“If You Were Ever To Go” | Words and Music by Conrad Askland. Vocals by Leisha Skinner.
I’ve had a surprising spike of interest in this song today on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/ConradAskland. “If You Were Ever to Go” is a retro jazz standard-type ballad love song for female vocals, piano and strings with a Nelson Riddle orchestra vibe.
I actually wrote this song back in 2016 while taking the class “Music for Film and TV” with Berklee College of Music. It was an assignment to write a song that could be used as background music while two people danced and talked in a lounge with a live band playing in the background. This class focused on writing stylistic music that could be used by music supervisors for placement in tv shows and web series.
The vocalist, Leisha Skinner, is one of my favorite local vocalists to work with here in the Pacific Northwest. My first time working with her was back in 2006 when I relocated from Southern California to the Seattle area. In 2006 I came up to the Seattle area to conduct the Elton John musical “AIDA” and Leisha was the lead role in that show (she was “AIDA”). Since then we’ve always been working on different shows but I always see her perform whenever I can. (My personal favorite shows that I’ve seen her in the last few years are “Legally Blonde” and “Annie”)
My YouTube channel is currently putting out a new video of my music every single day. When I scheduled this song for release I really didn’t expect the amount of interest it received today. I really love the vintage sound of the orchestrations I created for the song and of course Leisha’s wonderful vocals and interpretation. Especially during COVID it really meant a lot to me today when I saw how many people were posting about the song online. Much love all the way around. Thank you!
Back in 2016 I recorded two vocal versions of this song and the second version will be released around May 2021.
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LYRICS
If you were to go
And leave me alone
I would smile
The biggest smile
Then I would sit
And cry all my life long
If you were ever
to go
Home…
Is anywhere that we’re together
And I would still love you forever
If you were ever to go
Faith
Gives me the strength to carry on
But I could never be satisfied
If you were ever to go
You know this melancholy
Didn’t come out of nowhere
It’s that instinct I have deep inside
When I see you looking
Way off in the distance
I know you are thinking
Of somewhere
shiny and new
Home
Is anywhere that we’re together
And I would still love you forever
If you were ever to go
If you were ever
To go…
#jazzballad #jazzvocal #lovesong
If You Were Ever to Go © 2016 Conrad Askland