Under The Hood - “Sapphire Blue”

Today, I’ll walk you through how I wrote a song from my first album called “Sapphire Blue”. You can read the lyrics to “Sapphire Blue” here (you’ll have to scroll down to that specific song), and listen to it here.

The inspiration for the song was a small 1920s-era art deco style ring with a tiny diamond flanked by two beautiful sapphires. It was my maternal grandmother’s engagement ring.

When I was about 16 years old, and apparently bored one day, I rifled through my mother’s jewelry box and discovered this ring. The band on it was about to break because it had worn so thin (I eventually got it repaired). But I immediately loved the ring and was pleasantly surprised when my mother said I could wear it.

So, I did. In fact, I wore it - every day, without fail - for several decades… but more about that later.

Fast forward to 2017, when I wrote the song.

The lyrics are deliberately non-narrative and non-linear. I wanted them to be impressionistic. And so there are snippets of the story behind the ring, but throughout the song, I change the perspective from that of each of my grandparents, to me, and even from the ring itself! That was by design.

For example, the first verse reflects my grandparents’ courtship then immediately pivots to my experiences wearing the ring. In the years that I wore the ring, I lost it several times - and miraculously, I always ended up finding it again.

I rely on a lot of sensory imagery in the lyrics to make them impressionistic: “Yellow is sunny, red’s on fire. And green reveals a true desire.”  

Pre-chorus: “Tell me that you love me everyday” (Grandparents). “Tell me that you’ll never walk away” (Me to the ring - don’t go missing anymore, please!)

What about the chorus? I wanted one that had some repetition, but also long “oo” sounds to counteract the frenetic acoustic guitar strumming and quick chord changes.

The bridge again bounces between my perspective (“Of all the pretty bangle spangles, I love you the best”), the ring’s perspective, and again, my grandparent’s marriage (“satin shoes and matching dress”).

And finally, after one last chorus, I “tag” the song by repeating the sweet opening line, “Give me a wink, give me a kiss”.

What about the rest of the song? Except for the bridge, the chords (I, IV, and V) are simply looped over and over again, so I could let the melody and lyrics carry the weight of the song. The arrangement is bouncy and light, reflecting the nostalgia and whimsy of the story. 

Now that you know how I wrote “Sapphire Blue”, maybe you are wondering why I chose to do it. Well, I had a dream back in 2017 that I had lost the ring, this time for good. The dream was so chilling that I decided right then that I would store the ring away in a secure place, lest I risk that nightmare coming true.

 And I haven’t worn “sapphire blue” since.