Some songwriting requires a bit more work while other times songs just seem to come my way. This is the backstory on how “Hey Rosie” came to be.
Often songwriting can take considerable time and effort: putting the pieces together here, tweaking it there, finding the words to fit the feeling of the song. Others times the songwriting process seems more like being open to the energies around me.
In 2008 I decided to move to Austin. I knew a woman there named Rachel who offered her RV to me for a place to stay temporarily while I looked for my own space. Her granddaughters Rosie and Angel, 3 and 5 years old, took a curious interest in this new guy with a guitar in their driveway, checking me out, laughing, sharing their smiles, open hearts and childhood playfulness… those gifts young children bring to us.
Later I sat down in the RV and “Hey Rosie” became a “take” within an hour or so. I played it for them the following afternoon after a tiny bit of editing and word choices. But it was ALL ‘JUST THERE ‘ – saying to them what I felt was true and immediate (so far ) in our experience of the first hours knowing each other.
It has been a hands down favorite to my audiences. It must have hit that ‘nerve’ …
“Hey Rosie” is on the recent Each Others Legend album, “For Just One Touch”.
And because good things should be shared, here’s a gift for y’all:
Lyrics
Hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie
and Angel too
I just wanted to leave you all with something
you might use or throw away or even hold on to
But you change me
Every time you touch me
And I just want to hand it right back to you
Hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie
that smile about breaks my entire façade in two
yeah an angel and somehow to me already a mother
oh the child in me is already somehow well nurtured by you
and you change me
every time I see you
now I just wanted to hand it right back to you
Hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie
Hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie
and Angel too
and Angel too
Instrumental
Hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie
oh your eyes remind me there’s a bright eternity
and Angel your heart’s like a roadmap
all laid out there before you
just don’t forget a flashlight so on a dark night
you can still see
yes and another thing
let’s hope you know these gifts you bring
maybe this can be like a friendship ring
maybe like a flashlight on the dark night too
Hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie
Hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie hey Rosie
and Angel too
and Angel too
~Joseph Langham ©2018