Another songwriter prompt! I honestly cannot recall what the word was – and I’m too lazy to look it up. But it was during quarantine, as that’s what this song is all about. It is clearly a song that will be dated – but also probably one that we will all relate to – those of us who lived through this grand COVID poop-show.
The “Your face” is my stepdaughter Rebecca (also the magical photographer who somehow makes me look so cool in pictures), and a little of my granddaughter Scarlett. We were a few weeks into quarantine, and Becky came over to drop something off – and we were strictly quarantining from each other at the time. It was the first time I had seen anyone but my wife and son IN PERSON in a while, and it was SO DAMN NICE to see her lovely face. And we stood well more than six feet apart, in the cold spring/winter weather, talking for longer than either were physically comfortable (cuz COLD) – but I think both of us just wanted to keep the conversation going, because HUMAN INTERACTION.
And the “sweetest embrace” in the lyric, is all Scarlett. We had a few occasions where we would drive over to see the kiddos from a distance, or they would come over. These adorable little kiddos knew to keep distance. But you could see in Scarlett’s eyes how badly she wanted to hug you. She is a hugger. And so great at it. In FACT – when we finally broke quarantine (well after the song was written), it truly WAS the sweetest embrace, as she ran into my arms…
I think I need a moment….
Anyway – I recorded this song with a bunch of dear friends, for a sweet project called “Quarantine Dream” – a compilation album where 45 different musicians, songwriters, producers, all collaborated remotely, during quarantine, to make something we could sell to help raise money for Jessa Roquet, another Minnesota singer/songwriter, who began her courageous battle with stage 4 liver cancer, right when quarantines began… You can get your copy of this digital album at
bit.ly/getquarantinedream - so maybe go do that now.
The lovely players are: Adam Lain played the killer drums, Mark Ganje laid down all the incredible electric guitars, Tim Sunde played the buttery bass lines, and Sarah Morris sang those wonderful harmony vocal parts. We all did this remotely, and most of these people have not even met one another yet. Pretty dang cool!
Ryan Rud – my partner and co-producer on the Quarantine Dream project, mixed this for us. And Gregg Ward from StudioArcade, mastered it. As well as the rest of this here “Shelter In” EP. And, the lion’s share of the Quarantine Dream project as well. Check him out for your mastering needs, he is the bee’s knees.
from
Shelter In,
released August 15, 2020
Ted Hajnasiewicz - vocals, guitar
Sarah Morris - vocals
Mark Ganje - guitars
Tim Sunde - bass
Adam Lain - drums
Written by Ted Hajnasiewicz
℗ 2020 All the Angels Sing