Background
John's Song
Making it happen
Feb 28th, 2005.
John speaks about the love and frustration of his life with Gina. On the face of things they complement each other: John in total command of his mental faculties but physically disabled by the dreadful breathlessness of lung cancer; Gina - 'fit as a fiddlers flea' but some way along the mind-devastating journey that is Alzheimer's Disease. There's an awful neatness to their contrasting incapacities. 'I am her brain', John says. 'But while I sit in the bath she pours water over me, she brews a cup of tea, she does the physical things I am no longer able to.'
Among other things I'm a writer and I find myself fighting the desire to shape this conceit into a poem. I can see the core of what might become an extraordinary song. As John talks I press him on detail while typing continuously. We are entering the heart of the collaborative creative process. All my faculties are now focussed on sifting the stream of John's words for their salience. I ask nosey questions, I prompt, I tease, I listen, as he speaks. When we're done I've filled four pages with what strikes me as mattering.
What's going on here? What right have I to decide what is salient? Whose voice is emerging? Are we both the lyricist? Am I the facilitator? A therapist?
Mar 25th, 2005.
I took great care to preserve John's actual words and turns of phrase while working with him last week. Whatever emerges from this process has to feel authentic and true to him. Catching the texture and rhythm of his speech is crucial.
Because of the rich simplicity of John's imagery and the colloquiality of his speech the shaping comes easily. First, the fulcrum of the lyric emerges - 'You be my body, Darling. Let me be your brain.' Then everything else seems to fall into place, radiating from that kernel of a chorus line. It's not always this simple. The end result is long, too long for a song, but a great starting point.
Jan 7th, 2005.
John e-mails to tell me how much he likes what I've done with his words. Our collaboration has inspired him to start writing himself. We decide to video a version of him 'performing' the words of John's Song on the hospice verandah. I can tell he's an old pro by the way he takes my direction from behind the camera. He delivers the lines well but wants to be told how to do it better.
