In a "Songwriting for the Pros" mini course offered by Songtown.com, I along with 100 others, was commissioned to interview an up-and-coming singer/songwriter, and write a "hook" for his/her new song. It was a contest and the winning songwriter would continue on to co-write the rest of the song with this artist. The young female artist whom we interviewed seemed to be a bit of an old soul. She wanted someone to bring her out of her shell, make her feel young and alive, and to live in the moment rather than always thinking of the future. In my mind I mused, "Hey kid, act your age!" which inspired my song entry. Although my "hook" was ultimately not the winning selection in the contest, I decided to develop the song to completion. It was fun to live inside someone else's mind for a while and long for a more adventurous life!
This song is a part of my 2023 compilation called, “Quilted: a colorful patchwork of original songs and the stories that stitched them”. The subject of this song, being about friendship folds nicely into my “Friendship Quilt” hope chest.*
I brought this song without a bridge or second, third verses to Quinn Music Studio and my producer and I set to the creative task of tracking. As the arrangement started to take shape, the rest of the song's story teased it's way out. May you always act a little beneath your age and remain young at heart.
LYRICS: Act My Age
Intro:
Old soul, young heart
Old soul, young heart
Verse 1:
I’m just an old soul seeking a young heart beating
Won’t you tell me how to act my age?
I’m so wise beyond my years, release me, dear
from a sage cage, from the cage of a sage
Interlude:
Old soul, young heart
Old soul, young heart
Verse 2:
In the depths of my learning, theres a childlike yearning
Can you tell me how to - act my age
I’m so stuck- in my head, so interior-fed
Can you gauge, the lonely heart of a sage
and tell me how to
Chorus:
Act my age
Pull me out on the dance floor
(how to act my age)
Push me on a swing
(how to act my age)
Take a ride on a carousel
I'd do anything to feel
Spring
Bridge:
Spring time of my life
No more striving for answers before their time
You show me the way
to hold the questions in tension and feel the day
you keep it light
you keep it light
you keep it light
you keep it light
Interlude:
Instrumental
Verse 3:
You with the life unexamined, intellectual famine
Do they tell you how to - act your age
Get a job, get a life, settle down, find a wife
Turn the page, turn the proverbial page
Is that the way to
chorus:
Act your age
How to act your age
Do you act your age now?
You'd do anything to feel
Spring
Bridge 2:
The sun on my face
The beauty thats all surrounding
You melt away my Winter to Spring
Chorus:
Spring time of my life
No more striving for answers before their time
You show me the way
to hold question in tension and feel the day
Spring time of my life
no more striving for answers before their time
You show me the way
to hold a question in tension....
*What is a "Friendship" Quilt?
https://www.nps.gov/home/planyourvisit/quilt-discovery-experience.htmThe quilts the homesteaders brought with them were a comfort to these women who traded their home, family and friends in the East, for the uncertainty of traveling through vast prairies in the West. A quilt that held special value to the pioneer women was the Friendship Quilt.
Often it was done is secret, and then given to the woman as a going away gift. It usually was a group effort, with each block being sewn by a friend or relative with their name embroidered in the center.
Putting a Friendship quilt on the bed, gave a woman a sense of connection with her former way of life. It kept alive the memory of family and friends, providing comfort and company during the difficult days of homesteading.
One woman homesteader said, "When I get lonely, I read the names on my quilt. "It was like putting her arms around someone and giving them a hug.