Just Go Out - SAC CHALLENGE 2014 (Week #2)

 If you learn to keep in the shadows, not stare too long, and wear an interesting hat...people watching is a pretty easy thing to do. The interesting hat is so that when people catch you looking at them, they notice the hat first. And when they look back at you, they think you have noticed them looking at your hat...it's pretty much clear sailing after that. I know this from my countless days of being a private detective...well...sitting in front of the T.V. and watching private detectives. In fact, I can say that most of the cool knowledge I have obtained in this world comes from guys like Magnum P.I., Simon and Simon, Remington Steele and Angela Lansbury...yes...i just said Angela Lansbury. This lady was cool. And with all respect to Sir Paul McCartney...him and her kinda look the same (look it up) which brings us back to people watching.

So ten minutes of writing in 5 separate locations can  certainly get the brain moving. I think once you get past the literal and start letting the imagination and senses take over, songs exist around us in everything. The lives of people you don't know can be as fascinating as you would like them to be. Why someone is acting the way they are?...the conversation they could be having with each other? (check out Tina Fey and Steve Carrell in Date Night for more inspiration), the thoughts they could be having in their heads...watching people argue, or reach out for each others hands...a child looking up to a parent hoping for a treat in a store, the reaction the parent gives back...a guy riding his bike in the snow...the smiles and frowns of the people caught in traffic.  It truly can get your brain and heart wrapped up in a bunch of cool scenarios.

For me, I settled on a situation I watched unfold while enjoying a cup of coffee in a local coffee place...(no brand names here without compensation). There was a girl sitting by a fireplace reading a book, the look on her face was not a happy one.

I could not see the title of the book which got me thinking even more. She was near the window and kept looking up from her book to the outside. When I looked around the shop, I could also see a young guy in a suit waiting in line texting on his phone. A common everyday thing I have seen many times. It got me to thinking about these two and the lives that they wish they could escape to. 

And...in true songwriter form...what if their lives connected in another place further down the line?

This is what I came up with.

JUST GO OUT - NORTH EASTON

She sits by the fire, hands on a cup
Face in a book, soaking it up
Cant find the look that somebody took away from her
Eyes on the page, mind in the past
it was a heart break that led to the crash
And its hard not to let the inside change your day

Chorus: So just go out...take a walk
Let the sunshine change your thoughts
Just go out...Stop the clock and run away
Just Go out...and let it go, its time to bre-athe life in nice and slowly
Find another way...just go out today

He waits in a line, fixed on his phone
Talking to someone, while standing alone
Stuck in the same old, tightrope, blindfold...digging for some change
And he's tired of the push, and the feel of the weight
On the inside he's ready to break
And he cant understand why everything stays the same (chorus)

Bridge Life is...waiting..
Try and save it
Dont look away

SHe's under a tree, hands in the grass
Face in the clouds, wind on her back
She looks like a girl who's got the whole world in motion
ANd then he comes along, wearing a smile
She sends it right back with a whole other style
He can tell that the belle has the rest of her life wide open (chorus)

For all my Canadian Songwriting Compadres...keep writing...I am loving what you guys are all doing. It's a blast listening to each of your stories unravel. And for the love of god...STAY WARM.

-North