Changes
- Jason Buchanan
- Jun 29
- 4 min read
As I write this, I'm not sure this song will ever make it onto an album. It feels too ambitious.
We've just finished recording (an album which I think will be called "Somewhere in Between", a fitting title for many reasons). Even after we'd decided on the songs for the album, I was still writing regularly. And I think some of the songs I wrote in the time leading up to the studio sessions might be some of my best songs (at least, to me).
That being said, the album songs tell a cohesive story. They were written over a connected period of time and they reflect the artist I was developing into during 2025/2026. Still, I may look back one day and make a chronological best-of playlist, something that reflects my development through the years. I wonder if the song "Changes" might be on that album.
But first, the backstory. "Changes" wasn't the original title. The song was written in March 2026 while I was visiting my brother in Texas. I had a melody idea and worked through lyrics on the piano in his living room. [Personal Note: there are very few people willing to love a songwriter through the excruciatingly iterative process of melody and lyric development. My brother and his family are in that small group of generous folks.]
I wrote the song during the day at my brother's house. I remember not quite feeling settled on the lyrics, but considering them a good "placeholder". I thought I was being cute calling the song, "No Won Wins". I shared it with him then went into town to have dinner with my Aunt Shirley, first stopping by to visit the cemetery where my parents are buried.
The original placeholder lyrics are shown below. It was a negative song; a hopeless song:
No Won Wins (original lyrics for “Changes")
Lay down your head and rest your aching heart
In the dark before the dawn that breaks the sky
Come fall asleep and rest no less uncertain
We may never understand “the why”
If you’re gonna wait then you might as well dream
If you’re gonna dream then have hope of what is to be
There will be a long setting sun that you can’t outrun
If you’re gonna look up now, cover your eyes
Everyday we see the face of God
In the least and unexpected times
We have always known the arc is long
A pendulum that swings in years with hours in lives
If you’re gonna wait then you might as well dream
If you’re gonna dream then have hope of what is to be
There will be a long setting sun that you can’t outrun
If you’re gonna look up now, cover your eyes
And feel the warm light up the sun on your skin
The same rain that falls on us falls on them
In the end you can smile but don’t give in
If we lose love then no won wins
On the plane ride home, as is often the case, I thought about the things my parents used to say to me, rewriting the lyrics with their stories embedded into the song. I remember holding back tears on the plane as I rewrote the song. This is the final set of lyrics that I drafted:
Changes
Momma used to cry when we were young
Her joy and sadness sometimes looked the same
“You will never make right every wrong —
Hold your horses, child”, she’d often say
But if you’re gonna wait then you might as well dream
If you’re gonna dream then have hope of what is to be
There will be a long setting sun that you can’t outrun
If you’re gonna hope then let love be the ight
My old man suffered from a failing heart
He was generous to a fault, until the day he died
It might be better to have doubts than to be certain
‘Cause we may never understand “the why”
If you’re gonna wait then you might as well dream
If you’re gonna dream then have hope of what is to be
There will be a long setting sun that you can’t outrun
If you’re gonna hope then let love be the light
And feel the warm light of the sun on your skin
The same rain that falls on us fell on them
The setting sun will surely rise again
You don’t lose hope, it just changes
Everyday we see the face of God
In the least and unexpected times
We have always known the arc is long
A pendulum that swings in years with hours in lives
If you’re gonna wait then you might as well dream
If you’re gonna dream then have hope of what is to be
There will be a long setting sun that you can’t outrun
If you’re gonna hope then let love be the light
I fully expect to add a gospel choir to this song one day. It feels big. It deserves the grandiose treatment. But for now, you'll have to use your imagination in this demo. My friend Jacob Schrodt played the drums and Scott Mulvahill played the bass. Until one day, when there is a choir and full work up on the song, here is "Changes":
Note: for purists, I retook the vocal after I made this video. For my writing process, I usually track the scratch demo with vocal and piano at the same time…which I did for this song. Then for the songs I think are worthwhile, I bring in the bass, drums, and fiddle. Usually, I like my vocal recording throughout that process, but this time I did not. So I redid it but didn’t really find value in re-creating the video and retaking both piano and vocal for that process. So, you’ll find out-of-sync moments with my vocals (but not the piano, because I kept that recording).
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