Black & Blue

by Sara Curtin

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about

This was the first song I'd written in over a year. It turns out that having two babies at once, trying to prove to myself and the world that I could still be a productive member of society, and living through the shock and devastation of the start of a global pandemic can take its toll on one's creative energy and spirit.

In June of 2020, after 78 straight days of recording a live performance of a new song every day, I put down my guitar for a break. It wasn't until March 2021 that I picked it up one night to play just for myself. The next night when I picked it up again, I noticed a little pain - like a bruise - where the guitar pressed into my chest. It was such a familiar feeling to hold the guitar, but the pain made it seem foreign.

My body had gotten used to life without it so close.

The similarities to other aspects of life post-pandemic and postpartum came flooding into my heart and voice, and this song poured out.

In the summer of 2021 I decided to share my recording with fellow musician (and recording engineer from my album Or So It Seemed) Eamonn Aiken with the hope that he could mix it on some cool new equipment he was testing out. When he sent his version back, it had been transformed. He wrote to me "It’s touched a nerve...The combination of loving the song + the backstory sort of inspired me to pick up my much neglected guitar and lap steel and play along, and oh it was nice." I fell in love with the guitar parts he added, and was similarly moved by the fact that my song and story had inspired someone else to create. It was such a beautiful reminder of how powerful and healing music and art can be.

I hope you love this song as much as I do. It means a great deal to me. Thanks so much for listening, sharing, and purchasing.

lyrics

BLACK & BLUE (lyrics)

It’s been so long since I’ve held you
So tight
I turned black & blue
Pressed to my chest, a feeling came
A little good
And a little pain

Just a girl on the top floor Looking out
Afraid of the world
I wanted everything in place And then the walls
Started to shake

I remember holding you all night
I remember holding you so tight

It’ll take a day or two
To fade
From black & blue
But the memory remains
A little good
And a little pain

I remember holding you all night
I remember holding you so tight
I remember holding you all night
I remember holding you so tight

credits

released March 4, 2022
SARA CURTIN (songwriter & recording engineer): vocals, acoustic guitar, bass, percussion

EAMONN AIKEN (recording engineer & instrumentalist): electric guitars, lap steel, pretty sounds

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about

Sara Curtin Washington, D.C.

"One of D.C.'s finest" - Brightest Young Things

Artist Fellow - DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities 2014 - present

"Visionary" - Glide Magazine

American Songwriter "Daily Discovery": www.americansongwriter.com/2015/06/daily-discovery-sara-curtin-summer/

photos by Plume Photography ... more

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