Story Behind The Song
When my housekeeper's boyfriend broke up with her, he told her "I ain't feeling it no more. That stark line always stuck with me, and a variation of it opens this song: "She ain't wasting it no more." The music comes from my aversion to the four-chord cycles that pass for "progressions" today-- maybe it's borderline jazzy, but it IS melodic for a change.
Song Description
Sometimes you have to take your shot. A singer quits her cover band and moves to Nashville to take her chances at stardom-- Like every other wannabe. It's tougher than she thought, and day to day she doesn't know what's coming next. Living with uncertainty every day is like improvising a solo over a song you've never heard before-- she's playing by ear.
| Song Length |
3:09 |
Genre |
Country - General, Jazz - Standards |
| Tempo |
Very Slow (Under 70) |
Lead Vocal |
Female Vocal |
| Subject |
Musician, Stardom |
Similar Artists |
Trisha Yearwood, Miranda Lambert |
| Language |
English |
Era |
2000 and later |
Lyrics
Playing By Ear
VS
She ain't wasting it no more,
This is the prime time of her life.
She's done singing with a band
That plays old covers night after night.
Starting over's hard, for sure,
But she knows it's what she needs.
So she's packing up, heading out,
Taking her shot at a crazy dream.
CH
And she's playing by ear,
An unpredictable tune nobody else hears,
Rolling with the changes, it's different every day.
There's no chart, no script, no roadmap,
And she'll have to improvise.
Maybe she'll find her song tonight, playing by ear.
VS
Music City, Tennessee,
Guitar girl at an open mic,
There's a dozen other dreamers
Trying to catch a break on a Tuesday night.
She works two jobs, to make ends meet,
Waiting tables and tending bar.
She never thought finding her
Very own voice would be so hard.
(REPEAT CHORUS)
BR
It's a song that she writes while she lives it,
And she's making it up as she goes.
Day by day, note by note,
Word by word, hope by hope,
And how it turns out, no one knows, oh-oh-ohh.
(REPEAT CHORUS)