Revolving Door – Song and a Chat

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Episode #213: Revolving Door (Song starts at 5:42)

I’d completely forgotten about song #453, from 1999, Revolving Door. Well, it isn’t 1999 now! The years have certainly whizzed by.

The great thing about being a songwriter (or doing any creative activity) is, it gets you ‘in the moment’ – the moment where your sense of self is put a side somehow. You are so focussed on your art, you’ve let go completely. In that moment you’re inspired.

A song becomes a document of a series of moments like this, it’s a magic, slightly altered state to be in, if you will.

That sort of energy seems to come down through the years, listening back to a recording like the demo you’ll hear on this episode, which I recorded in 2000.

It’s only piano vocal, but you’ll feel the energy I was feeling at the time, I was hearing guitars, bass, drums, orchestra, the whole works.

That’s what often happens when I play the piano. An arrangement begins to take shape, right from the beginning of the writing process, for me.

So what’s ‘Revolving Door’ about ? My girlfriend at the time (now my lovely wife), was a Gemini. The twins is the astrological star sign childlike and playful one minute, measured older, wiser view the next. A certain style of jewellery and clothing one day, the next a total different style. It’s fun, it’s ‘up’ and keeps things interesting.

So this was my initial idea fro writing a song.

And then the lyrics move on to asking a question of the listener …how many people speak through you? Explores the idea that we all change and grow and evolve constantly.

The energy of the lyrics inspired me to cut loose on the piano. The result is a song that’s written to be performed by a full band. It’d would require a few different guitar parts to create the arrangement I hear in my head.

The bridge monetarily becomes reflective but soon explode with a ’thunderstorm of anger’ and then back into the song, which becomes ‘a summer holiday’.

It’s a happy thing to find an old demo like this. This one sounds like a real celebration of love, of life – and it is.

It’s fun to think back to what I was up at the time I wrote it….I was a pianoman, here in Melbourne. We’d recently moved over from New Zealand. There were sacrifices to make. It was hard. It still is, at times. But it’s also a joy.

As a song writer, you’ve got to keep moving on.

On my podcast I encourage listeners to do something creative regularly – or carry on on this path if they’re already underway.

I’m keeping on moving on all these years later, painting and writing songs, blogging podcasting, gigging, doing markets (where I sell my art), working on sheet music and video courses behind the scenes – and 5 new albums.

So plenty happening, I’ve put a lot of my art and music online you can find it via my blog ( lots of links here on 200 odd posts, which you can browse through, it’ll take you to al sorts of platforms to listen to musicians and view my art) www.petepascoe.wordpress.com

Enjoy.