Recently I uploaded a video of my tune Abstract Space from my last show at Abilene. I’m trying to be better about posting video, and with the school year winding down I’ll have more time to sift through the footage I collected the last few months. Although it turned out a little dark, I think it really captures the spirit of the song and Eric and Scott are killing it.
Abstract Space is a rewritten version of an old tune called Seventeen Hours. I wrote it while staying at Georgia Tech University the summer of 2013. I was in Atlanta for five weeks training for Teach for America before moving to Nashville. That year, I started listening to pop country knowing I would be moving to the home of country music. Seventeen Hours was the first song I wrote after heavily immersing myself in Zac Brown Band, Eric Church, and Blake Shelton.
At the time, I was in the midst of a long distance relationship between Boston and Nashville, and 17 hours is how long it takes to drive between the two cities. Seventeen Hours is a juvenile love song, your standard “I miss you and wish I was with you song.” Since it was one of a handful of mediocre original songs, it stayed in my set until my songwriting got better and I phased it out for others.
This past winter, I was scrolling through my master set list and saw it there. I went back and looked at the lyrics, played it a few times, and put it down again. After a few days, I thought the line “seventeen hours” was too good to put to rest so I experimented rewriting a few lines. I came up with a nice 3-4 feel in a different key and slowly produced a new song. This time, the lyrics were darker, more realistic, not full of eye-rolling sigh-filled cliches. I focused more on the uncertainty of that time period and the tension the distance caused. Zeroing in on specific, overlooked feelings is something I’m working on with my writing. I have Jason Isbell and James McMurtry to thank for that.
I’m included both sets lyrics so you can compare them for yourself.
Seventeen Hours
I stand looking out of my bedroom window on a warm Georgia night
Can’t seem to sleep even though I need to
I just can’t seem to put my mind at ease
I wish I were home
I leave the place where I’ve been livin
I wander the streets at night
I can’t tell if I’m dreaming as I walk around
As I walk around this town
I wish I had you
I’ve been thinking about
All the time we spent together it wasn’t that long ago that
We watched the sun go down and now
Everytime that I walk home
You’re waiting for me
Yeah you’re waiting for me
She’s 17 hours away but it feels like she’s right here with me
Singing the same old songs we heard on the radio
Everything still feels the same
The melody she sings and the chords I play
I know the song won’t change and I’ll see her again someday
Driving northbound on the highway on a cool Tennessee morning
I don’t know what I ‘ll find in Boston but I know this is right I can’t spend one more night without you in my arms
Don’t wanna think about the days in front of me so far away from you
But I know that when these miles are over I’ll hear your voice
I’ll hear your voice tonight
And I’ll be alright
Well I’ve been thinking about all the time we spent together
It wasn’t that long ago that I
Held you so tenderly and now every time I close my eyes I know you’re all I need yeah you’re all I need.
She’s 17 hours away but it feels like she’s right here with me
Singing the same old songs we heard on the radio
Everything still feels the same
The melody she sings and the chords I play
I know the song won’t change and I’ll see her again someday
Abstract Space
You said you’re too proud to cry
I said my feelings don’t hide
I wish you could only see
That words still hurt even in dreams
I keep thinkin if I could just stop by
Or wake up next to you
We’d write a different tune
Oh let's get honest soon
17 hours is torturous
Whether you’re 23 or fallen hard
I can love you in abstract space
But only if there's certain space
How the hell did I end up here?
I calculated I’d avoid the fear
Of being stranded where I raised
But now my adventure seems misplaced
Now I’m wishin I could get up and drive
Leave Nashville behind
Pay off all my fines
But I don’t know what I’d find
17 hours is torturous
Whether you’re 23 or fallen hard
I can love you through abstract space
But only if there’s certain space