PHIL AND SHAWN'S WEDDING CD
A NOTE FROM PHIL AND SHAWN
We have loved Cassie's music for years and when we decided to get married, we couldn't imagine not having her perform at our reception, so we set out to recruit her for the job! A few months before the wedding we met her in the city for dinner and asked her if she would entertain the idea of writing something specifically for our wedding, and she graciously accepted ( thank God! imagine the embarrassment if she said no, awkward dinner conversation! )
Our idea was to try and have her create a song that captured the essence of our union that we could dance our first dance to, no easy task, so we proceeded to bombard her with all the details of our dating history, from our chance meeting on match.com and early adventures together up to where we are now. To further flesh things out, Cassie asked us to send her a short list of some of our favorite songs to help with inspiration and styling. And finally,we were sent a short list of specific questions about our feelings towards each other and our relationship that we were meant to answer individually and send back to her separately. The details in those answers really gave the song its heart, and helped to capture our history and feelings towards each other perfectly. The end result was pure magic. Cassie really understood what we were looking for, and wrote a memorable heartfelt tribute to us. We couldn't be happier.
A NOTE FROM THE SONGWRITER
I have known Phil and Shawn for about 7 years. I initially met Phil, through his great friend (and maid of honor!) Brooke. The thing about Phil and Shawn that strikes me the most is their utter comfort with each other, and their passion and love for each other is so natural. It looks so easy. It looks magical.
When Phil and Shawn asked if I would write their wedding song, I was so excited that I’d get to dramatize and romanticize even further the passion and magic in their relationship. I knew that the pair often attended theatrical shows, and of course that Phil had a lot of theatre and singing in his background, and I knew that they appreciated music and works of art that were intelligent, that told a great story, that had some musical depth to them. Although I was prepared to write whatever type of song they asked for, I sort of knew it would turn out to be an emotional ballad from the very beginning.
On September 9, I asked each of them individually to answer these questions:
1. What is it about Phil/Shawn that makes you want to be with him and only him? What sets him apart from everyone else you could have chosen?
2. What are you most looking forward to in your lives together, short term or longer term?
3. What's the one thing you want to say to him that you feel like you could never say cuz it's just too cheesy or cliche, or you worry about how he'd take it?
I also asked the couple to choose a few love songs they really loved to help guide me musically to write something that they would love. I took the answers to their questions, and the songs they sent, and mulled them over, just let them simmer for a few weeks. When I finally sat down to write the lyrics, I wanted to capture the starkness and simplicity of the moment when you realize you’ve found the one- and the weight of the combined love, relief, joy, fear and trepidation (of ever losing that person, of what it will be like to commit…)… the moment when you realize, “I don’t have to look anymore.” To me, those moments often hit during “right brain” activities, like driving a car. You’re on your way home, and suddenly, WHAM, it hits you- you get the answer to a question you’ve been pondering, or you suddenly know what to get Dad for Christmas, or you realize “Oh my God, I am going to marry the love of my life.” Not that it happened like that in Phil or Shawn’s story, but like I said, as the songwriter, I get the liberty of dramatizing and romanticizing ;-) So, that’s how I began with “On my way home today…”
Much of the song is directly from Phil and Shawn’s story- meeting in January, walking along after their first date just silently holding hands, the many mis-steps they had before they found each other, feeling like they had to hide a part of themselves from previous partners, the laughter in their relationship, and of course, the travel metaphor winding its way through the whole song. Oh, and 47th and 9th, which is the site of one of the Pam’s restaurants they frequent, with or without a band of silly friends in tow!
I made the bridge a 5/4 section because I know how Phil and Shawn love singer/songwriters, and often very percussive and “intelligent” ones like October Project and Noa and Girlyman. I also felt like it added a little sturm und drang to the middle section, before it sweeps back into the easy sway of 6/8.
I was so nervous, as I always am, when I sent the demo over to the couple, and was thrilled, as I always am, when they loved the song. The recordings you hear were produced in New Rochelle, with my team at Kalehoff Productions, and we’re talking about releasing “On My Way Home” on iTunes, so who knows? Maybe it’ll be a worldwide hit!
In any case, it’s a huge and wonderful privilege to be invited to contribute to Phil and Shawn’s history like this. I hope that, in 40 years, they are riding in the car on another adventure, or rocking by the fire on another Winter retreat in Vermont, and they are still blasting it from the stereo, or humming it as they fall asleep. My mission as a songwriter is to provide the soundtrack to people’s lives, as the music I love has “scored” my life and indelibly marked so many time periods, relationships, or moments. I hope that when all of you hear this song, you are taken back to Chittenden and the exuberance and love in the room when Phil and Shawn danced their first dance.
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