Evolution of a demo

I thought I’d share how a recent song has evolved from the first draft through the editing and demo processes.

A Great Little Town in February
Have you ever fallen for someone and felt so different from the day before you met them that it’s like you’ve arrived in a completely new physical place? This song is called “A Great Little Town, You.” Nice, simple little sentiment. I wrote it in February and haven't thought much about it until a week or so ago.

Here’s a recording of it from February, the day it was written:

February Demo – First Draft


Verses 1 and 2 talk about the journey of life so far. The chorus is about discovering a new little "town" that’s different from everything else so far along the road. And verses 3 and 4 go on to talk about the town as the beginning of a new journey.

Now, it’s a catchy little melody and a lovely sentiment that I really like. But from a song-crafting point of view, I thought it could use some work. Here’s why:

There were two key things, one in the lyric and one in the musical structure. With the lyric, there wasn't any certainty or closure to the idea that ‘yes, this is in fact a great place for me to be.’ Structurally, the verse and chorus have almost the same chord progression. The changes happen quicker in the chorus, which brings its energy up with the melody shift, but there’s still a similar feel to the rhythm of the two sections.

Here’s the February verses 3 and 4:
So here I stand
With my feet on new ground
Think I’ll take a look around
There are pathways
I wonder where they lead
Is there one for you and me?

Have I arrived?
Where I dreamed to be one day
In a place where I can stay
There are tingles
All up and down my spine
Have I put the past behind?

A Great Little Town in October
With some time away from the lyric and the emotions at the time, I could look at the song more objectively. My critique of the verses above boils down to this: “So here I stand” sounds final, whereas “Have I arrived?” is clearly not. Well, there were questions in the “So here I stand” verse, but with still more questions in the subsequent “Have I arrived?” verse, the song wasn’t progressing. There were chronology and concept issues there for me.

I tackled both those issues by editing one of the verses into a bridge that would resolve the concept, while the musical and rhythmic change would add the break I thought was needed before going into the final chorus.

Here’s the October re-write as verse 3 and bridge:
Have I arrived?
Where I dreamed to be one day
In a place where I can stay
There are tingles
All up and down my spine
Have I put the past behind?

BRIDGE
Here I stand on new ground
I like the look of what I found, this town
I’ve seen where a lot of wrong turns lead
But this turn is right for me, finally

Now, the bridge added certainty and closure to the idea that was missing before. I also tweaked a few other words here and there (including a nice new line in the choruses) and refined the music, most notably in the intro.

Here’s the October demo:

October Demo – Edited Lyrics & Arrangement


I played this one for my production partner Alex, asking him to do a better mix of it for me. He'll also record a nice little shuffle on the drums, which will make the song more dynamic and really help the chorus spring to life.

November Demo

As promised, here's the final demo. Differences since October are a little remixing and mastering and addition of drums, which put a nice bounce in its step.