The Stories Behind Two Songs From Evolution
One song was a thank-you to Fran after a terrible fall. I wrote the other on a flight home after a long family legal dispute.
As told by Bob Zielsdorf
People tell me I'm a storyteller when they listen to my music. A lot of my songs come from things I've done or people I know. Two songs on Evolution stand out to me for very different reasons. I wrote “Together, You and Me” for my wife, Fran. I wrote “What If You Once Believed” on an airplane after a long family legal dispute.
Together, You and Me
Fran had a terrible fall at the end of 2019. It frightened me, and her recovery felt miraculous. When I finally tried my hand at writing a song, I wanted it to be for her. I started with what I wanted to say and worked out a tune on the guitar.
When I gave it to her, I called it my “thank you for not dying” song. That's what I meant, and I think that's how she took it. She wanted to keep it between us for a while, so we did. I was glad I'd found a way to tell her what her recovery meant to me.
What If You Once Believed
I wrote this one on the flight home after a lawsuit involving relatives had finally ended in a settlement. It had taken almost two years, with a lot of stress and expense. I felt I'd been treated unfairly. The song gave me somewhere to put that feeling on the way home.
Writing it helped me get some of that out of my system. The memories have faded, and the song's become one of my favorites. There's something soulful about it, and I think people can hear their own stories in it. You can come to the song with your own reasons for asking that question.