Time & Distance

The story behind the song - Substack pre-release.

I have always loved this song, and Jim Croce. Several years ago, Paulo and I were doing one of our long weekend co-writes. I was flipping through a notebook of song ideas and found “bedtime prayers and trusting beliefs, with age look fragile and naive.” When I wrote that, I had no idea what it would become. Paulo gave me his usual encouragement of “that sounds cool, what do you hear?” I tentatively said, “I think its a waltz; and I would love to do something that is a shout out to Time In A Bottle.”

That’s all the prompting Paulo needed. He started playing something similar to the guitar part you will hear shortly. He played and I started scratching out the rest of the lyrics. We iterated a bit, tweaked here and there, and ended up with a “scratch” guitar/vocal, which Todd and I then turned into this version.

Caveat, this is not final. I hear things in the mix that need tweaking but they are minor. I haven’t shared new music for a couple of weeks, so I didn’t want to hold this back even though it still needs a little tidying. So, here you go. Here is Time & Distance. Written by Tamara Casey and Paulo Coelho. Paulo on guitar (simply amazing), Todd Wright on piano. Production Todd Wright and me. Vocals - me.

Where did the original idea come from? That’s easy. When I can’t fall asleep (often), I think about the childhood bedtime prayers I was taught. The Lord’s Prayer, Now I Lay Me Down, etc. Why? God only knows. (Ha, see what I did there?) These are just what pop in my head. Running through them helps quiet my mind. I am not religious in any traditional sense, but they remain. A link to simpler times I suppose.

From the opening line, the rest of the song came easily. Time In A Bottle is a love song, but I knew that was not where these lyrics were headed, at least not directly. This is a song about reflection. It’s really an inner monologue set to music.

Verse 1 recalls childhood memories like this one. That’s me in the black dress, taken at Iceland in Berkeley, CA. One of the home rinks of the St. Moritz Figure Skating Club. The same club that gave us Kristi Yamaguchi back in the day and Alysa Liu now.

Verse 2 captures reflections on a long career, and the loves that came and went while pursuing it. This work headshot from a few years ago sums up that aspect.

V3 is about unexpectedly finding love again at 54, after having given up. Here’s a photo of my boo from a couple years ago. We reconnected after 32 years, because he heard my music and reached out. Happy Valentines Day MachineSpeak.

The chorus, like this Substack writing, is a reminder that we are continually starting over, writing and rewriting our stories, never quite sure what time and distance are doing to our memories. I have had so many “opening acts” I have lost count. If you have been following me here, you will know that I have written about many of them. Usually under the heading of Confessions Of A Something Or Other. I still have more stored up for you. Here’s a teaser.

The bridge, well, yeah, getting old is a bitch. “Years, can often slip from our mind, like a lost treasure.” This is really why I started writing on Substack. To capture all this craziness, adventure, hope, heartache, success, motivations, inspirations, and to share my musical journey. However, it’s turned into something more. I guess, this is my way of capturing Time In A Bottle.

Let me know if you enjoyed the song. I hope you know how much I value your feedback. These days, a kind word from you all means more than any amount of streams.

Thank you all so much!

xoxo

Taz

Time & Distance © Tamara Casey and Paulo Coelho