A song about desiring the forbidden fruit, featuring hand percussion instruments: xylophone, djembe, and maraca.

“Ah Eve”

The Story

This song is written for the Steemit Open Mic Songwriters Challenge Week 4, prompted by the theme: "Because We Can". My songwriting journey began with a brainstorm in the area of Barack Obama's "Yes We Can" speech, during his 2008 presidential campaign, as if to say that we can work together to make the world a better place. And then I landed into the territory of escape, as if to say that we can escape to a better place elsewhere.

Normally, I think the "grass is greener" attitude is rather weak, and certainly dim when compared to the brighter state of being: here and now. However, in this case, it's something very real that I'm dealing with on a daily basis: the desire of the forbidden fruit. Naturally, my creative juices started flowing when I took myself on a journey to the Garden of Eden, with Eve.

Our family's xylophone is a kids' toy, really, and so it doesn't often make it into my music. This time, though, I felt inspired to start with the xylophone as a songwriting tool. To me, this instrument sounds raw, and it helped me to get into that "naked" space, where there's freedom, vulnerability, and vast creativity. I discovered the melody this way, tapping the blocks, finding a groove. I liked the sound of the xylophone so much that I decided to record a separate xylophone track to overlay with the voice track, and this presented the opportunity to include additional tracks for maraca and djembe parts.

These are major breakthroughs in my journey as a singer-songwriter.

The xylophone brings an exotic feeling, like being alone together in an island jungle.

The maraca shaker reminds me of the waves, washing onto the beach.

The djembe boosts the rhythm, bringing the heat of a bonfire to mind.

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The Background

Just in case you're new to my music, I'd like to share a bit about my history. I started playing guitar in college, practicing chords, reading tablature, and learning songs by Cat Stevens, Ben Harper, Tom Petty... I began writing songs right away, believing it would further motivate me to practice. Eventually, I recorded some songs and released 13 tracks on a CD, called Take A Deep Breath." Shortly after my CD release party, I took a long hiatus, working to rediscover my sense of home and who I am (there's so much more to the story). The end point is this: The Steemit Open Mic is helping me to find my voice.

Although the guitar is accidentally out of sight in the camera frame, in this video, my finger-style technique is sounding sweet. I feel I am getting far with my guitar.

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The Lyrics

Ah Eve let’s get away
To the Garden of Eden

I will be your mister
Will you be my miss

Ah Eve let’s be together
Where we belong

I believe we can bring
Heaven here now

Ah Eve let’s have a little
Slice of paradise

And we will share the apple
Because we can

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Wishing you the freedom to be exactly who you are, enjoying the apple of your moment,

@cabelindsay