The Birth of “Paper Dreams”
In May 2023, the journey of creating my latest song, “Paper Dreams,” began. After a year of hard work, I’m excited to finally share it with the world. The English lyrics were crafted with the help of one of my favorite musical artists, “melancholiaah!”, adding a special touch to the song.
Initially, I envisioned “Paper Dreams” as a way to channel my anger. I wanted to create a song that touched on being hypersexualized in a tongue-in-cheek manner, similar to the styles of Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco. The song was supposed to deliver a powerful message to those who can’t keep their hands to themselves. At the time of the project’s conception, I had to fire an employee who assaulted my friend, and I’ve faced multiple assaults throughout my life. I wanted to channel that anger and victimization into a song, using mocking tones to highlight how some predators operate slyly, avoiding legal repercussions. I even considered using a wolf/hunting allegory to emphasize this.
A Change in Direction
However, once I heard the instrumentals produced by RAWXSON Records, coupled with my real-life experiences at the time, I decided to take a different route. I collaborated with melancholiaah to create a song about unrequited love, strong platonic love, hopefulness, and the desire for the person you love to succeed and be happy, even if you can’t follow them.
I shared my vision with melancholiaah, wanting to explore the relationship between two characters: A and B. A is romantically in love with B and would leave everything behind to be with them. However, B loves A only platonically. Despite this, A supports and cheers on B from afar, hoping one day their paths might cross again.
The Lyrics
Here are the lyrics that melancholiaah and I crafted together:
I’ll try to erase
All the little things I wrote, ink stains on the paper
Remembering my place,
As I looked onto you and said goodbye for one more time, or so I tried-
To grab hold of you,
Wishing for someone fucking better, all for you
Poetry and all these special memories
Put me in the corner, your corner
Cheers to the future, with or without me
A thousandth unread love note, the “could be”s
Tearing it, tearing up, all the fairytale stories
Thrown into the sky like butterflies, my torn-up paper dreams like snow to me
I’ve tried to clear out
All intention pulling me to tell you and break our
promise and embrace
As I looked onto you and said my love, I cannot lie, and so I want-
To grab hold of you,
Wishing I could say all these loving words to you
Poetry and all these special memories
Put me in the corner, your corner
Cheers to the future, with or without me
A thousandth unread love note, the “could be”s
Tearing it, tearing up, all the fairytale stories
Thrown into the sky like butterflies, my torn-up paper dreams still falling
Such words just can’t pass through.
Wishing for someone fucking better, all for you
Poetry and all these special memories
Put me in the corner, your corner
Cheers to the future, please don’t forget me
A final cry to the sky, a goodbye
Fearing it, feeling it, all our possible stories
Thrown into the sky like butterflies, my torn-up paper dreams like snow to me.
The Personal Touch
This song is deeply personal to me. Due to my work, I often feel too “dirty” for love, but I fall in love deeply and want those I love to be happy, even if I’m not the right person for them. “Paper Dreams” helps me express this important part of myself, and I hope others can resonate with it too. Passionate, selfless love is something to be cherished, even if it’s not reciprocated and might cause a bit of despair.
This song also reflects my love for three different women at different times in my life. It took months of vocal lessons and practicing the song repeatedly, driving my vocal coaches a bit crazy. However, the diligence paid off, and I became more confident in singing and expressing myself.
The Japanese Version
While practicing the English version, I worked with Sora Satoh to create the Japanese version of “Paper Dreams.” As a bilingual person, I often translate, but Sora’s mastery of songwriting brought a new depth to the song. I find the Japanese version easier to sing, and it’s my favorite version. One line is the song differs from Sora’s original suggested translation. 「私なんて相応しくない」is my own personal creation and I was suggested to change it by vocal coaches, but I like it a lot and decided to keep it. My sound engineer also prefers it!
Recording the Song
After pushing back the recording date multiple times, a scheduled surgery finally gave me the push I needed. I recorded the song two days before my surgery at Moonbow Music Studio in Ochanomizu, Tokyo. My sound engineer, Yanase, was incredible, providing constant advice and feedback, making the session a memorable experience. It took three hours to record both songs, and I left the studio feeling elated and excited to share my music with the world.
Moving Forward
Creating music makes me feel whole. I’ve been taking vocal lessons for almost half a year at a pace of a lesson a week. I hope to continue expressing myself musically and create songs that resonate with people globally.
“Paper Dreams” releases on June 8, 2024. I chose this date because June is the same as my first name, and the number 8 resembles an infinity symbol, symbolizing a fitting start to my musical career.
If you’d like to support my music career, please stream and listen to “Paper Dreams”! You can pre-save the English version here and the Japanese version here. When it comes out stream it, share it, make TikToks with it, anything! Everything and anything helps.
You can purchase digital copies of the song here.
I also have concepts for a music video and might consider crowdfunding it in the future.
Additionally, I offer song commissions. If you’d like to be a producer and help expand my music discography, please consider commissioning a song from me.
With love and joy,
June Lovejoy
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