A year ago I was attempting to reconcile a long distance relationship with a woman I had hoped to spend the rest of my life with. As scheduling would have it, the only time we could meet was Valentine’s weekend. We agreed with the condition we wouldn’t actually celebrate the weekend or exchange gifts. In a show of tongue in cheek protest over the fact that I couldn’t officially celebrate the holiday with her, I wrote her a song instead.

Unfortunately the relationship did not last… but the memories and this song remain. “No Valentine” was recorded entirely on my iPad and really only meant for her ears. (Later strings and accents were added by my good friend Phil Lewis). I thought maybe one day I would return to it and redo it, but for now it still holds a bit of a sting. I decided to share this demo recording because 2016 WILL be the year that I release new music (yes you read that correctly) and because I know there are many colors to this thing called love. This may just be the one needed for someone’s current picture.

No Valentine Demo

Fun fact:

I went to a Stevie Wonder concert many years ago and he told a story of how he wrote a song for a woman he was hoping to reconcile with on the road. He said he didn’t get the girl but the song lived on…. You might have heard of it. “Till you come back to me” made famous by Aretha Franklin.