All I Need

This was the song that finally succeeded in capturing my growing feelings for Brandy, after several failed attempts to write something for her.  As described before, I felt like I’d written all the love songs I could squeeze out of one lifetime, and fell flat trying to dip back into those rich (but well-worn) inspirations.  I was patient though, even to the point of deciding it didn’t matter if I ever wrote her a good song; the love was the real thing, whether or not it inspired a decent tune. 

Taking the pressure off myself must have done the trick because when this song started coming, it felt like a whole new vista of possibilities opening.  When I sing “maybe / other times I’ve been in love were baby / steps…” I’m not just referring to past loves, but past songs I’ve written.  It was my way to take the most clichéd rhyme in pop music – Maybe-Baby – and twist it into a fresher image.  Plus, when I came out with “baby steps” it led straight into the lines, “…and now I’m walking next to you / Straight and tall and true” which suggested the lyric for what became the bridge or pre-chorus, “We’re on solid ground.”  The next line, “I’d like to keep you around” is deliciously understated and became the hook of that pre-chorus.  I couldn’t resist incorporating further clichés like “bringing out the best in me” and “you complete me” – even old chestnuts can resonate with truth. 

But my favorite lines are still the opening, which convinced me I was on to something when I first spontaneously sang them.  Though we’d been together only a few months, it was already true that we’d “had lots of perfect moments” and when I wrote 14 years ago that it was “easy to see that there will be a whole lot more,” I could never have predicted just how many more perfect moments we would experience.  And more will certainly come.

           All That I Need
 
We’ve had lots of perfect moments
And it’s easy to see
that there will be a whole lot more
 
Maybe other times 
  I’ve been in love were
Baby steps – and now 
  I’m walking next to you
       Straight and tall and true
 
     We’re on solid ground
     I’d like to keep you around
 
        All that I need – you’re all I need now
        You’re bringing out the best in me
        Honey, you complete me            {Chorus - x2}
 
More than anyone I’ve ever known
Before, and after all this time
  that I’ve known you
       I’m still discovering you
 
     And what I’ve found:
     I’d like to keep you around
 
        All that I need – you’re all I need now
        You’re bringing out the best in me
        Honey, you complete me          {Chorus - x2}
 
             ...{Guitar Solo}...
 
     It’s the sweetest sound:
     I’d like to keep you around
 
        All that I need – you’re all I need now
        You’re bringing out the best in me
        Honey, you complete me         {Chorus – x4}