“Warm” - a song about anemoia
Recorded at Horseshoe Pond in the CVNP (Cuyahoga Valley National Park)
Story Pairing
Ah nostalgia (of a sort). It’s a spice present in this musing and the next one I will share. The relationship with daydreaming and moments in time is interesting. When you sit down at a page to write a song you end up dancing through moments that have a semblance of connection but not always a chronological one. You might take a feeling you had 10 years ago, splash something else from last month, and then season with something that happened this morning. Those lines of connection are experience based and have little to do with the when. It’s the what that remains king.
On top of the what, you have the how. How to tell the story or share the feeling that you so desperately want to get out of your head and on to a page somewhere. I love a placeholder. What an incredible tool to have in the songwriting kit. This song is a great example. I used a relationship as a placeholder because it’s complex and relatable to so many. The dynamic between individuals has infinite handholds for the listener, and that’s often important to me. Once the song is written and shared, it’s not mine anymore, it’s the listener. So I like making songs (not always, but often) that are welcoming to anyone feeling something and looking for a place to fold that emotion into. So with this song I dressed the nostalgia that I was feeling in the clothes of a lost relationship.
This song was written in a cabin in Springfield, MO. I was walking around with this chord progression being banged out on my guitar over and over. The cabin had a bare concrete floor, and my focus on music was just enough to take the sting of the cold out of my immediate attention. That wasn’t the case for miss Ashley, who was bundled up and reading and doing an amazing job of blocking out the repetitive noise I was making. I had the chords and a gut feeling, but I needed some sort of a jumping off place for words. I had spent the morning watching re-runs of Bonanza, and the old western content really effect me. In my current state of softness I doubt I could last in the West of the past very long, but if eased into it or if I had been born in a different time, I think I would have enjoyed being a capable gentleman like Hoss Cartwright. The romantic idea of working a ranch alongside my brothers and dad while standing up for what’s good, lovely. The simplicity is what really draws me in. No screens, subscriptions, AI, social media, stock markets, class action lawsuits, telemarketing, pop up windows, Microsoft Teams, zoom calls,…. all of it is so noisy and overwhelming. The ideas of honest hard work, deals made with a handshake, keeping your word, monthly barn dances, and holding the door open for people… it speaks to me.
So all of that was swirling in my stomach, but I couldn’t find a way to create a story that held any of that. When I hit a wall, I love to pester. The pester is an underrated tool right up there with the placeholder. So I started to invade Ashley’s space. I brought my chirping guitar even closer into her bubble and asked her what’s the first thing this makes her think of. A patient and deliberate closing of the book, and a slow meeting of my eyes later… she said the word “warm”. She said a second word too, but I can’t remember it. Warm was all I needed. It was like a match to gunpowder, and the song was just there. I walked back over to the red couch, and wrote this song.
Songwriting is all about collecting pieces everywhere you go and with everything you see. Hauling those pieces around in a big sack. Then hope you have a strike of inspiration or a patient partner to nudge you and those pieces in the right direction (and out of her reading space).
Song Structure
Capo 4
Verse: G - A7 - D - D7 - G - D7
Pre-Chorus: A7 - D
Chorus: G - E7 - A7 - D - D7
Voice Memos
Notebook Page
March 2026
Lyrics
I’ve been waiting for what feels like
Been waiting for what feels like
A couple years now
To get back to warm
Stuck inside a cold snap
Dead middle of an ice trap
Could be nice to get back
Get back to warm
Do you remember that house
One room one bath
Said I’m just stepping out
Gonna be right back
I’ve been watching that door
Pacing that floor
Ever since
Spring turned to summer
Summer to fall
Winter wind blowing
You never called
Now I’m shivering and shakin
Surley mistaken
That’s all
I think I kinda liked the way it was
But when you like the staying put, it never does
I’ve been waiting for what feels like
Been waiting for what feels like
A couple years now
To get back to warm
Stuck inside a cold snap
Dead middle of an ice trap
Could be nice to get back
Get back to warm
Solo
I’ve been waiting for what feels like
Been waiting for what feels like
A couple years now
To get back to warm
Stuck inside a cold snap
Dead middle of an ice trap
Could be nice to get back
Get back to warm
I’ve been waiting for what feels like
Been waiting for what feels like
A couple years now
To get back to warm
Stuck inside a cold snap
Dead middle of an ice trap
Could be nice to get back
Get back to warm
Long as you stay good and gone
Ill find my old feet and carry on
Finally I can get back to warm