Genesis of a Song: Goodnight Shelia Devine

Some songs take longer than others.

Albert Camus has been an inspiration since I first read his Lyrical and Critical Essays (1) when I was a sophomore in high school, early 60’s. My favorite is The Wrong Side and the Right Side. In a mere four pages, Camus relates the story of an old woman obsessed with the details of her death: her grave site, her tomb and even her funeral dress.  After the crypt is built, “She ended up paying herself a visit every Sunday afternoon.”

Camus reflects on this story: “And now I think about these things again.  I can see only the walls of the garden on the other side of my window. And a few branches flowing with light. Higher still more foliage and, higher still, the sun. But all I can perceive of the air rejoicing outside, of all the joy spread across the world, are the shadows of branches playing on my white curtains. A breeze, and the shadows on the curtains come to life . . . This is enough.”   In summary, Camus declares, “I do not want to choose between the wrong and right sides of the world . . .The great courage is still to gaze as squarely at the light as at death.”

It took me over five decades, after first reading Camus’ work, to attempt rendering his spirit in song. For openers, he gave me an old woman character preoccupied with death and, of course, the wrong side and the right side.  Most importantly, he gives us the courage to face life’s great dichotomy.

Finally wrote a melody that I felt could support the story. In verse one of an early lyric, an anonymous lady is simply sitting in a chair during the gloming of a day:

Turns off her cell, douses the light
Wishes dead friends a cheerful 'good night'
Cringing in shadow, they whisper in spite
‘You could be wrong or you could be right’

I also had a two-line start on a second verse:

Trips over turtles asleep in the hall
Ghastly reminders hung on the wall

That second line—Ghastly reminders hung on the wall — inspired by family pictures, perhaps.

Returning to these scribbled fragments some months later, I liked the ‘dead friends’ whispering chorus and ‘ghastly reminders.’ But a nameless character sitting in a chair is not very compelling.  So, she became a judge. Judges weigh right and wrong. They may also be commuters!  Train, plane, skateboard or automobile? As it turned out, the commuter train was a gift that made everything else fall into place story wise.

Train two-fifty-seven becomes the subject of the first two lines of a new first verse. A new opening instrumental evokes an accelerating train and works like an establishing shot in a movie.  Cut to an interior shot of a passenger whose name must rhyme with quarter to nine. Sheila Devine sounds urban, so that works too.

Because Train two-fifty-seven is the subject of the first line, I can introduce Sheila Devine using a simple preposition—with. Now the who-what-where-when are all established in the first two lines in a new verse one:  

Train two-fifty-seven with Judge Sheila Devine
Leaves Grand Central Station at quarter to nine
Cabbies and caseloads are soon left behind
Blue pumps lay before her, another glass of wine

Old verse one becomes verse two and segues into the chorus:
Turns off her cell, douses the light
Wishes dead friends a cheerful 'good night'
Cringing in shadow, they whisper in spite
‘You could be wrong or you could be right’

About the chorus:
Have traveled by train from Manhattan north to Tarrytown to visit my brother Ed and his family. About halfway, the tracks curve following a bend in the river, moving east to the north into the Hudson River Valley. As the sun sets, the east side of the hills darken and the lights of the towns below brighten. Darkness and light. I’m reminded of The Wrong Side and the Right Side. Basket of Light is the title of an album by the Pentangle, so I would’ve been aware the phrase as well.

You could be wrong, you could be right
Mountains of sorrow, baskets of light
Will carry your heart around the bend
This is beginning
This is the end

My sleeping turtles fragment expands to become verse 3:
Trips over turtles asleep in the hall
Ghastly reminders hung on the wall
No trumpet heralds a last curtain call
This is the beginning of the end of it all

A repeated chorus leads to a bridge and finally a refrain:
You could be wrong, you could be right
Mountains of sorrow, baskets of light
Will carry your heart around the bend
This is beginning
This is the end

Bridge:  
Judge Sheila Devine wakes with a start
Tarrytown Station appears from the dark

Refrain:
Will carry your heart around the bend
This is beginning
This is the end

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Epilog:
In 2016, I recorded the 12-string solo instrumental in open F tuning, and sent it to my niece Jessica and her husband Joemca in NYC for vocals. At the end of the day, what really makes the song work are their beautiful vocals and arrangement. The sound is both modern and medieval, beyond time. They elevated Goodnight Shelia Devine. I am in awe of their talents.

The song was released in 2017 as Track 1 of Yarns, Tales & Outright Lies.

(1) Albert Camus Lyrical and Critical Essays, translated by Ellen Conroy Kennedy, Vintage Books, Copyright © 1968 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.