Behind the Song: “When You Fall (Revamped)”
I’ve always ended my live shows with “When You Fall” because it’s probably the most bittersweet song out of all of them. It’s about how the world turns with or without us, but at the end of the day it’s your friends that are there to catch you. This song also has melodic influences sprinkled throughout that have had a huge impact in my life, and on my own songwriting. I’ve been very excited to share all of these details so that in future songs you can catch little melodic easter eggs. Here is an in-depth look behind the song.
I’ve always loved listening to Coldplay’s “Fix You” and Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars”. These two songs were the main inspiration for my song. I will often get ideas or sonic themes from songs I hear, and there was a moment when I was walking outside and I thought, “I want my own version.” So I wrote it. I loved the idea of having a bittersweet song like “Fix You” with the long final chorus like “Chasing Cars”. More importantly, I wanted a song that would really go through emotional highs and lows to bring you to the realization of the lyrics. This is where the instrumental bridge came from. It reminds the listener that when life is upsetting your friends are there to bring you back up. Let’s dive into the melody of the bridge. The C - Db - Ab melody actually comes from the song “Defying Gravity” in the musical Wicked. I’ve loved this musical since I was a kid, but more importantly, I’ve loved this three note melody. Something about the C natural, on the downbeat in the key of Db, gives the chords that breath of sorrow. And so as usual, when I’m playing around on the piano, that melody came up. Instead of using the 3 notes as the main instrumental melody, though, I focused on the top notes. This made the lower notes more like embellishments rather than a melody. And this is where the opening chords have their theme. I then overlayed the bridge melody on top of the final choruses to continue on with sorrowful theme and that created the bittersweet sound.
My favorite lyric is in the last chorus, “The trees will sway, leaves die and decay, but I’ll be right here, waiting for your call.” This was pretty much the whole point to the song. Life goes on whether we want it to or not. I wanted to convey that persistent and continuous nature in the song. That’s why that bridge melody never stops. It keeps going and it builds on itself, getting higher and louder. Juxtapose that with the steady low strumming guitars and the piano chords in the choruses. The whole point is to show the duality of our lives. It’s challenging to go on everyday, especially when it feels like things are getting too bleak. It’s the moments when we lose hope that we should lean on our friends. They are often times more grounded, and that’s ok. The world is spinning at a very fast rate, but we stay on the ground because gravity pulls us down. Gravity is a force outside of our bodies. In this case, it’s our friends. They are here for a reason: to ground you, to pull you down, and to catch you when you fall. I’m so thankful to all of my friends that were involved in the creation of the original version and the revamped version. I couldn’t be more grateful.
“When You Fall (Revamped)” is out now on all streaming platforms!
