Take Me to the Bridge host Ben Wakeman uses this thirteenth episode as an important foothold in his never-ending climb to further understand the nature of songs and why they matter. In the course of interviewing many of the songwriters who have appeared on the show, Ben was conducting an "experiment" to see just how many ways the same lyric might be interpreted. To raise the bar even higher, the songwriters who participated were not allowed to see the lyric until it was put in front of them and they were asked to "make it into a song" on the spot.
The resulting songs are surprisingly good and wonderfully unique from artist to artist. Each songwriter produced a solid, viable song from the lyrics below, but further, was able to inject that intangible, emotive element that makes each of the artists so distinctive and sought after.
“Take me to the bridge
So I can see the other side
Watch the water rush below
Know that I still have a choice
Even when I choose to hide
Take me to the bridge
So I can walk the stretch between
The place I want to be
Free of all the years of looking back
At everything I’ve seen”
Hearing these masterful songwriters in such an intimate, unrehearsed setting where there is nothing to hide, no time to edit or censor, is truly refreshing and inspiring. From Kristian Bush's straight up country take to John Gorka's haunting interpretation to Richard Shindell's whispery confessional, each songwriter made the lyric his own. Matthew Kahler, Craig Cardiff, Pat Walsh and Pierce Pettis all turn in masterful performances as well.
Ben Wakeman closes the episode with his own interpretation of the lyric that he scribbled over the steering wheel on his way to meet Kristian Bush for the first interview that kicked off Take Me to the Bridge.