Background Of A Song

     Many times  people ask songwriters why they wrote a certain song or why they wrote it the way they did  or how they got the idea...Well, there  are as many answers to that as there  are songs and songwriters... A person can sit in a public place watching people and get so many ideas... Or,just looking out a window at whatever is there  or having an emotional thing happen in your life or a friend's life... I wrote Still To Rock No More after my Dad  died...I was feeling down  one day thinking about everything and I thought,  "You  know, Mamas and Daddys  are the hands that rock the cradle...I should  write about that."  ..Well, I sat down at the piano and wrote down  when the hand that rocks the cradle is still to rock no more...I intended to write about my Dad....The melody had come with the phrase...many times that is what happens for me...But as I  wrote all of that down, the rest came at a good clip so I had to write fast to keep up...I  reviewed the first verse and as I finished that, the second verse started flowing...When I had finished, I left it on the piano for a few days before I went back to it...I finally picked it up again and put chords to it and sang it over again...over again to really get the feel of it...When I finally figured I had said what I needed to say in the way I needed to say it, I called it quits and sent off the copyright and recorded it...People say you should write and re-write a song...don't be satisfied with your first draft...But  sometimes a song  comes along that needs to be left alone when you finish it...As I just said, you say what you have to say in the way you have to say it at the time...Every time I listen to or sing that song  Still To Rock No More I am satisfied that I did it the way I should have...However, instead of it being about my Dad or Mamas and Daddys, it was a Mama song....Sometimes a song just takes off and you don't really have control over it...Don't worry about it...maybe that is the way it is meant to be....Happy Songwriting...