Poet and lyricist Stephen Kalinich has written the lyrics to not one but two songs for the new Brian Wilson album ‘Getting’ In Over My Head’ and one of those songs is a duet between Brian and Paul McCartney.
The McCartney song is titled ‘A Friend Like You’. “I was almost speechless and very touched and moved” Stephen tells Undercover News about his reaction when he heard the finished playback of the song. “Tears came gushing out because it is such a dedicated sweet, kind friendship. It is an honor, a dream come true, a thought for the world and I see Brian and Paul together.”
The song started out like this. “Brian gave me a melody one night with no ideas and I put it in my car tape deck” he says. “I started playing it over and over and the words to a lyric or poem I had in my heart for a few months started forming around the music. It all started to come together. I started crying in the car. It was a breath taking moving experience”.
The song was completed by the end of his journey. “By the time I got to my house the entire lyric to match almost each note was intact and complete. It was miraculous. I called Brian on the phone and sang it to him. He loved it”.
It was Brian’s wife Melinda who suggested Paul McCartney for the song. “I think he did a little demo at home and then he and Melinda (probably Melinda) somehow said it is a good song for Brian and Paul”.
That worked for Stephen. He had met Paul before through a mutual friend. “Paul I love” he says. “I met Heather a few years back at Adopt a Minefield. Cameron Crowe introduced me”.
His friendship with Brian goes back decades. “I love Brian like a brother. Beyond his music his soul is so kind and good. His consciousness is sweet”.
Stephen’s other song on the album is ‘You Touched Me’. ‘Getting’ In Over My Head’ will be released in June.
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