On April 5, the album “Songs that I maybe wrote” by Saisa Gadal, a senior at Adams High School, was released. The two-song album includes tracks “your blue eyes” and “what is me?,” marking Gadal’s first official release.
Music has been a central part of Gadal’s life since she was a child growing up in Nepal and only became more invested in music as she moved to the United States. She first began to learn the guitar when she was eight years old but also showed interest in drumming. At Adams, she is a part of the Adams marching and jazz bands, playing both the guitar and drums.
Gadal’s experience with heartbreak led to her starting to write poetry, she said “I would talk about the same thing over and over with multiple people to help myself release it, but I could never let it go… I would then spend all my time writing, reading poems or journals.” these poetic thoughts eventually inspired her to pick up her guitar and began the process of creating the album.
The recording process started over a year ago when she first wrote “Perspective,” which would go on to be titled “what is me?.” The song’s lyrics are based on a poem written by a friend, she said, “I would tell this to a friend of mine, then he sent me a poem that he was recently working on. Every word in those sentences conveyed how I felt and I immediately grabbed a guitar. I knew from the heart that this would alone carry how I was feeling, which was disappointment and neglect from someone I had loved.” Gadal then added a verse and altered some words to fit in with the whimsical acoustic guitar melody. The song dives into a person who has lost themself and just wishes that people would see things from their perspective and in the end wishes for this lost person to come back into their life. Lyrics such as “who am I to you, I wouldn’t know it” and “the things I would do, just to feel you” prove this song was fueled by heartbreak and lost love. I personally love this track because it feels ethereal and it helps the listener feel attached to Gadal and her longing for understanding from those she loves.
Conflicting with the second song, “your blue eyes” is a shorter, more melodic song that speaks about how the features of a person, specifically their eyes that are as “blue as the ocean,” has changed Gadal. She also states how she hopes they never change and that they have a permanent place in her life. The song is the happier and more upbeat track on the album. Gadal explained the complex emotional attachment to the song and how its title changed over time saying, “The original title for “your blue eyes” was “for me” but as time went on, the title held less and less meaning to me. This song actually holds the opposite meaning from what was assumed. This is also why I changed the song title to “your blue eyes”, I wanted the audience to create their own meaning to this song.” For me this track feels like stale love. You can feel where the song was meant to be loving and sincere and as the song goes on it feels as though that love is fading. I believe this song could have been but I think cutting it where it did lets the listener interpret the ending of her story for themselves and after speaking with Gadal it was clear that was the intent behind the meaning of the song.
The most unique thing about this album is the process in which it was recorded. Contrary to stereotypical album recordings, Gadal recorded the entire thing herself with just a microphone, some headphones, a guitar and her voice. She used an application called “BandLab” to mix and edit the songs. This adds to the raw sound of the album and displays the emotions throughout the lyrics. The guitar adds a more emphatic and dramatic tone with its authentic sound and creation. The album is a good look in on the aches and pains of love but also the need for understanding in life. Gadal has me on the edge of my seat, ready and waiting for more of her music in the future.
