Photo Books And Empty Rooms
by @davidtaro
Liner Notes
This one is… an #experiment 🤷. I suspect the song would work ok as a standard guy and guitar thing, but having just done something similar I figured I’d go a bit leftfield. Enter some Vangelis-style #synths and modulated guitar tones! I think I quite like it at this stage, but that could just be the bias of the new.
The photobooks are a reference to an annual tradition in our family, where I lovingly (and, latterly, begrudgingly) put together a c.40-page book with pictures of my sons. We give them to grandparents as Christmas gifts and keep a copy or two for ourselves. They sit on a shelf in one of the boy’s rooms, each copy with the respective year printed on the spine. I just had a moment where I could picture - perhaps in about 10-15 years time - all those books stacked up in an otherwise empty bedroom. Which I realise is sad, but sometimes it’s therapeutic to wallow in sadness a little. I hope some Fawmers can relate. #parenting
(Chords below are with capo at 4th fret).
Lyrics
The boys left again this morning Back to their lives Two tickets on the first train out Barely said goodbye
We were four and now we’re two And all we have Are photo books and empty rooms Photo books and empty rooms
It’s nice having all this space Just you and me Now you’ve got that private study You said you really need
TV dinners made for two And all we have Are photo books and empty rooms Photo books and empty rooms
I don’t recall half these pictures We took when they were young If life is a three act play We’ve hit the final one
But raising good children Might be the best thing we’ll ever do Now all we have Are photo books and empty rooms Photo books and empty rooms Photo books and empty rooms
Comments
Right in the feels. My kids are both in their 20s now, son still in college, daughter has moved to a different city. Beautifully emotionally conveyed. I was too busy feeling emotions to be distracted by the production experiments, but I take that to mean it works.
I love this. It's such a good theme for a song and you used your magic to make it totally relatable to all of us, whatever our age or family situation. That's talent!
This is a beautiful chord progression, perfect for the subject matter. Got to be that magical Fm... and I think a lot will relate to the title line.
As a daughter, I love the photo book collection, especially in this day of digital photos. My mother made a scrapbook for each of us with just a sampling of photos. I know she had hordes more but I suspect my brother ended up with them (there’s one in every family - lol) after she died. The nostalgia in this is so beautiful! Nicely done!