REVIEW: From Vows to Verses: Somewhere in Between’s Journey to “Lay Your Head on Me”
REVIEW
REVIEW
☆ BY SOPHIA STOPPER ☆
Somewhere In Between is a married duo that writes songs about love, tenderness, and healing. Their single “Lay Your Head on Me” is a new take on what these concepts can be. The song takes shape from a “promise” the two musicians share called “H.O.C. - Head on Chest.” They say, “When the world is loud, when pain or fear is knocking, instead of running away or shutting down, we commit to H.O.C. H.O.C. is a call to stop everything and connect.” The song title being “Lay Your Head on Me” shows just how much intimacy Somewhere in Between puts into their art. They truly take from personal experience and relate it to the greater community and world. This idea of laying your head in someone’s lap or on their chest, having them play with your hair, and kissing your forehead, is so comforting.
Getting into the nitty-gritty of this folk song’s lyrics, a line that clearly stands out among the rest is a powerful one sung sweetly; this dichotomy is felt in the chest. They sing, “The devil’s at our doorstep / But he don’t have a key.” Somewhere in Between says about these lyrics, “It’s our mental health and how our mind plays tricks.” Deena, one of the band members, contracted mouth cancer shortly after their first single release and they feared she may never be able to sing again. But she overcame, and in her sweet power, she beat the cancer. The devil was on her doorstep, but he was not let in.
During the creation of this song, Somewhere in Between was staying at a friend’s house just going about their day. They said, “We were doing a puzzle, making meals and playing music.” In reflection, the band conveyed, there is more “flow” to the music when they are out of their day-to-day lives, so staying at this friend’s house was surely magic for making music. Soon they quickly came into this song. Like any excited artist, the duo FaceTimed their friends and sang the song to them to get their feedback. Always wanting to extend their music to spaces outside of their own.
Somewhere in Between is a duo of dreamers. They ask themselves big, gentle questions, always the contrast– “How can we become kinder to strangers? How can we listen even when someone has a very different point of view? How can we dream in love like we dream in life?” Cherishing interpersonal connections above all, this band strives to tell stories of relatable experiences for a wide audience to feel comfort within. They said, “The first song we ever wrote together was our wedding vows.” Making vows into a song is an ineffably momentous moment for love to come to life. The song “Lay Your Head on Me” brings love to life in a new way.
