Paint Me A Picture (Feat. Hayden)



Release Date: July 24, 2011
Format: CD Single, Digital Download
Recorded: July 2011, Blackbird Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Genre: Acoustic Pop
Length: 4:12
Label: Monk On Fire Music
Writer: Ellie-Grace Summers
Producer: Damion Holmes

Paint Me A Picture (feat. Hayden) is the debut single from the 19 year old country pop singer-songwriter, Ellie-Grace Summers. It is set to be released on MOFM and will be released on July 24, 2011. The song features Hayden Merjos on vocals and acoustic guitar, It was produced by Damion Holmes and the song was completed over 3 days at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee and was written by Ellie-Grace over a year ago, it will mark the debut single from the upcoming country star and is likely to feature on her debut album which is set to be recorded in the coming months. It’s a song written about her parents relationship troubles during a time when Ellie-Grace was happy in a relationship, during the song she questions whether she should be happy while her parents are so miserable.
The song only includes acoustic guitars and vocals from Ellie-Grace and Hayden which give it a stripped back and easy listening feel, similar to acoustic artists like Colbie Caillat, Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz.

Writing & Inspiration
The song was written by Ellie-Grace in 2010 during a time when her parents relationship seemed to be falling apart, Ellie was in her final year of high school and she was dating a guy, she struggled to figure out how she should be feeling and often felt guilty about being happy in her relationship when her parents seemed to struggle to stay together, the song was written when her parents arguing was at its worst, during this time Ellie left home for a few days and stayed with her boyfriend’s parents’ house. The majority of the song was written at home while her parents were fighting, only the pre-chorus and chorus were written while Ellie was staying at her boyfriend’s parents’ house. Ellie sings the song from her perspective and Hayden sings from Ellie’s then boyfriend’s perspective, he also plays guitar with Ellie and they both share vocals on the pre-chorus. The song follows an almost biographical narrative throughout and is a song that means a lot to Ellie-Grace.

Songwriter’s Analysis
“This song is like a view into a period of time during my life. It’s pretty real and that’s kind of the reason why I don’t perform it so often. I wrote it about my parents at a time when I was so sure they were gonna divorce and I didn’t know how to deal with it I guess, so I just sort of covered my ears and cry myself to sleep, I never really learned how to properly write songs but I quickly learned that writing about my own life kinda helped make more sense to me, everything’s easier in a song than in real life because after like three or four minutes whatever you were feeling disappears and you listening to the next song, so I guess you feel something for four minutes and it’s back to normal. In real life things aren’t fixed so quickly, it takes time and effort and we have to find ways to heal our pain or whatever we’re feeling.

Over time it became clear to me that the song would be better as a duet and so I decided to edit the song a little and maybe include lyrics from a male perspective and when I was signed to the label, I was asked if there was anyone I wanted to record it with and I decided Hayden because I thought his voice would fit this song really well and I really like his music, so to get the chance to record with him was a great experience for me and I’m really proud with how the song turned out.

When I wrote this song, I was really confused about how I should be feeling because I was so happy in my own relationship at the time and it was tough to feel bad for my parents when I was so happy. I decided to just start writing and over time this is what those words turned into, I like the song and I’m really proud of it, but it does bring back some emotion when I perform it but all the great songs do that, right?”
- Ellie-Grace Summers

Lyrics

Ellie
Hayden
Together

Paint Me A Picture (Feat. Hayden)

{Verse 1}
Staring Down The Stairwell
Looking Into The Gates Of Hell
Daddy’s Fighting And Mommy’s So Sad
I Never Thought Things Would Get So Bad

{Verse 2}
The Tension Builds On A Nightly Basis
Love Falls Away Over Time
Things Are Tearing Apart At The Seams
Is This The Stuff Of Nightmares
Or Is This The Stuff Of Dreams

{Verse 3}
I’ll Write What I’m Feeling In The Hope Of Getting Better
She’s Trying To Leave But He Won’t Let Her
All Of This Drama Seems So Tough
We All Know That Love Is Enough

{Pre-Chorus}
At Fifteen You Don’t Even Know Your Heart
Sixteen Is Right Where Your Life Will Start
At Seventeen You’ve Already Got A Kid
At Eighteen You Finally See What Loneliness Is

{Chorus}
So Paint Me A Picture
With Your Words Tonight
Paint Me A Picture
And Promise To Hold Me Tight
Paint Me A Picture
When I’m Struggling To Find My Way
I’ll Paint You A Picture
And You’ll Learn To Love Someday

{Chorus}
Paint Me A Picture
And Show Me The Beauty Tonight
I’ll Paint You A Picture
And I Promise To Hold You Tight
Paint Me A Picture
And Promise Never To Leave
I’ll Paint You A Picture
Of Our Life Together, Just Believe

{Bridge}
Daddy’s Still Sad And Mommy Is Lonely Once More
But I Can’t Seem To Care Because I’m In Love Like Never Before
Does It Make Me A Bad Person, Because I Stopped Caring
When We’re Together I Can Feel People Staring

{Bridge}
Can You Promise Me That Nothing Will Change
I Know That Love Is Hard And People Are Strange
But I Trust You And I’m Giving My Heart
Will You Take Care Of It Or Will You Tear It Apart

{Chorus}
So Paint Me A Picture
With You Words Tonight
Paint Me A Picture
And Promise To Hold Me Tight
Paint Me A Picture
When I’m Struggling To Find My Way
I’ll Paint You A Picture
And You’ll Learn To Love Someday

{Chorus}
Paint Me A Picture
And Show Me The Beauty Tonight
I’ll Paint You A Picture
And I Promise To Hold You Tight
Paint Me A Picture
And Promise Never To Leave
I’ll Paint You A Picture
Of Our Life Together, Just Believe

Personnel
Ellie-Grace Summers – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Lyrics
Hayden Merjos – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Damion Holmes – Production, Mixing
Amy Joseph – Artwork Design