Wednesday, April 30, 2008

In A Moment

7. In A Moment

Words and music by Chris Sligh

Produced by Brown Bannister




The Writing:

This was the last song that I wrote for the HPF record. We actually had finished recording the album by the time I went to Hollywood week. In Hollywood, I was roommates with Phil Stacey and when we both made it to the top 40, we talked about n him coming up to Greenville to record a couple of songs in the time in between Hollywood and top 24 to have them available once the experience was over and he was talking to labels. I knew that for me, my HPF recordings would be invaluable, and I wanted Phil to have something, too. So, I went home and wrote this little love song for my wife with the intentions of Phil recording it.
 In order for Phil to learn the song, I put together a demo and sang on it. It was a full demo: piano, guitar, drums, etc. And I sang the vocal that you heard on the HPF album. I was proud of the song and took it over for Don to hear and he flipped and told me that I could NOT give that song to Phil. I talked to a bunch of people and everyone agreed, I had to keep that song.


As far as writing goes...it stayed the same from when I wrote it on guitar. Because I was writing it for Phil, I was trying to write my version of a Diane Warren song (she wrote Edwin McCain’s
I Could Not Ask For More, Aerosmith’s Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing and literally hundreds of other hit songs). And it worked. 

Just a side note: Brown told me that when he first heard the song, he couldn’t place it but he thought that it was weird that we were covering a Diane Warren song until he realized on second listen that it wasn’t a Warren song. Haha...little did he know. 



The Meaning:

Well, it’s pretty simple: it’s a love song about my wife and how in a moment life can change, both for good and for bad. But with her it’s changed for good.



The Recording:

This one included all the same players as the other Brown productions, with the addition of Stephen Leiweke on acoustic guitar. Brown and I wanted to change this song up slightly with the production, so instead of being completely piano based as the original HPF version had been, we wanted to start off with acoustic guitar and sparse piano...we thought with this one that less would be more, especially at the beginning of the song.

Dan Needham programmed the loop for this one, sitting at his drum set, with a little computer with Logic installed. He programmed at the end of the day on the first day of tracking, so that we could work on this first thing the next morning. Once he was done, Stephen came in that night and recorded the acoustic guitar.



One key difference between this and the original HPF version is where the key change happens. The HPF version’s key change happened right as it was going into the last chorus. Both Brown and I thought there was something special about that last chorus, but we didn’t want to make it so obvious (i.e., cheesy). So, we masked it a little bit by going to E major (from D major) out of an E chord out of the bridge. Simple, yet effective. 



Don, once again, did the string arrangement and we used the same method as we did for “Let You Know” and “Cry Tonight”...Don recorded his “fake” strings and then David Davidson recorded real violins over the top of that.


In a moment, love can pass you by  * 
And in a moment, a heart can come alive  * *

Every moment's getting better   *  Every moment brings me closer to you  * *  Can I hold you till the morning light  *  Takes away the dead of night  *  And sunrise shines on you?  *  Can love take all these fears away
 *  Till morning comes with brand new day?
 *  It's love that pulls us through
 *  In a moment  * *

In a moment love can tear you down
 *  And in a moment a heart can come around  * *  pre-chorus * chorus  * *  I feel you in my heart
I feel you in my soul  *  Oh, you make me whole  *  In a moment…  * *  chorus



16 comments:

Unknown said...

I have no doubts that "In A Moment" will be played at weddings all over the US in June.
This is a beautiful song.

Carrie said...

I agree, Cathy. BRB gettin' married so I can book Chris to sing at mine before he is overbooked. And Chris sdllkdsf you and Sarah are so cute together, the end.

Nique's Nana said...

In A Moment is and always will be my most favorite song. It is so lovely. "I feel you in my heart, I feel you in my soul" - that says it all. Everytime I hear that part of the song it gives me chills - I'm a sap.

DJ in AL said...

I think it's wonderful that you will always have this song as a public declaration of your love for Sarah. Tres romantic!

And what a beautiful song for a wedding, need to work that angle.

Anonymous said...

I am with Nique's on this one. Loved all your stuff but this one has a special place for me and many others.
I always thought of this as a THANK YOU to God for what we have been given because it can all change in a moment. You actually saw my tribute call In a moment to a dead friend and my grand girls favorite uncle on you tube with your song in the background.
He has been gone a year now April 28th. I bet he wished he had that moment to do over.

VanaBanana said...

I hope you will be singing this at your concert tomorrow night in Greenville. I just moved to the area so I was thrilled to hear you will be having a concert here!

Carrie said...

Yes, what Nique's said.

We're all sappy women here (for the most part) after all! :) Nothing wrong with that!

Cathy Storms said...

Nique~Nothing sappy about getting chills when your hear that line. I do the same thing.
Makes me want to renew my wedding vows so I can play it at my wedding. Well, only if Chris will come and sing it for us.

risalea said...

Ditto to all that has been said. Love this song.

Carrie said...

http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=FYe1Tm8qBh0

AI6 Bloopers. Chris is in it :) I can't watch it yet.. I'm watching Idol. But my friend said it's hilarious.

Anonymous said...

Pretty Amazing Grace ...wish I had wrote that one. Nice inference to the Almighty without being in your face. Syesha has been a pleasant surprise and Jason Castro has endearing charm. Little David good voice but his weaknesses are showing. David Cook is the winner for me, consistent all year long, very smart, good voice. His downloads are fantastic. He deserves to win this thing.

risalea said...

Guys, I'm headed to CA in the AM. Going to see my brother and his family. My niece is graduating from college. I'll get to a computer when I can, but unlike my house, where I pretty much have it to myself, I'll be competing with 4
other folks!

I'm looking forward to a little R and R and some much needed time away from day to day stuff. And I plan to meet Cathy in person while I'm there!

Talk to y'all soon! Risa

Carrie said...

Have a safe and fun trip, Risa!

rosalee said...

Another strong contender to be a single. In my opinion, it is a stronger song than "Let You Know". However, I think that your next single needs to be more uptempo for a change of pace, so "Let You Know" will probably win out. This one definitely needs a video, too....

gdahimself said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gdahimself said...

"Let You Know', I believe, has the greatest cross over possiblities into the Pop/Mainstream market which would make any further release open to earlier consideration for airplay in that market.

"In A Moment" as lovely as it is, it is a little laidback in terms of mainstream airplay outside the adult comtemporary market, like The Beatle recording of "Things we Said Today", another lovely song, performace and a personal favorite, it's not an obvious choice for a single, yet. I think it could do well on the country charts, which isn't a big surprise seeing who was to record it originally.