Since I was a small child, I have always felt attached to the idea of romantic love. As I grew up, I gradually came to realize that a fairy tale view of love is not just an ideal that may gloss over complexity in the world, but all too often it is built on antiquated social norms and oppressive gender roles. This comes up in an uncomfortable way in a few of my favorite jazz standards. Despite texts that are at odds with my sense of egalitarian humanism, I have always loved these songs and I have always felt strongly that there is a core of this idea of romantic love that is true in a deep and inalienable way. At its core love is about people caring for one another; surely this is still possible freed from antiquated social constructs, with individuals who are strong, and independent. In these songs I took texts from two jazz standards, paring down the original lyrics to their core, and writing new songs with the results. My hope was to free this inner truth from the specific details of the songs' original lyrics.
