Once
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Lyrics:
All your friends said it’s fine So you made up your mind And you did it Oh, oh, oh, you did it Oh, oh oh You crossed the thin line That had been there all the time You wish you didn’t Oh, oh, oh, you didn’t Oh, oh, oh ‘Cause you always looked down on the people who did And up until now you weren’t that kind of kid You feel dirty, you feel ruined What are you doing? It was one time Kissed your old self goodbye ‘Cause now you’ve done it one time Well, you’ve crossed to the other side Wish you could hit rewind Wish you could go back in time They said once wouldn’t change anything but that’s a lie Once changed your whole life Well you went home that night And you laid down and cried You felt hollow Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh hollow Ooh, ooh, ooh You’d disappointed yourself When you were challenged you fell Hard to swallow Ooh, ooh hard to swallow Ooh, ooh ooh So what does it matter if you do it again? You can never go back to who you were before then A lapse in judgement, you lost something You never saw it coming It was one time Kissed your old self goodbye ‘Cause now you’ve done it one time Well, you’ve crossed to the other side Wish you could hit rewind Wish you could go back in time They said once wouldn’t change anything but that’s a lie Once changed your whole life But it doesn’t have to You can still go back to The way things were before You can’t change the fact that you’ve done it But you can choose not to do it anymore Things can still get better If you only let them You don’t have to keep spiraling down You can turn your life back around It’s not over, you’re not ruined It was one time And it messed with your mind Now you’ve done it a hundred times ‘Cause you’d already crossed to the other side Well, you can’t hit rewind But you can fix your life You say once ruined everything but that’s a lie The truth is people make mistakes all the time And it’s not too late to be all right Don’t let once ruin your life. |
Copyright 2022
Lyrics by Kelsey Gallant (2018) Melody by Kelsey Gallant (2018) Music by Kelsey Gallant, Dom Alaimo, and Reed Pittman (2022) Produced by Dom Alaimo at Red13 Studios The Story Behind The Song:
This song was inspired by a teenager who used to tell me stories about stuff that was going on in his high school. One of the things he told me was that a lot of kids vaped, and that he thought vaping was disgusting and stupid. When I found out a few months later that he had started vaping, I was shocked and upset. I had known this kid for a long time, and it was painful to watch his attitude and behavior decline drastically in the months after he started vaping. He became depressed and angry, and made many decisions that were harmful to his health and relationships. I kept wondering "Why? Why is he doing this to himself? Why is he still making these choices when obviously they're only making his life worse?" Then I started thinking about how I would feel if I, in a lapse of judgment, did something I looked down on and always swore I'd never do. Even if I only did it one time, it would forever alter my perception of who I was. I would go from being "a person who doesn't do that" to "a person who has done that" and I would feel awful about it. I could easily see how this could lead to the defeatist mindset of "I've already done it once, what does it matter if I do it for the rest of my life? It's not like I can go back and undo anything." I wrote "Once" with these thoughts in mind. I wanted to provide encouragement, to assure people like this teenager that their life isn't over just because they made a mistake. I really wanted to emphasize that whatever poor choices you've made don't have to define you, and that it's never too late to stop doing those things and to turn your life back around. You can't change the past, but you can change the future. I always loved the lyrics and melody of this song. In 2020 when I started producing, I came up with some basic piano and synth-violin accompaniment that I thought sounded nice. I worked my way through the entire song and a few months later thought it was ready for release. My family listened and said no, it wasn't anywhere near ready. The drums were inconsistent, the bridge music was wacky, and the whole thing felt disorganized. I let the song sit for several months, and when I listened again I agreed with them! I made a few edits, which helped, but I couldn't figure out how to fix the whole thing. I ended up taking this song to a "real" studio to finish it up. I worked with a producer named Dom Alaimo, and he helped me come up with better music for the bridge and a drum track that would stay consistent throughout the song. I hired Reed Pittman to embellish my piano, adding some chords and making it flow more smoothly. I am SO excited to be releasing "Once" as my first official single - available on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and other music distributors! 
It has been four years since I wrote this song, and I'm happy to share that the teenager who inspired it is doing really well now. He has stopped vaping, and has repaired many of the relationships that were fractured during that time. He has a positive attitude and has used his experiences to encourage others to make good choices.
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