People often ask me: “Can you really write a song from just a couple of sentences?” Yes. And it’s one of the most beautiful things I’m allowed to do.

Someone writes me an e-mail: “I want a song for my wife. Ocean. White sand. Palm trees. Laughing. Cocktails. The feeling that everything is perfect when we’re together.” That’s it. No rhyme, no melody yet – just a postcard from the heart.

My job now is to protect every single grain of that feeling while turning it into something that can be sung.

First I live in their picture for a few days. I imagine the sand between their toes, the way the palms whisper, how the ice cubes clink in the glass when they look at each other and smile. Only when I can feel their happiness in my own chest do I start writing.

But a lyric is not a diary page – it still has to obey the secret rules of music:

• Every line needs its own little heartbeat (the natural stress of the words has to land exactly where the melody will breathe). Example: instead of the clunky “We are walking on the beautiful sand” I write “Bare feet on warm white sand” – same picture, but the stresses now fall like gentle waves: BARE-feet on WARM white SAND.
• The vowels have to open at the right moment so the singer can hold the note without fighting the word. That’s why you’ll find more “sky”, “smile”, “life”, “I” on the long notes – they feel good to sing.
• The syllable count has to be close enough line by line so the melody doesn’t stumble.

So yes – I take their dream, keep every colour, every laugh, every kiss exactly as they told me … and then I carefully sculpt it until it fits perfectly into a melody that doesn’t even exist yet.

When Sandra first heard “Days Like This”, she cried and said: “That’s exactly how it feels when he holds my hand on the beach.” That moment – when someone hears their own private happiness singing back to them – that’s why I’ll never stop doing this.

If you have a picture in your heart, a person you love, or just three little words … send them to me. I’ll keep them safe and give them wings. ♡

– Evelin