Proudest Father’s Son

My son Devin has been singin my songs along with me for most of his life. He sang “Short People” with me once on stage and I wrote a song with him in his early years on the guitar. But his music taste is far from my own and his approach vocally is quite different from mine.

I always saw myself as too “old school” for his interest but he surprised me two months ago in saying he goes back to my songs for “motivation” in his acting. “yer dad’s songs cover all the emotions” he said someone told him. He’s an entertainer for sure and passionate about lyrics and or scripts. He was playin me Jason Mraz tunes all the way down to the studio and singing every word.

He sang in the children’s choir on “Christmas is Jesus” project some twenty years ago. But yesterday was a first in that he is featured in the opening verse! “the tape doesn’t lie” I laughed with him as he heard is early pitch problems in the quick passes with the track. He didn’t seem nervous at all but on the mic he struggled with the melodies and my particular phrasing.

So we let him sing along to my demo vocal track of the melody and he was spot on! it even sounded interesting to hear, in the first chorus, him in the foreground with his dad in the background singing unison. We kept it!

There were some moments where, as he sang the same notes with me, it sounded like the same voice in a remarkable doubling effect. You couldn’t tell it was two people some 31 years apart in age.
The duet vocal parts in the song are not exact or perfectly streamlined but I kinda liked it being a little rough around the edges it feels right when you think of a father son relationship. On the harmonies in this song.. I’m just pushin everything hard and he’s kinda floatin along! 8)… typical father son interaction.

His voice is softer and he doesn’t hit notes with the kind of “aggression” his old man does. But it speaks to me of his comfort-ability with who he is. As I sang the “father’s verse” and chorus there is a line that says “and I see as a father… the proudest father’s son”… it took me three passes to sing it without choking up!

The song does not really reach the depth of emotions that I was feeling and that bothers me a lot. It might not be the song I would have written for my own experience with my sons! and I left with a heaviness about the regrets I have of being gone so much when my boys were young.

Devin was buoyant, if not almost indifferent after the five hours we put in. “I’m gonna make a hat and print on it” he smiled as I dropped him at his car..”today is a good day for humble pie!”
He won’t need that hat when he hears the final production!