What Makes Me Happy

World Is Wide

Bad Reputation

Bulletproof

Room To Run

Promise

Nothing But Rain

Fine Line

What If We Were Wrong

K-rock from The Marr Army Rock Show interviews Jace Pawlak about his latest album, Perspective. 
April 2015

K-rock interviews Jace Pawlak

TABLE FOR TWO

verse 1:
I’ve been standing in this line
Wasting all my time
Cupid ain’t no where in sight

I see people everyday
And I swear they got it made
With a partner in crime
A Valentine
Someone to dance the night away

pre-chorus 1:
I just want somebody
To rescue me

chorus:
I want to have an anniversary
And lips to kiss on New Years Eve
Do what lovers do
I want a hand to hold when the nights are cold
A kiss goodbye and a kiss hello
And a moonlight dance in June
And a table for two

verse 2:
I don’t wanna have no fling
Playing the field’s not my thing
I want the joy that passion brings

I don’t wanna one night stand
I don’t need a cheap romance
I want someone there
To hold my chair
And say they understand

pre-chorus 2:
I just want somebody
To set me free

chorus

words & music written by Jason Pawlak

Table For Two

THE SAME MISTAKE

verse 1:
On a bench with a cigarette
Sunday clothes and some old regrets
I can't go back inside, not yet

I watched that boy give his life away
To a girl in white with a heart of clay
She won't always want what she wants today

pre-chorus 1: 
And I know how this goes

chorus:
I recognize the untamed eyes
She'll outgrow the simple life
He can't be taught he can't be told
He'll have to find out on his own

I know how it is to try to give
Enough to make somebody change
Cuz I made the same mistake

verse 2:
Not long after the honeymoon
Plans he has will start falling through
And she'll spend most of her time in her room

Nights get long and the words get short
He'll think less and drink a little more
And the TV and the couch keep him warm

pre-chorus 2:
Slowly hope will die

chorus

bridge:
He's blind like I was
But like father like son

chorus

words & music written by Jason Pawlak

The Same Mistake

I wrote this to submit to the American Idol songwriting competition in 2008.

Lyrics: 
I looked at writing this in a realistic way.  Winning American Idol gives the winner an open door, & that's what I thought the song should be about: Let's celebrate this moment for what it is & then let's get to work building a career. 

 I thought the first line explained it well: "King of the hill in the shadow of a mountain." I was imagining the winner standing on  stage & what they might want to say at that moment. They just won American Idol but it's just the beginning. "King of the hill in the shadow of a mountain" I thought was great. 

"Before the next path begins let's take a moment to take this in... Here I am... " I saw the crowd reacting. The crowd being a PART of the song. Being "the moment" described in the song. As in WE did it. Everyone in the audience is part of the "taking it in". 

The optimistic line of "The best part of my life has just begun..." is positive. It tells the world & themselves that this is it. Let's get started & thank you. 

In the second verse the line "There were always people to help me, they let me in their hearts..." is a direct thank you to the people that voted. So every person that voted for the winner was PART of this song. 

The words in the bridge acknowledge that the singer will be grateful for the rest of their career. That they will remember that this is how it started. These words were coupled with the key change & continue to build the moment. 

Writing the music: 
I keep it simple but complex enough that songwriters & musicians could appreciate it took some skill. 

The thirds in the bass during the climb add color that many pop songs don't. The chords in the chorus change but yet stay very similar to hold the melody. 

The chords in the bridge are a bit fancy. And the bridge is in & out very fast. It also lyrically changes the time frame of the song from the present to a future tense & then calls it back to the present at the end of the bridge with the key change & the return of the chorus lyrics. 

The chords used at the end of the chorus to arrive at the title are not garden variety. The aren't super complex but they are not cookie cutter.  I made the melody of the line "Now I know I'm on my way" jump around a little bit to purposely give the singer a chance to show off a bit. 

I ended the first half of the last verse with that big long high note on the 5 note on purpose. THAT'S the note people react to. I also purposely made it an easy vowel to sing to the singer could get real power behind it. 

I ALSO made the "Here I Am" chorus vocals repeat underneath it cuz I knew that during the finale productions of the show they liked to get the other singers who were part of the season to sing along... this would give them a part to sing that was actually in the song and also in SUPPORT of the winner. 

AND I kept this song short. This song has 2 verses, 2 climbs, a bridge, a key change, a double chorus, and layered vocal melodies and it's all over in  under 4 minutes. 

I was robbed. 

And now.... enjoy... :) 

STEP ONE

verse 1:
King of the hill in the shadow of a mountain
No one here but me
To make my history

My first day on the road not taken
There's farther still to run
There's more work to be done

climb 1:
Before the next path begins
I just want a moment to take this in

chorus:
Here I am standing on a new day
All I want is right in front of me
Now I know I'm on my way
The best part of my life has just begun
With step one

verse 2:
Moving on can be so overwhelming
Learning how to climb
One thing at a time

There were always people to help me
They let me in their heart
So I could get this far

climb 2:
Now the rest is up to me
I'll take a breath and dig down deep

chorus

bridge
Many years from now
When I stop and look around
And I think of where I've been
And what made me who I am
I will know it all started with now

chorus out

Step one
Step one

Step One

Full time musician at Disney World. 
Singer Songwriter.
Creative director at Forever In Song. 
www.jacemusic.com

Jace Pawlak

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