Shelly Peiken: Timing
Meredith Brooks was an aspiring artist who needed a song to launch her career. I was a songwriter who needed an artist to launch a song. Meredith had written loads of songs with other writers in search of that song. I had written with loads of artists hoping they’d launch me a hit. I was considering going back to waiting tables. I don’t say that with disrespect. Everyone should wait tables for a few years. It humbles and at the same time empowers . . . teaches us how to be of service and be a better tipper when we’re on the other side of the table. There were things about waitressing I really enjoyed, but I was hoping by that point in my career something significant would have happened that would keep me from going back to my day job. That something just wouldn’t budge. Then one day, Meredith and I crashed into each other like pieces of debris in a chaotic orbit. You can have a million blind dates. You can have a hunch about something or someone and be totally right or totally off. You just never know. In fact, Meredith and I had written one very mediocre song a few months back and I don’t think either of us planned on working together again. How we came to re-unite