I experienced great joy recording my song “More Than You Know” with George. His arrangement was quite beautiful, but when my song was first recorded, I had difficulty maintaining pitch. I didn’t let that discourage me. Later on, I was rewarded by practice, and the day arrived when I was able to easily sing my song the way I wanted to. I wrote “More Than You Know” when I was 19 to express my feelings about two friends who were fading from my life. My original lyrics were composed in present tense and the chorus went:

I just can’t find the words to say, please don’t ever go away

All my life, I hope you will stay, but if you should leave,

I’ll let you go because I love you, more than you know.

Those lyrics described how deeply I was touched by love. But with those feelings, I was also filled with fear because I anticipated my close friends would soon be leaving me. I countered this with the brave acceptance that I would let them go.

One of the most beautiful parts of my story surrounding “More Than You Know” was the fact that the two friends I wrote it for are currently a part of my life. I let them go when I was 20 years old. Decades later, they reappeared in my life in different ways. There was definitely a lesson there about how letting them go was not forever.

When I revised my lyrics, my loved one had already left. Now, I expressed all the love I felt in order to help me let go. Changing the lyrics to fit my sadness about Jason dying allowed my song to be relatable to the loss of other people in my life later on.

One particular line of the revised lyrics that can cause a tear when I sing it is, “When the warmth of you did leave.” With those words, I picture the image of Jason’s cold body. But I also know that loss of warmth happens when someone has gone and is untouchable.

I wrote the lyric line, “I thought that you were mine” soon after Jason died; it took me a long time to accept that he was never mine to begin with. That is a very important concept. It was with that realization that I truly began to heal. Just by loving someone doesn’t make him or her belong to you.

This has also been important for me to realize with all of my living children. Sometimes it does take bravery to let someone go.

Letting go happens before someone leaves. And that was actually how I originally wrote my song.

My song also continues my theme of how I’ve incorporated love into my heart even when the person I love is not able to be physically touched. Like my song “Beside Me Always,” I hold onto the love and am comforted, while letting go of the physical person at the same time. Letting go is about acceptance.

As relatable as my song is in so many ways for me, there is one line that is not honest. I have left it there anyway because it brings a smile for me to know that what once might have been true isn’t any longer. The line, “How could I have guessed that our time would be my best?” just isn’t true anymore. I am positive that the absolute best time in my life is right now at this very moment.

Click the blue link to play audio:

More Than You Know Vocal Mix 11-4-17 Copyright 2017 by Unger

More Than You Know Arrangement 11-4-17 Copyright 2017 by Unger

More Than You Know Acoustic 11-4-17 Copyright 2017 by Unger

More Than You Know Vocal Mix 11-4-17 Copyright 2017 by Unger

More Than You Know Arrangement 11-4-17 Copyright 2017 by Unger

More Than You Know Acoustic 11-4-17 Copyright 2017 by Unger

Voice lesson excerpts:

7/13/10 LESSON WITH PEACHES – MORE THAN YOU KNOW (A)

7/13/10 LESSON WITH PEACHES – MORE THAN YOU KNOW (B)

MORE THAN YOU KNOW

Copyright 2010 by Judy Unger

You gave me your hand; you’d always understand

No one else could see, all the change you’d seen in me

You gave me so much; within a single touch

I searched for a smile, you brought mine back for a while

I just can’t find the words to say

How it felt when you went away

All my life, I hoped you would stay

When you left, I let you go

But I still love you, more than you know

More than you know

You brought me sunshine; I thought that you were mine

How can I believe when I was left to grieve?

You gave me everything that made me want to sing

How could I have guessed, our time would be my best?

I just can’t find the words to say

How it felt when you went away

All my life, I hoped you would stay

When you left, I let you go

But I still love you, more than you know

I still love you

© Judy Unger and http://www.myjourneysinsight.com 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Judy Unger with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.