It seems like a good time to revisit the concept of the bone pile. The bone pile is a big collection of song ideas, partial lines, or verses. They aren’t amazing but I could never part with them due to sentimental factors. When I can’t finish a song, the bones of the idea get thrown into a big pile where they simmer and stew until the time is right. Some ideas will take up space on the bone pile until the end of time. Occasionally a song will emerge from the pile, fully formed, a rearrangement of previous snippets.
I had an idea for a song. It was going to be called “Broken Man.” There were some lines that I liked but it just didn’t make sense. I kicked it to the bone pile in frustration. Then I found myself in a writing session with my friend Steve (aka Dr Dobro) and it all clicked. He added the tag for all of the verses and it made it all work. It’s now called “Profit.” If you are keeping score at home, this song spent less than 24 hours on the bone pile. That might be the shortest turnaround time in the history of the bone pile.