Walking in the Snow was supposed to be a song that made you feel like you’re missing something. You’re missing the warmth and comfort of something. (Yeah, I left that up for interpretation.)
If I had to choose a favourite from the EP, it’d be this one. It’s set in my favourite time signature (3/4 has and will always be superior to 4/4), there’s a major key change at the end, and it was the song that I’d constantly listen to for inspiration on newer projects.
For clarification: the music box is the harmony. The kalimba is the melody, and there’s a glockenspiel that does a call and response. I think I made this too complicated for my own liking.
Development
I think the funniest thing about this was that it wasn’t ever supposed to be something that was released. I posted a small clip of it in December of 2021, thinking that I’d never turn this into a song. It originally was just a test of some new software I’d bought. After I combed through my earlier songs that might’ve fit in with the theme I was going for, I thought this would fit in perfectly.
In fact, this particular tune kinda stretches out all the way to August of 2021. I was just learning how to use the hardware that I had dusted off from the basement, so nothing I was making sounded polished. I also was just acquiring as much free stuff as I could to get myself rolling. The inspiration for the harmony was a project I titled “Alone.”
Thankfully, I was able to figure out how to use the keyboard. Additionally, I accidentally wiped my hard drive in September of 2021, so that atrocity and a bunch of other really horrible projects are now wiped from the face of the earth without a trace.
Lyrics / Story
If you read my original rant about the song Lights Out, you’d know that I scrapped some lyrics for this song. I’m not really happy about that, and sometime in the future, I’ll record and release a version with the lyrics it always deserved. Not now, but later down the road.
The song’s lyrics were originally about dealing with someone close to your life (like a friend) leaving. The snow was the fog from someone drifting away. The cold nights were just feelings about how something that once filled you with joy wasn’t there at all. And I’m sharing way too much about the lyrics that were supposed to be.
Final Notes
This version is supposed to immerse you in the snow. And I think I did a good job at that.
It was never supposed to be my best work. It was never supposed to be a work that ever released. But I’m glad it ended up on the EP.