I mentioned on the About Why The Smile page that I was striving for transparency when telling the story behind each song in this collection. Joyful Love of You will stretch that for me and I hope you will embrace it for what it is.

Joyful Love is actually a remake of a song I wrote in 1985 for my new secret companion and it was titled, Uncharted Love.  The tempo was a bit slower and it was written for guitar only.  But the theme of being uncertain about some things in life but absolutely certain of others is still the same, other than to whom the song was about and for. Uncharted Love has played consistently in my head since then and it was one of the principal symbols that stayed with me about that time-a confusing time, an uncertain time yet believing I was, in fact, very certain of the choice I made.

I want to pause here to try to express what living with Bipolar is like.  One of the primary signs of being in a Manic or Depressive state is a complete lack of common sense, critical thinking, judgement, and the awareness of consequences.  My experience also included a huge Messiah Complex, the delusional belief that everything I did, said, chose, etc was ordained by God. (For much more on this please read Walking With Bipolar Disorder on the Broken Candle page.)

After 18 months away from my family, I went home.  Nick was born 11 months later.  Marci referred to him as the “reconciliation baby.”  

Fast forward to 2020: I am stable and have no delusional thoughts (except how much Jameson’s I can handle). And, Uncharted Love still lingered heavily in my mind.  As I was working on this project I decided to turn Uncharted Love into a “reconciliation song”, voicing some of the uncertainties I still have today as well as acknowledging some of the things I am sure of. 

To bring it to life I fashioned it as a love song from Lindsay to Nick, re-wrote all the lyrics except for a few passages, and kept the melody the same and picked up the tempo. I asked Lindsay to sing it and she named the song…Joyful Love of You.

This may be a very selfish attempt on my part, but there is something peaceful about taking a song from a very uncertain time and using the “reconciliation baby” as the protagonist for a reconciliation song. 

Thanks: I want to thank Lindsay (again and again) for performing Joyful Love of You so remarkably well.  There were tears in my eyes listening to her record.  I love thee MyLindsay.