I wrote Deeper Blue exactly three years ago, only a few days before we went into Fruit Hill for the first time. We knew that if there were any songs on the album that I didn’t write, they would be limited to our “family”, Chris Allen and Jon Roket. I had six songs already that would be recorded to start and I awoke to a voice memo from Chris. He had written a song for me that I could use if I wanted. It was great, as usual, and inspiring. Later that day, I was consulting the Wurlitzer electric piano to figure out the key of a song that was coming through, it was E flat, and I abandoned it in a few seconds when my hands reached up for my ukulele and pulled it down off the music room wall. The next thing I knew, the chords and chorus of Deeper Blue were revealed and I turned to a journal I had been writing in to cherry pick a few words. I had been researching Joe’s heritage as a builder and found that his relatives started by building stone altars. I had written the words down…unwrought stone, in conspicuous places…one person’s truth is another person’s metaphor and it captured immediately how I had been feeling in my new role as widow in crowds of people and normal life. The rest of the song came in ten minutes and I immediately recorded it on voice memo and sent it back to Chris. He said, “This is your pop hit. Make sure it is recorded that way.” and “Inspiration tends to strike right before you go into the studio.” At that point we knew we had the album’s title and title track.
The Songs #2 - Writing Pauline
I wrote Pauline in 2003 shortly after being a pallbearer, along with five other women, for Becky’s funeral. Joe’s first wife had passed away from breast cancer and her wish was to have six of us women handle the casket. Many people commented on the this part of the funeral because no one had seen it before, nor have they seen it since. I was also singing at the funeral with my long time music partner, John Kogge. I was hanging out shortly thereafter with my good friend, Theresa, and I said, “I wonder what you call a female pallbearer.” In an instant, I knew we were Paulines. The song is nearly literal. As John and I were singing Comes a Time by Neil Young, I got up from the piano and took my place next to Betsy Torge at the front of the procession. Elizabeth Hannon was right behind me and whispered to me, “What do we do?” I said “Just put one foot in front of the other.” We then began moving with rosemary and lavender gracing the aisle of the church and releasing the incredible blend of aromas upon our footfall. I had recorded the song with my group, Tre Lunas, in January of 2004 in three part harmony with Lisa Biales and Bonnie Allyn and it was a favorite of many. As I was collecting songs for Deeper Blue, Lisa encouraged me to send the song to Jon, as it helped arc the journey and tell the story. The drums add to the feel of the procession and John Kogge is featured on harmony vocal to get as close to the memory of the day as possible.