Infinity Takes

Under the right conditions, 20 minutes is all it takes to write a song. Ask Toby Keith. He wrote “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue” in that amount of time. Lil Wayne’s even faster. He’s been known to record an entire mixtape in a single session.

That kind of speed has never been in my wheelhouse. With a songwriting partner 2,000 miles away, we’re lucky to get a verse done in two hours. But this one came out quick.

Jackson was on day seven of a 10-day visit to Nashville. I was full up on joy after starting a new job working with first graders, and Jackson felt that excitement. Usually, he loves to play crazy chords. Sequences with lots of changes, adds, susses, all kinds of stuff I only half understand. But on that day, he played the opposite. Simple, major, my kind of vibe.

Naturally, scenes from elementary school knocked around in my head. Unfettered friendship, untied shoelaces, and the way kids can bounce between Pokémon and phonics in the same breath.

“Keep it going,” I said as the words began to percolate.

A steady vocal line formed over his chords. Now it was my turn to keep it going. He riffed another melody over my foundation, and we found the rest of the words together. My phone dinged. Time to leave for work.

Less than 15 minutes had passed.

When I got back, we recorded the idea proper. Went from blank session to fleshed-out demo in less than a day. But when we woke up the next morning, we wanted a bit more magic. So I called up my friends Kelsey and Caroline, the owners of two of my favorite voices in the world.

This was the first time the four of us had ever been in a room together, though we’ve all contributed to each other’s music remotely. What came out was innocent, egoless; the way a smile and a high five feels when you stand back up after “Ring Around the Rosie” on the playground.

Oh, and that’s French at the end. The night before, Jackson and I watched an indie flick starring a Timothée Chalamet lookalike who writes sea shanties and pines after summer lovers. So, in the final hour, Jackson—who speaks French, Mandarin, and a bit of Norwegian—came through with that Easter egg. It means “when you’re alone”.

And it’s true, real friends are there even when you’re solo.