Dana Hassall

You'd think since I'm twenty now, I'd just slot into the cynical ways of the rest of the world. 9 to 5, rush rush rush, "no time right now, I can schedule a coffee catch-up for next week maybe", night time comes and you sit at home on the computer finishing up the things you didn't get done at work today. It doesn't even seem like it shouldn't be that way, because for a lot of the western world, it IS that way.

The ten year old inside me still believes in happy ever after, unicorns flying over the rainbow holding hands with a leprechaun and playing in the pot of gold like it's a McDonalds ball pit. Obviously I can't celebrate that in everyday life, but I like to think I can translate that to the twenty year old on the outside. 

My song, Gotta Take a Minute is all about that. I wrote it at a 10-day music course with the lovely Katrina Burgoyne. We were both feeling the strain of doing so much in so shorter time and this song just seemed like the perfect antidote. There's magic in everyday life, if we just take the time to look for it. Watching the sun go down, dancing in the rain, taking a walk in a park, listening to the birds talking to each other - the smallest things in life can be the most beautiful. Don't miss out on them - take a minute!

I've heard songwriters say how they've written a song and not realised what it was about until months later. And it's so true..

See It Now (which can be found on Facebook, Tumblr (my first post), Myspace, Soundcloud for those of you who haven't heard it) was triggered by a conversation with my sister about a friend of hers. He'd always wanted to do theatre and dance, but his father is the typical men-must-have-manly-careers type and wanted his son to play footy instead of dancing. Having always had wonderful parents, I get really cranky with the ones who don't support their kids' dreams and the first verse of "See It Now" is all about this boy's story.

The second verse talks about a girl who's only ever wanted love and approval from her mother and never been able to find it no matter how hard she tried. I think this verse was inspired by too many Gossip Girl marathons- And yes I did have Blair Waldorf in mind ;)

That all seemed pretty straight forward to me. What I could never understand was why I wrote the bridge in first person. My parents are wonderful, as I said. I have no reason to be angry with them. 

It's only today, nearly a year and a half since I wrote the song, that I finally realised who was the one to try and crush my dream. The last line of the song is "I can see it now" and it did take me over a year to see what this person was doing to me. His niggling criticisms and undermining my belief in myself almost made me quit on music.

"The doubts will bring me down But at least I know that I am found And You'll be, saving me wondering"