial and error to come up with the best set of images to use. When so many lyrics are considered and rejected I am always left with the feeling that maybe we didn't choose all the best ones for the final song. Nonetheless I am very happy with how this song turned out.
Pretty Boy followed with a  tongue in cheek look at where I might be in twelve months time. I haven't sung it in SL yet because it hasn't fitted into the type of shows I have mostly been doing these last few months. The Hourglass almost had the same fate until I debuted it just in the last fortnight. This is a song about, disappointment but I mostly like it because of the overall feel of the song. I will sing it more when I fit it in around complementary songs.
An interesting challenge came next through a wonderful set of lyrics called, Charon's Moon written by, Experiment. This song completed another trilogy, The  Crescent Moon and Raven Moon preceding. I think the feel of the music is right for the intensity of the lyrics. The story woven through the lyrics of these three songs by, Experiment is quite a journey.
Just as the clarity of this wave of songwriting was coming to an end, Connecticut and Mandy McLean fought their way out. I call these two my bonus songs because they could almost have escaped my attention. Connecticut about what thoughts there are when your heart dwells on someone and places from long ago, and Mandy McLean, a tribute to every boy's first girlfriend :)
Only Yesterday was a song commenced in January 2011 and finally completed in December 2012. I returned to the song because it had used some of the same harmony ideas as are used in, Unexpected. I am glad i returned to it. Lyrically it follows a path I have taken in a number of other songs - reflecting on hurtful events in the past and now seeing them in a bigger and sweeter light.
I cannot go past the tale of an unexpected encounter with love to be the name of this album. Innocence.
Thank you for reading and listening. If it were not for you so many of these songs would never have had a reason to be written. I am so glad they were.
Hugs
Bright