Peter Melnick “Helpless”
Americana Highways brings you this premiere of Peter Melnick’s song “Helpless” from his forthcoming album, which is set for release next year. Working with Joseph E-Shine (aka Yossi Mizrahi), who recorded, produced and mixed the album, along with arrangements and conducting by David Campbell, Melnick’s poignant visions of human heartache have come to life in this song.
“Helpless” is Steven Becknell, Alan Kaplan, and Brad Moller on horns and winds; Aubrey Haddard on vocals; and Peter Melnick on vocals.
Peter is a film and television composer, having crafted musical scores for more than three dozen productions, among them the Steve Martin classic L.A. Story, The Only Thrill, and Horton Foote’s Convicts.
As Peter tells us about the song, “’Helpless’ was the first time a song of mine practically wrote itself. There’s a tremendous rush of energy when that happens — like you’re riding a massive wave, and your main job is just to stay with it. It’s an amazing feeling, and afterwards, there’s this song that seems to have come out of nowhere. It almost seems too easy… Truth is, there’s nothing easy about a song that comes this quickly.
“’Helpless’ expresses the powerful feeling of being powerless, and of course there’s a lot of me in the mix. But the song finds its way to another truth. Toward the end, there are stirrings of clarity, signs of life moving forward, of getting un-stuck: Please don’t say you love me. I know you’re still a friend. Both of us will make out fine. At least it’s not a bitter end. We always tried to hide the truth away, But not today. No more helpless. And that’s the interesting thing about songwriting.
“I figured out something super important in that song, about not letting fear get in the way of what your inner voice knows you need to do. I caught a glimpse of that truth at the age of 23, but it took years for me to actually start living it. Hmmm… There’s probably a song in that idea, too…”
The operative line in this lovely, affecting song is: “The universe is silent when two lovers break apart.” When something so earth shattering happens to a person, it’s stunning that the world keeps moving as if nothing had changed. The incredulity and the very human pain are captured precisely by Peter Melnick.
Find more details here on his website: https://www.petermelnick.com/