Maternal Warmth of Family

I occasionally wake up with a tune in my head. It’s not very often, but it happens from time to time. I almost always forget it by the time I am up and out of bed. Sometimes I remember them, but when I try to put the melody to music, it falls apart.

Maternal Warmth of Family is the only time it’s ever worked out.

We had just moved into the RV. In fact, I think we were still in our first week of RV life. We were camping at what would end up being our favorite hometown spot. I woke up to a hot, muggy RV and there was a melody in my head. I grabbed my OP-1, and the chords came easy.

Fast forward four months, and the song was really starting to take shape while we were in Florida. We had been ill with a nasty virus for a couple weeks, which caused us to extend our stay at a RV park.

We had a cool spot in the back loop. We were surrounded by Spanish moss-covered oaks, palmettos, and retiree neighbors. The illness we had came in cycles of fever, so on my non-feverish days, I was working through Maternal Warmth of Family.

It’s a song about family, as the title implies. I wrote it from a spectator’s point of view, recalling some dysfunctional family ties that have caused pain for a dear friend of mine. Pain, but not necessarily distance. Even when family is painful, it’s still family. Even when you know it’s an empty invitation, it’s still inviting.

Once the song was written and had taken shape, I realized it wasn’t as specific as I originally thought. I have a specific relationship in mind when I hear it, but I think the cycle of being hurt by the hand that feeds you, forgiving, and working up the courage to love alongside the hurt… that applies to a lot of families.