“Poor Girl” - a song about hope
Recorded in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula along the Sturgeon River.
I also recorded a 360 video. I’m going to try and add those while recording videos in attractive outdoor settings. (Make sure to adjust the quality settings up, they default to crap).
Story Pairing
I’m by default a bit negative. I often see a situation and think of the ways it could be better. Gratitude doesn’t come second nature to me, and accepting an entry level of proficiency isn’t going to cut it. I like to get better at things, I like to keep moving, stagnation is a looming fear of mine. To me, being stuck in a place or ability is a slow way to die. Thoughts like that are like little ropes that I drag around from place to place. A lot of my songs are me cutting off one of those dirty ropes and tying them around a narrative where they can remind, but with less of a chance to get tangled.
In a song is where you can create the antithesis of a shortcoming or a thought of despair. I often create a character that helps contrast the negative that I like to dump into a tune. This is one of those songs, and probably the strongest example of it. The main character of the song is the force of nature that seems to absorb all of the bad things in an area and churns that energy back out in a positive form. Those are the lights on the dark horizon, the breath of air that sit’s on the surface waiting for us.
I’d challenge other writers to hold tight to those characters when they enter your stories. They are the anchors, the moments of change, the forks in the road. They let a linear path find a new twist.
In this song, she’s surrounded by death and despair and knows that she is the one keeping people alive. Her value is recognized by a traveler and he tries to lure her away, but she stays put. Knowing that the good she can do outweighs the fleeting moments of selfish pleasure. That solidifies her as a constant, and it’s known that she is there when you have nothing else.
You can’t help but feel a little sorry for someone that always puts themselves second, but without beacons like that a lot of us would be adrift.
Song Structure
Chords:
Verse - C / F / C / G / Am / F / C / G / C
Chorus - Am / F / C / G / Am / F / C / G / C
Voice Memos
No Notebook Page
Written in 2017
Lyrics
There she sits
To watch him die
Hang her head
And starts to cry
But the tears, won't stop the fall
That poor girl, watching it all
That poor girl has seen the darkness
But she’s also tasted light
Trying to remind us all, there’s a right time left to fight
She’s been given lies, but she’s holding onto truths
That poor girl, lovin on you
So I whisper, soft and low
Ain’t there someplace
You’d rather go
When I’m miles and miles from this town
COuld be nice, if you were around
And she says, soft and sweet
I like your playing hands
And your traveling feet
But there ain't no way that I could go
Cause that dying man, he needs me so
That poor girl has seen the darkness
But she’s also tasted light
Trying to remind us all, there’s a right time left to fight
She’s been given lies, but she’s holding onto truths
That poor girl, lovin on you
Could be winter
Could be spring
But the season
Don’t mean a thing
When you're down and feeling low
That girls the only place to go
That poor girl has seen the darkness
But she’s also tasted light
Trying to remind us all, there’s a right time left to fight
She’s been given lies, but she’s holding onto truths
That poor girl, lovin on you