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In the fall of 2000, I was in my first semester of college. Needing a fix one night, I snuck into a practice room in the basement of my school’s music building with the intention of playing something else, probably a Smashing Pumpkins song. This was what came out instead. I didn’t have any paper on me, and I tore home to attempt to write down what I had just sung before it slipped away. What you see written here now is as close as I could come that night.

Before writing “The Song Nobody Knows”, both my songs sucked. After writing it, I decided that I might really be able to do this, which was what eventually led to actually studying music in college, which, among other perks, made it so I didn’t have to sneak into the practice rooms anymore. This recording, which was made a few months later, leaves a lot to be desired, but I have to remember that I was eighteen and so was my friend who was recording me and neither of us knew what the hell we were doing yet. Nevertheless, this made it onto the Freesound comp in 2001, which feels like two or three lifetimes ago. I’m not sure if I even remember how to play this one. I’ve learned my lesson, though: I carry a notebook with me now.

My favorite song is the song nobody knows
I hear it only in my head
And when we reach across the wires,
I feel you and the memories we had
When I was six years old
I wanted to change my name
Now I just want everyone to know who I am
But how can they know me if they don’t know
That my favorite song is the song nobody knows
I hear it only inside
Looking out the rain-streaked windows as the bus goes by
Do you share my sentiment?
Do you feel the way I feel?
Do you know the song I know?
Do you know how it goes?
Because my favorite song is the song nobody knows
I feel it only in my dreams
And when we reach across the wires,
I feel you reaching back through me
And then I see that beneath the show
I know you know the song nobody knows

Posted on Sunday, May 7th, 2006. Comments are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.