.
Loveshine
"It's always yours to give"
The sunshine warms the daytime
And the moonshine graces night
And the starshine shimmers sweetly
With a billion points of light
But your loveshine is with you everywhere
Every moment that you live
And it’s always with you day or night
And it’s always yours to give
.
Let your loveshine through, let your loveshine through
Whether skies are black or blue
Let your loveshine through, whoa, let your loveshine through
.
Well they say that love’s a battlefield
And they say that life’s a war
And it seems no matter what you give
The world will only ask for more
But there’s something you have for everyone
Be they family, foe, or friends
It’s the loveshine from your sweet sweet soul
A gift that never ends
.
Let your loveshine through, let your loveshine through
Whatever life does to you
Let your loveshine through, whoa, let your loveshine through
Lyrics, music, and related creative content Copyright © 2021 by Rick Thorne
All Rights Reserved
Placeholder for
eGrat link
.
Video will go here
All creative content created, developed, arranged, produced, and
futzed with obsessively by Rick Thorne
Next
Song...
"Loveshine" was performed by
Rick Thorne and Relatively Few Friends
Songwriter's Notes
.
Loveshine is, obviously, a song about love. While that might seem a foregone conclusion given its sweet R&B glide and the positive lyrics, and though it ultimately comes from a truly loving place, it actually has a darker beginning.
.
In the 2012-13 timeframe, I was in a very dark place in my life. I was full of anger; I didn't like my career choices or many of my personal attachments. It was an unusual place for me. I have recently moved from California, where I left my young adult children (they were in their 20s) and many close friends. I changed jobs a few times in Pennsylvania and Maryland during this time, and I was doing well financially and professionally, but I was miserable. I felt people were really preying on me; in what I sensed to be their predation, I foolishly allowed hatred to envelope me.
.
As that terrible cage surrounded me, a kind and empathetic friend of mine (hi Karen Ann...) reached out and told me she was worried about me. I wrote down everything that was burdening me - almost four pages of thoughts - and I shared it with her. She seemed to drop everything she was doing and read it right away. In her reply, she reminded me that these people I hated so much were all people with their own stories and problems. And in words articulated with angelic compassion and articulated with the heart of a poet, she reminded me, as Marvin Gaye reminded us all, only love can conquer hate.
.
Well, I obviously had to agree with her thoughts on this matter. My anger was unproductive and was ruining otherwise great relationships all around me. I had a new attitude by the end of the day. And I was so inspired by that change, and the profound love of friendship that inspired it, that I also had the lyrics to a new song by the end of that day.
.
Loveshine isn't just about love; it's about what happens when love is abundant enough and allowed to spread into the ecosystems its owner shares with other. That abundant spreading of that inner light is what I call Loveshine. And isn't it a different life when we turn that light on and share it? It is for me. I still have my dalliances with anger, but this experience proved to me - and continues to prove - that it's all about flipping the switch and letting it shine.
.
Production Notes
.
From its first jotted notes, it was clear to Loveshine was going to need to be a big production. With 4 horns, 10 back up vocal parts, and 4 guitar parts, it's the biggest song in any of my collections to date. Every part of the song deserved a lot of attention. The lyrics are written meticulously, and the chord progression is crafted for full effect. For a song about letting your light shine, I lavished a lot of light on this song.
.
The lead vocal covers a fair amount of my range. It's very hard for me to sing higher than G4 without losing accuracy, and the top notes in Loveshine (sung at least once in every chorus) hit F#4 as I originally wrote the song in A. It sounded really bright in A, but I struggled so terribly with it I changed it to G and it's a much easier to work with. As a singer, it's an easy song to tire as I sing it because of its range and size. Here's a nother example of where a truly skilled voice coach makes all the difference. (hi Nicole).
.
The horn section (my usual favorite elixir of bari sax, trombone, tenor sax, and trumpet) comes in in the second verse. The horn parts are more rhhythm instruments in this song. Unlike others (e.g., I Wanna Be Yo' Chauffeur), their goal isn't control and seduction. The job of the horns is to grow the terrace dynamics, adding volume to this glistening R&B song without and weight. They add bouyancy to the verses and lift the choruses just like they're supposed to. I love how the meatier horns provide that structural integrity that lets the tenor and trumpet lift the section. There's a little motion, but there's almost no tension (none in the main verses and chorus), and when it does happen (bridges), it dissipates without a fight. There's no need to fight when harmony is everyone's goal.
.
The chorus of female voices adds another dimension of color. I loved writing the choral parts; I rarely get to script choruses, and this one was a pleasure. The range is pure mezzo-soprano, and it really needed to be soulful and powerful. Success!
.
The guitar solo might be a little jarring (it's amply distorted and trebly with intent), but honestly, I tried several sounds and that combination of warm distortion and cutting upper midrange give the solo the knive's edge it need to bite through the horns and full rhythm section. I practiced the solo for hours before ripping it in two takes when I recorded it. I've tweeked the EQ and the compression, but I'll never change a note of it or re-record it.
.
Finally, I tell people for whom I play the song it has the most beautiful last two measures of any song. Listen to is all the way through and tell me if you agree.
.
Of course, special thanks to Simone, Denise, Julio, Jorge, and Ismael for your beautiful contributions to this song. I take great pride in calling my songs my own creations, but "Loveshine" wouldn't be what it is without you.
.
Let your Loveshine through, y'all.
.
Rick
Rick Thorne: all stringed and percussive noises
and continuing vocal abuse
Trumpet: Julio Diaz
Trombone: Jorge Dobal
Tenor and Baritone Sax: Ismael Vergara
Loveshine choir: Simone Miller and Denise Stewart-Bates
Creative advisor: Nicole Lamm
Options for Buying This Song (Not Ready Yet!)
Pull those curtains down; kick the doors open wide
Let whole world see that loveshine there inside
Don’t keep it yourself, don’t hide it deep and tight
Open up and share your loveshine day and night
.
Get out of your room, get outside where the world can see
Let your loveshine show what a loving world can be
With a smiling heart and a gentle soul, and a brilliant lovelight too
Life’s a living glory when your lovelight shines from you
.
It’s a graceless world of hatred
Full of envy, pride, and greed
And a shameful world of hunger
Full of suffering and need
And though we can’t heal all the pain
The whole world will endure
For hungry hearts and hatred
There's a sure-fire cure
.
Let your loveshine through, let your loveshine through
Help hope glow anew
Let your loveshine through, whoa, let your loveshine through
Let your loveshine through, let your loveshine through
Whatever life does to you
Let your loveshine through, whoa, let your loveshine through
.
Video will go here
