TRY

Christmas, 1988. I was living with my boyfriend, Gary, for three years. It was one of those young, tempestuous relationships that could only end poorly.

We were not meant for each other, but I was so romantically attached and did not want this thing to end. He was sweet and cute. I was ballsy and ready. There we were on 99th Street and Lexington Avenue on the edge of Spanish Harlem, just one exposed train track line demarcation away from Carnegie Hill.

During this period, I was writing a lot of songs. I had been doing acting jobs that often included playing the guitar. And, I loved suspended chords (and Joni Mitchell, of course).
So I wrote a song to assuage the pain of the breakup. I’ve played it for years, for fun. I played it in a hotel in Martha’s Vineyard. I play it when someone asks me, “Play one of the songs that you wrote.” It’s called TRY. It’s kind of great and kind of hysterical.

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Today, it was raining all day long here in Los Angeles. My current boyfriend of twelve years, Adam, is not going anywhere. I mean, we’re just too old and happy to leave each other. We are getting ready to go to New York for two weeks. I had mountains of things to do. Bills to pay. Things to put in order. Pack. You name it.

But my MBox was sitting on my desk. And I thought, “Wouldn’t it be so much more fun to play with recording than to do administrative bullshit?” For those who don’t know, an MBox is something you buy at a music store. It’s basically a digital at-home studio with a USB connection. It comes with software that turns your tired PC (or Mac) into a day of fun, fun, fun.

So, I spent the whole day doing this. It’s rough. I didn’t know how to fade out at the end, though I tried to figure it out. I particularly liked laying down the vocal backups. There are three of them, doubled up and put through the reverb processesor.

I don’t feel the pain any longer of the 1988 breakup. But I still like this song.

If you’re in the mood, go to
TRY

And down in the tracks, you’ll see a few songs. TRY is one of them. Click on listen. I recommend earphones, especially if you are at work.