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The Patient One

A Harmonic Verse

By D.K. ShepardPublished 9 months ago Updated 9 months ago 4 min read
The Patient One
Photo by ROCCO STOPPOLONI on Unsplash

Confession time: I love singing! Belting out a favorite song in the car, at church, or on karaoke night is something I really enjoy.

So I like to sing and I write some poetry on occasion, but I've never endeavored to write a song before. I had an idea to inspire some lyrics, but the first attempt ended up being too heavy with rhyme and just overall missed the mark of what I had hoped to accomplish.

On the second attempt, I landed on a chorus I liked and fleshed out a first verse I was content with. From there I developed my own melody for both, which helped me write the remaining verses. I recorded and re-recorded the vocals over several days. A promising observation emerged: I, for one, thought the tune was quite catchy.

The inspiration for the song came from the period of time before I met my husband. I was twenty-eight when we started dating and by that point in my life, most of my friends were already married or in committed relationships and I'd been on one date in my adult life. I know it seemed kind of crazy to people, but I'm a romantic at heart. And if the prospect of falling in love with someone didn't excite me and felt more like a "guess I could try and get on with it" attitude, then I'd rather the relationship remain a platonic one.

With the lyrics written and a melody in mind, one major problem persisted: since I quit piano lessons in the fourth grade, I have failed to acquire any instrumental skill whatsoever. I thought I'd try my hand at creating some digital music for a backing track. And that turned out to be a total dumpster fire.

I reached out to a friend about any potential tools that I could use to end up with a finished product – one that would actually sound like a fully formed song. He suggested SUNO and I knew some other creators had mentioned using SUNO too.

My hope was to retain the original vocals I had recorded and just add a backing track that didn't sound horrendous. Unfortunately, I had to surrender the overall integrity of the vocals to the AI of SUNO in order to generate the song.

With a paid SUNO subscription I was able to upload two minutes of my vocal recordings as input material to generate the song. I can definitely still hear elements of my melody in the SUNO version and some parts are truer to the original than others. Although it's not exactly the melody I fell in love with while writing it, it's definitely growing on me. I've been playing it in my car on the way to work... And I actually like the SUNO version of the bridge and outro a lot better than mine.

I decided I'd include the SUNO version and the acapella version of my original vocals for anyone who wants to hear both to make a comparison. Please be kind to the acapella one! I said I love singing, not that I was any good at it!

"The Patient One (SUNO Remix)"

"The Patient One (Acapella)"

Verse 1:

I took a walk yesterday

Past couples strolling hand in hand

With smiles on their faces

Then tried to imagine your fingers laced with mine

But couldn't grasp the sensation

Since you're the one I’ve yet to find

Chorus:

I’m just the patient one

I sleep alone when the day is done

They wonder who I’m waiting for

A secret knock on a treehouse door

Though I’m not a kid anymore

I’ve got dreams of a special love

So I’ll keep waiting on the right one

And I’ll always be the patient one

Verse 2:

My friends don't know what to say

They try but they can't understand

Why I’m okay waiting

While I keep on wishing for a guy that's all mine

Who's well worth all of my patience

For my love could never be blind

Chorus:

I’m just the patient one

I sleep alone when the day is done

They wonder who I’m waiting for

A secret knock on a treehouse door

Though I’m not a kid anymore

I’ve got dreams of a special love

So I’ll keep waiting on the right one

And I’ll always be the patient one

Bridge:

So I’ll wait for you

Patiently

Are you waiting too

Just for me

I’ll keep on waiting

For someday

With an open heart

Forever

And always

Verse 3:

What if my time slips away

My hourglass runs out of sand

It won't be time wasted

As long as I’m loving the people I call mine

Not caught up in constant chasing

For something I don't have to find

Chorus:

I’m just the patient one

I sleep alone when the day is done

They wonder who I’m waiting for

A secret knock on a treehouse door

Though I’m not a kid anymore

I’ve got dreams of a special love

So I’ll keep waiting on the right one

And I’ll always be the patient one

Outro:

Waiting patiently

Until it's you and me

I’m the patient one

When all is said and done

pop

About the Creator

D.K. Shepard

Character Crafter, Witty Banter Enthusiast, World Builder, Unpublished novelist...for now

Fantasy is where I thrive, but I like to experiment with genres for my short stories. Currently employed as a teacher in Louisville.

dkshepard.com

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Comments (12)

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  • Gina C.9 months ago

    Aw, such a tender and relatable song, DK! The lyrics are so lovely and your voice is so beautiful 🥹💙 I really love your acapella version and it’s so fun to hear the Suno remix as well! Some truly moving lines and I really love the brief contrast of the bridge against the chorus and outtro in the lyrics :) So sorry it took me so long to get here 💙

  • Alyssa Musso9 months ago

    You have such a beautiful voice, D.K.! The lyrics are brilliant and so relatable. I love the chorus and the "secret knock on a treehouse door" line. Great job with the SUNO remix! I had an idea to do something similar with music software for this challenge, but didn't have the time. And I would be playing the piano and not singing since I don't think anyone wants to hear my voice 😅 Good luck in the challenge!

  • Grz Colm9 months ago

    Lovely and relatable message in you lyrics D.K. I shall check out your song now.😊

  • Gabriel Huizenga9 months ago

    This is truly beautiful lyrics and singing, D.K.! It feels so heartfelt, and is such a moving reversal on a lot of the cheap, shallow concepts of affection tossed around in music. This feels so deep and real - and I love 'the patient one' as a title and central theme. Brilliant work, and good luck in the challenge!! :)

  • Caroline Craven9 months ago

    This was fab DK - both the song and the words. I really love the line about the hour glass running out of sand. I think we've all felt that. Great stuff and GOOD LUCK IN THE COMPETITION!

  • I loved your story & song! 💖 Such a powerful message in the lyrics. I will have to listen to your tunes when my household aren’t trying to sleep.🤗

  • The Suno one is nice but your acapella is sooo powerful! Mindblowing! I loved both your voice and lyrics. Truly beautiful!

  • John Cox9 months ago

    The lead voice on the Suno version sounds so much like your own I would have assumed it was yours rather than AI generated if you had not said otherwise! The production value of the back up voices and instrumentation is truly amazing. Your version seems more of a ballad and Suno interpreted the music as pop country, so it was not completely true to your intent. The only other Suno assisted challenge entry that I have listened too took a similar country pop approach and I can’t help but wonder what it would do with blues or jazz instructions, or hell, anything other than country pop. It’s truly a wonderful entry to the challenge and I loved the lyrics!

  • Kathy Tsoukalas9 months ago

    I loved listening to the recording of your song - thank you for sharing it. It's so beautiful!

  • Paul Stewart9 months ago

    Oh, ffs. You and Gabriel and your singing. Damn you all to hell. My one failing in life (okay, overexaggerating there a lot) is that I can't sing. lol. And then you are just belting it out beautifully! #Sorry if that came off a little aggro there. I mean it in the sincerest of nicest of kindest and most supportive of ways. I will be pissed at vocal if this does not place in some shape or form. Well done to actually sharing your voice. I've toyed with recording some spoken word stuff or something, but still not feeling brave enough ha. I mean, I've recorded and put up stuff on vocal, but not for a challenge as such. Anyway, love this and love what it is based on. All your pieces related to your husband and your relationship are beautiful and so very human, as you manage to hit so easily in your writing. As a romantic at heart, this warmed all the cold parts of me lol. Well done, pal!

  • Sean A.9 months ago

    You have a wonderful voice! Great job on your song!

  • C. Rommial Butler9 months ago

    Well-wrought, D.K.! I can say from bitter(though, admittedly, sometimes sweet) experience: in this matter more than any other, patience is indeed a virtue! Your voice is naturally melodic, too, so don't be so hard on yourself. Hitting the right notes is a matter of practice. Putting one's heart into what they create is a matter of having the heart to put in. No problem there!

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