Don’t tell me how to feel
Unless you pay my bills
Don’t tell me who to be
Unless your name is me

Like all the songs I’ll be releasing, Unless Your Name Is Me exists in an infinite number of versions.

One measure I use to gauge whether or not lyrics are solid, is their genrebending capacity

Can I can jam the poetry loud & aggressively, giving the lyrics a confrontational edge, charging with rhino energy?
Is the structure nimble, malleable enough, that the poetry could sweat its way through a Blues progression?
Will the syllables grow quiet, drift down feather-soft, wrapped in warmth, lulled into a lullaby?
Do I keep breaking my own heart, just a little, again, every time I play it?

This Down & Dirty Demo version of Unless Your Name Is Me specifically exists because of one person.

Months ago, I sent 2 co-workers (from the dayjob) a horribly early, rough cut of this song. That’s always scary: not just allowing, but causing, the professional & personal lives to collide. A long time ago, I gave into those niggling impulses that refuse to go away. Like many times before, this giving-into-a-gumption resulted in a positive turn.

My co-worker & part-time friend, Hallie, loved the song.

Now, Hallie is the coolest cheerleader I know. She believes in people, helps them succeed. She’s fun & bubbly & sometimes sassy, in the best sort of way. Hallie is also near-infinitely patient, offering so much grace to the people she helps. It’s easy to connect with Hallie. We don’t even have to try to make each other laugh, it just happens.

Hallie’s encouragement while this song was still in a very embryonic stage, gave me that extra push to keep working on it, to keep playing & workshopping it at Open Mics.

Creating is often a solitary activity. With visual art, music, whatever the medium, it’s the moment of an artist sharing their inner world with the outer world that feels the riskiest.

I took that risk with Hallie. Her enjoyment of the art I’d made confirmed for me that, yes, it was worth sharing. So now anyone who stumbles upon it, and feels some good vibes, should absolutely amplify those good vibes to the people all around them. It is so easy to make someone’s day just a hint brighter.

Hallie~

Howdy! Thanks for being you. You are the coolest cheerleader I know. You were in my mind as I recorded this version of Unless Your Name Is Me. Your positive energy, your love for people, your sassy self. I don’t know if you can hear the physical smile running through the song. If you can, it came from my thankfulness for your encouragement & the absolute joy of knowing you. You’re a gem.

~Lucas

Listen to the down & dirty demo version of Unless Your Name Is Me on your favorite streaming platform.

Click below to listen on Spotify:

Song: “Unless Your Name Is Me”
Artist: Lucas Hargis

For your listening enjoyment, also available on YouTube.