Take Time
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Lyrics:
What do you see when you look at me The girl with dirt across her cheeks Who walks right by without a smile And whose clothes haven’t been washed in quite a while Whose tiny voice is too soft to hear Who can’t converse, stammers up in fear You’ve seen me every day for the last few years And all that you can say is “She’s so weird” Take time to know me, I’m not who you think I am I’ve got a story that you need to hear Look past the surface, and see what’s within I think you’d be surprised to realize there’s more to me than what meets the eye And you’ll see the reason why If you just take time What can you say when you look my way The boy with scars across his face Who walks right by without a smile And who hasn’t been too kind in quite a while Whose eyes are lined with puffy bags Whose arms are bruised and full of scabs Just ‘cause you don’t like the way I act Doesn’t make it true to say, “He’s so bad” Take time to know me, I’m not who you think I am I’ve got a story that you need to hear Look past the surface, and see what’s within I think you’d be surprised to realize there’s more to me than what meets the eye And you’ll see the reason why If you just take time I’m the boy who never gets the answer right No matter how hard he tries I’m the girl who never will forget that night No matter how much she cries We all have our own reasons that we act the way we do And you would understand us If you’d Take time to know us, ‘cause we’re not who you think we are We all have stories that you need to hear Look past the surface, and see what’s within I think you’d be surprised to realize there’s more to us than what meets the eye And you’ll see the reason why You’ll find out why she cries You’ll feel the pain he holds inside If you just take time |
Copyright 2024
Lyrics and Melody by Kelsey Gallant (2011) Music by Ivan Korohovnyk (contributor: Jeremy S) Mixed by Cam Gallant and Kelsey Gallant Lyric video by Kelsey Gallant Photographers: Judy Glick and Dawn Gallant The Story Behind The Song:
This song was inspired by something my cousin posted on Facebook. It went something like, "That girl you just called ugly? She stands at the mirror for hours, trying to make herself beautiful. That boy you just called dumb? He has a learning disability and studies for four hours every night. That boy you just tripped? He faces enough abuse at home." That post reminded me of how people each have their own stories and that you never know what someone might be going through or why they act the way they do. Earlier that day, I had listened to "Aimless" by Bethany Dillon, which tells a story about a girl in the first verse, and a boy in the second verse, and I think that song influenced how I chose to structure this one. My first and second verses were initially more similar to each other, but then I changed the second verse after hearing a story shared by a boy in one of my college classes. This boy was someone I didn't particularly like, because in my opinion he acted obnoxious in class. But one day he shared about a time when his friend was in the hospital, and he stayed with his friend day and night, sleeping on the benches outside the hospital when he wasn't allowed to stay in the building. That helped me see a different side of him, and inspired the line, "Just 'cause you don't like the way I act / Doesn't make it true to say, 'He's so bad.'" This song was my absolute FAVORITE at the time I wrote it. I always dreamed of being able to share it with people, because I knew a lot of people would relate to it and I wanted to challenge people to take the time to get to know those around them instead of judging them. Ever since I wrote the song, I always had in mind a certain piano note progression that would come at the end of the chorus. I tried coming up with piano music for this song myself, but didn't come up with anything I liked. I hired Jeremy S from Fiverr to come up with some piano music, but once I heard it as just a piano song, I decided I wanted more instrumentation. So I hired Ivan K, who came up with this beautiful full instrumental track. Because I still really liked the music Jeremy had come up with for the bridge, I kept that part, overlaying it with Ivan's music. (Funny thing: the piano note progression I'd always had in mind did NOT end up making it into the final song! But I like the final song as it is.) 
album cover photo credit: Vickie Statler
album cover design: Cam Gallant & Kelsey Gallant |
