Achingly intimate and apologetic, Melody Federer’s heartwrenching ballad “Sometimes I Cry” is a stirring song of longing and reconnection: A musical bridge originally built for a father and daughter, that works just as well for any relationship in need of healing.
Stream: “Sometimes I Cry” – Melody Federer
It’s never too late to say sorry, as long as you still have breath in your lungs. And if you can be vulnerable and brave, there can be healing in relationships.
Sadness drips out of Melody Federer’s latest song like honey from a bottle: It’s a slow trickle at first, but over time more and more spills out. Achingly intimate and apologetic, Federer’s heartwrenching ballad “Sometimes I Cry” is a stirring song of longing and reconnection: A musical bridge originally built for a father and daughter, that works just as well for any relationship in need of healing.
It was supposed to be me
For my own sanity
I try to make sense of it sometimes
When I can’t sleep through the night
I was supposed to be there
Holding you in that rocking chair
Telling you stories of how it was all gonna be
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Sometimes I Cry,” Melody Federer’s first single of 2022 and her latest since last April’s searing, emotionally charged “I Hate Love.”
A Texas born, Seattle-based singer/songwriter with a breathtaking voice and jaw-dropping resume (that includes everyone from P!nk to Jacob Whitesides to Kelly Rowland to Michael Buble), Melody Federer has over the years proved herself to be a phenomenal storyteller, channeling powerful emotions through stunning songs that soar through life’s high and dwell in its lows to capture a small slice of the human experience. In premiering her 2019 single “This Town,” Atwood Magazine praised Federer for expertly unraveling trapped feelings: “Federer’s voice brings a delicacy, a warmth, and a hope to a song that’s all about angst and feeling hopelessly confined,” we wrote at the time. The song was later featured in the magazine’s Editor’s Picks section.
Unlike Federer’s past releases, “Sometimes I Cry” is notable as a product of Federer’s work on collaborative songwriting service Downwrite, which allows fans and established artists to conceive of songs together and then share the royalties. In this case, the fan chose the message of the song, mood and genre, and instruments.
“A man named Bill reached out to me via Downwrite about having an estranged relationship with his daughter that really tortured him,” Federer tells Atwood Magazine. “He wanted to reconnect and was hoping I could put his story in a song that he could send to her. Bill had been in the military and had missed much of his daughter’s upbringing. And then when he realized his wife loved another man he was crushed and pulled away. But he always longed for and hoped to reconnect with his daughter. He said this song has built a bridge between them and brought a lot of healing. They’re talking again and that brings me so much joy.”
“Sometimes I Cry” hits its peak in a confessional, heartbroken chorus. With a sweet acoustic guitar at her side and gentle, lilting orchestral strings in the background, Federer holds nothing back in a vulnerable and visceral outpouring:
Sometimes, I still cry
Tears sting my eyes
Hits me out the blue
When I’m thinking of you
I did my best
But it’s all a mess
In my defense
I wanted to be there all along
Sometimes, I still cry
Over all the wasted time
“At the end of the day, I’m a girl with a guitar writing about how I feel,” Federer says. “This song is honest and emotional and it’s about connecting. That’s all I’m ever trying to do. Also I was able to produce the song myself at home, which was very rewarding.”
“[I hope listeners take away] that it’s never too late to say sorry, as long as you still have breath in your lungs,” she adds. “And if you can be vulnerable and brave, there can be healing in relationships.”
For Federer, Downwrite allows her to not only share other peoples’ stories via song, but it also provides an income stream not formerly available to her or other songwriters like her. “I really love the platform Downwrite has created,” she shares. “I spent a lot of my early years busking on the streets of Paris and LA making up songs for strangers. This is a way I can still do that without having to freeze outside and carry a giant amp down fifty flights of stairs.”
How do I watch him take my place?
After your mother took my name
I guess it turned out,
I wasn’t the one that she loved
But the second that you needed me
I swear I forgave everything
Opened my doors and my arms
Tried to bridge the gap
It was too late for that
Few things compare to the love a parent has for their child, and in “Sometimes I Cry,” we feel the full weight of that love as it reckons through a fractured state, hoping to once again be whole. That this song helped Bill and his daughter start repairing their relationship speaks to the power of music, as well as to the power of Federer’s performance. “Sometimes music can say what a gift or just words can’t,” she says.
That certainly rings true for this beautifully poignant song. Stream “Sometimes I Cry” exclusively on Atwood Magazine!
Sometimes, I cry
Tears sting my eyes
Hits me out of the blue
When I’m thinking of you
I did my best
But it’s still a mess
In my defense
I wanted to be there all along
Sometimes, I still cry
Over all the wasted time
I’d give it all for the lost time
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Stream: “Sometimes I Cry” – Melody Federer
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