YOU MAKE IT BETTER written by Marc Courtney Johnson
I was washing dishes, humming songs and dreaming about a career in jazz.
I'd just gotten a couple of cds from the Chicago Public library: "Mel Torme Swing Schubert Alley" (in my opinion, the best vocal performance of his career, with stunning crisp arrangements by Marty Paiche) and one of the Ella "Best of the Song Book" series(all her performances were great) and just drowning in the beauty of their presentations, wondering how I'd managed to miss this genre of music my entire life. It was against the backdrop of this that You Make it Better came about. Well actually, it was only the chorus.
It pretty much stayed only the chorus for two years before I finally was forced to finish it for the CD. I've written many songs, but they rarely come together as completely as this one did. We wrangled (a lot) over the form of the tune ABAABBAA(A) and about 3 other choices before Dan suggested that we just do BBAA which was perfect(Thanks Dan!). This is easily one of the best I've written and I'm excited as to where it will go.
LYRICS to "YOU MAKE IT BETTER" written by Marc Courtney Johnson
After the rain along comes the sun.
Even if above us darkness seems to prevail.
But that's not what I'm speaking of
I'm talking about your love, that shines in my life, whoa
About my day, I'd rather not say
Cause everything that could seemed to go wrong.
But now that I'm here with you
I haven't a single clue or cause to complain, ohhh
You make it better when you come around
A field full of flowers blooming in spring time
Is all I see when I hold your hand
This is just so divine
Your love, it's like a dream, can't believe I'm here with you
You make it better, whenever you're near my precious one
Your warmth and your beauty
make my troubles melt around me into nothingness
Whisked away on a gentle breeze
with a kiss and smile
Your love colors my world in hues of happiness
You make it better, oh my baby all you gotta do is give me a kiss
You make it better, you make it better ooh baby
You make it Better
TO BE FREE written by Marc Courtney Johnson
It happens all the time. I'll be watching a movie or a television series or whatever and some little diddy will catch my ear and then I spend 1, 10, or (in the case of Nola's Song) 20 years thinking about it(I'm a very patient man). That is the story of this song with a twist.
I was watching an episode of Star Trek the Next Generation. Can't remember which one,(it centered around Patrick Stuart's character the captain but then they all did) when I heard this sparse, lilting, haunting refrain of piano music. It lasted for just a moment and then was gone. I spent years trying to figure out what this song was, but to no avail. On one occasion my wedding band was in between sets and we'd gathered around this old baby grand and I played for them what I remembered of the song. The sax player got it, playing a song similar to but melodically very different from what I'd thought I'd remembered.
By the time I finally got my hands on the tune, what I had remembered was a great deal different than Eric Satie's Gymnopédia. In terms of the lyrics(almost always an after thought for me), they felt a bit forced and I reworked them a lot. I had in mind to write a song about different aspects of freedom, but how to do it succinctly and poignantly. This was my attempt at that.
LYRICS to "TO BE FREE" written by Marc Courtney Johnson
I've longed for a place that I could be
Where my dreams could grow wings
And soar beyond tomorrow
I'll live and I'll die
In a land where I
Can be free
Sunsets craft art on our fertile keep
The works never easy
But the sleep so sweet
You gave me this place
And you taught my heart to be free
Mothers sob softly as trumpets fade
Green grass and white stone
Extending forever
Heartache trumps glory
The day we die to be free
To be free