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about
I was 18 years old when I wrote the music to this song. As a 1st year piano major immersed in the world of classical music, it was only natural those influences would seep into my songwriting. For decades, this opening riff was just a throw-away chord sequence that my fingers would call up when noodling on the piano. As a songwriter, I’ve learned to pay attention to ideas that hijack my muscle memory - refusing to let go. This one kept pleading with me to complete it. So I pulled it out of my backlog and began the task of adding lyrics. Few people know this about me, but I see colors when I hear music. Vivid shades of autumn kept flooding my mind whenever I played through it. With that backdrop in mind, inspiration was rife (lyrics co-written with my gifted late husband, Stefan). With each passing year, I become more acutely aware of the fleeting nature of time. Like falling leaves, we’re only here for a brief season. When I completed this recording/video shoot back in 2020, there was no way I could have been prepared for what was to follow. These past 20 months have been the saddest of my life. A series of endless nightmares. To lose my beloved husband, mother, mother-in-law, and closest girlfriend, all in close succession, still feels shocking. Profound grief fundamentally and irreparably changes you. Listening now, “Fall Down” feels especially poignant, timely…even hauntingly prophetic. Stefan had just entered the September of his life when he died unexpectedly. He had so many plans. A sobering reminder to live with purpose. Time is precious and tomorrow is promised to no one. Don’t waste a second of it. Savor the splendors of the season while it lasts.
Change of seasons, change in the weather
Change of colors, changing hues
Changes in the air of September
As the morning frost now replaces the dew
Gone is springtime, gone is the summer
Gone the carefree days of our youth
Gone your shade where I would slumber
Just to hear you whispering over my roof
CHORUS
Caught up in your glory
Your radiance is shimmering all around you
All I see before me seems stunning and new
I’m lost in splendor as you bid me adieu
*Harpsichord solo”
CHORUS
Now’s your finest hour
Your beauty gleans ever so bright in the sun
But like a fading flower the end has begun
So let your brilliance shine before it’s gone
~Bridge
Watching the leaves as they’re fluttering down
They’re fluttering down
Riding the breeze as they’re fluttering down
They’re falling down..‘round you...'round you
Fall down, fall down
You and I know the time has come
Fall down, fall down
Can’t deny autumn’s on the run
Fall down, fall down
Wave goodbye sing your sweet Swan song
Fall down, fall down
You’re free to fly winter’s coming on
credits
released September 23, 2022
Music: Phyllis Johnson Lyrics: Phyllis & Stefan Johnson
All music played, arranged and recorded by Phyllis Johnson.
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