November Rain

What’s the story behind November Rain?

I think the most unique thing about this song is the lyrics, and how they tell a coherent and heartfelt story that took me about 2 years to write. With the song being about my uncle who passed away literally a decade ago, writing this song took me a lot of courage to both write and record. Like Charlie Puth’s “see you again” being about his friend that passed away in a car accident, this song is about my uncle who passed away from cancer. As me and my uncle were pretty close, there’s a huge amount of detail that I put in my song, expressing me missing him and wishing that I could see him for just a little longer. And as he passed away in November and the day that he was buried was raining heavily, I thought November rain would be the perfect title. I felt every word I sang, from “being afraid to put songs about him out in the past, cause it felt like I was saying goodbye” to “not being used to the empty chair on my grandma’s table at Christmas”. Every word I wrote, I meant.

What influenced the production?

I took inspiration from disco and r&b mainly. The groove of the drums are very disco-y from the late 90s, but the guitars and chords are r&b chords. On top of these two styles, as I was listening to a lot of hip hop when i wrote this song, the flow and the way I delivered it vocally is influenced heavily by hip hop music. My main influence for this song would be Prince. When I listen to his slower music, I always think it’s really grand, even though the instrumentation and the groove might be simple. That’s why when I was writing this song, I wanted to reflect that. And even though the beat is pretty simple. The place where the vocals sit and the way the chorus is written, delivers what I was envisioning.

What makes this song special for you?

The fact that I spent a long time on the lyrics, and how to phrase certain things I wanted to say. Even though the beat is pretty easy to write over, I didn’t want filler lines in the song. And if people would keep an eye on the lyrics, I would really appreciate that. Like all my music, I make it to tell my story and express what I’m feeling, if the audience likes the song that would be a plus. But for this song, it’s mainly to get this huge piece of stone off my chest and I think I did that. So that’s the most important thing for me personally.

How did you start making music?

I started playing the violin and piano at 6 or 7, I carried on learning these two instruments till the end of high school. Even though I wanted to either do Law or Journalism, since I was sleeping at 2am every night in high school making songs after I finished my homework. I decided to go to Berklee, College of Music in Boston to pursue music as a career.

What’s your creative process like?

I usually start off with a simple idea, either a word, a title, a chord progression or even a sound. Since I make my own beats, I usually start making the beat, and fine tuning it. After I’m done with the beat, I then start writing, usually in the train, as I write a lot fast when I’m trying to go somewhere. When I finish it, I record it, before I would use my school’s studio but for this song and a lot of other songs, I usually would just do it at home by myself. After the song is recorded and written, I’ll start mixing it and then it’s done.

You’ve been dropping a new track every couple of weeks! Do you plan to keep this up?

Yes! I look at music like a craft, and like a painter; the more paintings he does, the better he gets. And I think this applies to my music, as I write more and more songs, my delivery, my lyrics and production will all improve. And I guess my goal is just to be the best musician I can and put out the best music that I’m proud of.

What are your life goals?

I can say that my life goal is for me to live a long and happy life, being healthy and all that, but I would be lying. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow or even today (as 2020 has been a mess), so I tend to look at life step by step, setting short term goals for myself. And I guess my goal now, is to make dope songs that people would like, and hopefully my name gets bigger in the distant future.

[Verse 1]
I still choke a little
Every time your name comes up
Hold my tears
Once they fall oh
Cause I can’t make em stop
I put pressure on my wrist
Cause my arms cant stop shaking
It’s been a decade since u left
Still you be reappearing

[Pre-chorus]
In my dreams
In my sleep
In my lyrics
I’m afraid
To put them out
Cause it feels
I’m closing up your chapter
but I’m not
Not prepared
To let you go
Too much stories left untold
So I keep you in my
Yellow note book in this cardboard box
In the attic of my parents house
To stop myself from thinking about you too much
To stop myself from thinking what I could’ve done

[Chorus]
But every time
November rain got me thinking bout you
You slipped away
And you left me too soon
Rain and tears
Soak my black suit and boots
It’s been a minute
But i still feel the blues

November rain got me thinking bout you
Took you away
And you left us too soon
Rain and tears
Soak my black suit and boots
Do anything
To take that one look at you

[Verse 2]
Tell myself a hundred times
There’s nothing to be done
Helped auntie settle down
Before you end your run
Pray you left without the pain
You’re up there and you’re okay
I’m so sorry
Wasn’t there by your side

[Pre-chorus]
When you
Closed your eyes
Hate myself
For not saying goodbye
And it haunts me in my dreams
Every other night
I know that if you’re here today
With a smile upon your face
You’ll say son its all okay

But it’s not okay
Christmas don’t feel the same
I hate that empty chair on grannies table
When it’s still your place
Times could pass
But some things never change
Too much I wanna say
Guess I’ll start this shit off
With how was your day
Cause these words they’re boulders
On my shoulder blades
You loved me so
Yet I didn’t say the same
Now every time in November
When it starts pouring rain
Your voice begins to echo
Echo through my brain

[Chorus]
November rain got me thinking bout you
You slipped away
And you left me too soon
Rain and tears
Soak my black suit and boots
It’s been a minute
But I still feel the blues

November rain got me thinking bout you
Took you away
And you left us too soon
Rain and tears
Soak my black suit and boots
Do anything
To take that one look at you

[Bridge]
Another year
Another month
Would be more than enough
Another day
Another hour
Maybe to catch things up
Turn back the clock
Let you know I loved you just as much
Maybe these tears will finally fucking start to stop

[Chorus]
November rain got me thinking bout you
You slipped away
And you left me too soon
Rain and tears
Soak my black suit and boots
It’s been a minute
But I still feel the blues

November rain got me thinking bout you
Took you away
And you left us too soon
Rain and tears
Soak my black suit and boots
Do anything
To take that one look at you

To take that one look at you
To take that one look at you