Lori McKenna talking about writing with Harry during the making of Fine Line. They wrote Changes together, which didn’t make it on the album but then was given to Cam who put it on hers.
“I got to hang out with [Harry] and I got to know how awesome of a person [he] is. When you see somebody that famous and that— he’s outrageously talented first of all, his sense of melody and harmonies… All of those things blew me away— and also a great writer, but he’s a very very very nice person.”
-Lori McKenna, an artist & songwriter (notably the one behind Girl Crush), on writing Changes with Harry a few years ago. (11 February 2023)
An absolutely feral collection of lines from little-known songs that tread similar and occasionally completely contradictory ground
[Where Were You - Maria Mena / February - Dar Williams / Sunday Afternoon - Rachael Yamagata / The Time I've Wasted - Lori McKenna / The Trouble with Wanting - Caroline Spence / Breaking - Christopher Jak / 1000 Times - Sara Bareilles / Somebody Loved - The Weepies]
Folklore and Evermore weren't exactly brain to page tho. Taylor changed some of the lyrics from demos we've heard of Cardigan and Willow to the actual song. But yeah i kinda get what he is saying also why would any questions any of the lyrics on Folklore and Evermore all of the songs were tightly written. The only song line that I was like ? was that 90s trend line
I love the 90's trend line. I love that it has the beat afterwards to give you time to process it and almost a metaphorical wink.
We have heard a few lyric changes, but we don't know if that was Taylor changing it or Aaron questioning. It makes me think of the bit in Folklore LPSS where Jack is talking about it being weird to work with her. It's something other people like Lori McKenna and Ryan Tedder have said too - she reworks and polishes lines herself really quickly and just wants a sounding board for it.
Brandi Carlile and Lori McKenna performing “Crowded Table”.
_______________________________
Crowded Table
Songwriters: Lori Mckenna, Natalie Hemby, Brandi Carlisle
You can hold my hand when you need to let go
I can be your mountain when you're feeling valley-low
I can be your streetlight showing you the way home
You can hold my hand when you need to let go
I want a house with a crowded table
And a place by the fire for everyone
Let's take on the world while we're young and able
And bring us back together when the day is done
If we want a garden, we're gonna have to sow the seed
Plant a little happiness, let the roots run deep
If it's love that we give then it's love that we reap
If we want a garden, we're gonna have to sow the seed
Yeah, I want a house with a crowded table
And a place by the fire for everyone
Let us take on the world while we're young and able
And bring us back together when the day is done
The door is always open
Your picture's on my wall
Everyone's a little broken
And everyone belongs
Yeah, everyone belongs
I want a house with a crowded table
And a place by the fire for everyone
Let us take on the world while we're young and able
And bring us back together when the day is done
And bring us back together when the day is done
Someone said "Youth is wasted on the young"
I spilled every last drop of time that summer in the sun
My daddy had a Timex watch
Cigarette in his hand and a mouthful of scotch
Spinnin' me around like a tilt-a-whirl on his arm
Houses need paint, winters bring snow
Kids, come on in before your supper gets cold
Collection plates and daddy's billfold
And that's how it goes
You live long enough, people get old
I sat up right beside him in the cabin of that truck
Goin' thirty miles-an-hour down a side road talkin' 'bout the fish we caught
And I'm older now than he was then
If I could go back in time, I would in a second
To his beat-up blue jeans and a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off
Houses need paint, winters bring snow
Kids growin' up and seekin' out the window
Hittin' every small-town dirt road
And that's how it goes
You live long enough and people get old
Yeah, people get old
Daddy keeps busy in the afternoons playin' cards by himself
And he shouldn't be shovelin' that first snow, but you know he won't take the help
Full of pride and love, he don't say too much but hell, he never did
And you still think he's forty-five and he still thinks that you're a kid
One day you'll find yourself sayin' the things that he said
You'll be walkin' down the hallway, turnin' off every light switch
When you twirl your kids in your arms
Before you know it, it won't take too long
They'll be runnin' off makin' a life just like you did
Houses need paint, winters bring snow
Nothin' says "love" like a band of gold
Babies grow up and houses get sold
And that's how it goes
Time is a thief, pain is a gift
The past is the past, it is what it is
Every line on your face tells a story somebody knows
That's just how it goes
You live long enough and the people you love get old