Happier Words
I'd like an opportunity to age, if not so gracefully
By your side
I have noticed that I seem to live a bit more patiently
When I can feel your hand in mine
Let’s do all the things we’ve loved to do forever
And some of them, now, we’ll do together
The way I see you now is the way I’ve seen your smile in photographs
When you’ve been far from me
It’s harder to fear the future after the past few years of gratitude
Carved themselves into my face
In lonelier years, the saddest songs helped me feel alive
You know the kind
Maybe it’s time
To change the words to every sad song we’ve ever loved
To something happier
Something like the way I felt with you
When we sang along
Emptied our lungs, dancing in that sea of strangers
Where I’d finally admit what you already knew
In lonelier years, the saddest songs helped me feel alive
I’m changing the words
"Happier Words" must be the most plainly romantic song I’ve made, with the speaker discovering their own contentment to grow old with a romantic partner. In context of the relationship, sad songs that were always a source of consolation for both of them now somehow sound rosier, inspiring lyrical adaptations with happier words.
This song originally had an extended bridge—a "medley" of quotes from literal favorite sad songs with their words replaced with happy messages. While it was fun to translate everything into major key and waltz meter, ultimately, the song was stronger without it, and it simplified the release (of the song and the album, (The future isn't what it used to be.) by eliminating the question of cover licensing.
Music & Lyrics by Tyler Jameson Newton
Performed & Recorded by Tye Newton
Produced & Mixed by Tye Newton
Consultation & Mastering by Justin Newton
Art direction by Tye Newton
Cover art design by Tye Newton
Photography by Tye Newton
Videos for
Happier Words
Happier Words
Happier Words
I'd like an opportunity to age, if not so gracefully
By your side
I have noticed that I seem to live a bit more patiently
When I can feel your hand in mine
Let’s do all the things we’ve loved to do forever
And some of them, now, we’ll do together
The way I see you now is the way I’ve seen your smile in photographs
When you’ve been far from me
It’s harder to fear the future after the past few years of gratitude
Carved themselves into my face
In lonelier years, the saddest songs helped me feel alive
You know the kind
Maybe it’s time
To change the words to every sad song we’ve ever loved
To something happier
Something like the way I felt with you
When we sang along
Emptied our lungs, dancing in that sea of strangers
Where I’d finally admit what you already knew
In lonelier years, the saddest songs helped me feel alive
I’m changing the words
Music & Lyrics by Tyler Jameson Newton
Performed & Recorded by Tye Newton
Produced & Mixed by Tye Newton
Consultation & Mastering by Justin Newton
Art direction by Tye Newton
Cover art design by Tye Newton
Photography by Tye Newton
Lovelorn Lullaby
This is home, warmth, love, happiness
Time, gratitude
It’s my home with you
And I see you when I look around
In every inch of my life
I see the way I’ve felt with you
Glowing in this light
I can see, hear, feel us laughing and
Loving, singing, planning, dancing
It’s a dream
Falling asleep here with you missing
In our empty apartment
Feels like giving up
I’m so tired but I’m not ready
I’m not ready
It was "no more nightmares
Sleep easier, now we're home"
"We’re really living the dream, aren’t we?"
And now it’s "goodbye sweet dreams"
Our foundation crumbles as I sleep
The nightmare is awake, not me
Not me
Here is our home, new again; bare walls, patient with potential
The gold hardwood floor still waiting for the shadow of our black faux leather sofa
The forsaken guest room door ajar, beyond the dark, unwanted television
The bright, open kitchen wishing for the soundtrack of Elbow and Damien
Rising through the stairway landing where we’ll integrate our friends’ art on display
The old brick and space left naked for the photographs we’ll take but never frame
The hollow of the walk-in closet where we’ll laugh at how even your jeans fit me
In the nook with the red Japanese chair, the deluge will lull us both to sleep
The skylight in the vacant corner of the loft will cast our bed like a cathedral
Where I will sneak snapshots of you dreaming blissfully in that summer sun cascade
Nearby, the gas stove—sitting cold—will drive the winter from our bones
Beside the gap for the piano and the strings we’ll tune to summon the spring
And we will choose our favorite sad songs, substituting words to make them happy
Recorded evidence of our love, compellingly performed but incomplete
And we will learn to synchronize our walk and let the music move us in time
And I will try to lead you, hand in hand, cheek to cheek, your chest pressed to mine
We’ll embrace until the dance is over, then we will leave no trace of it behind
Only the bats in the ceiling will remember that vinyl record skipping in my mind
But I’ve already carved the shape of you into the songs and rhythms of my life
It’s too late to separate the future from the dream
Releases
