Even Now

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The thing about this song is that we can all relate to what it’s saying. It’s one of the three songs from that magical first session that I did with Barry. “Copacabana” and “Can’t Smile Without You” were the other two. If you listen to the lyric you realize that we’ve all been there once or twice in our life. The words and music fit together like a glove. For me it was an arranger’s delight. I really related to the message of the song. I felt that there were moments that were so emotional and personal that the arrangement just had to support it in the same manner. It couldn’t just be an orchestration. That would work against Barry’s very emotional vocal performance and the story of the song. The lyric says things like “I can’t believe it still could hurt so bad.” To me that was the key element of what the entire record was about. It dictated what the arrangement should sound like. Barry’s vocal really helped reveal more and more about the struggle the person was going through, and I felt that the arrangement had to support all of that without getting in the way. That’s the key element. Let the arrangement breath, and let the melody and the emotion come through. That’s what I felt my mission was here.

This is one of my favorite arrangements that I did for Barry. I remember where I was in my life when I wrote it. Barry caught me at a time when I was going through some personal problems myself. I also remember sitting in the control room with Barry and Ron Dante listening to a playback with tears in our eyes. I went home after the session and cried my guts out. I actually kept reliving the moment for days. It still presses my buttons when I hear it today. To me there is something very special about this record. It’s the right melody, the right lyric, the right singer, the right producer and thankfully the right arranger all showing up at the right time. This is definitely a 3-tissue song.