Hello everyone, and welcome back to another blog post. Today I will be discussing singer-songwriter Meiko. I first discovered Meiko when I was 14, listening to new artists on Spotify. Meiko has such a unique voice, which I love, and her songwriting is fantastic! I have even gotten my dad to enjoy her music. I have covered a couple of Meiko's songs, and she has even posted an Instagram video where she sings harmony with me, which was very cool. Here's the link to that: https://www.instagram.com/p/4TiQ3UuwEw/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
I also had a phone interview with her in 2016 for a school project about the music industry. I look up to Meiko, and although we are not in touch, I consider her a mentor to me. I have reached out to Meiko about doing another interview but she is expecting her new baby any day.
Meiko was born in Roberta, Georgia. She comes from a heritage of Scottish/Irish and Japanese. When she was eight years old, she found her love of performing after she sang White Christmas at Southern Baptist Church. From there she sang in many talent shows and began writing songs, playing with her father's guitar that he taught her how to play. Meiko moved to Los Angeles when she turned 18, became a bartender at Hotel Cafe, and worked her way up to play gigs there. Meiko started to receive a lot of attention and went on tours with artists like Brett Dennan, Mat Kearney, Rachael Yamagata, Ingrid Michaelson, Cary Brothers, Sara Bareilles, and Jewel. Meiko has released eight albums: Meiko (2008), The Bright Side (2012), Dear You (2014), Moving Day (2016), Playing Favorites (2018), In Your Dreams (2019), In Your Dreams Acoustic (2019), and her latest album, Sorry I Missed You (2022). Today I will review a song from Meiko's latest album, Sorry I Missed You. Meiko posted on her Instagram that she and her family had just moved to Hamburg, Germany when the pandemic hit. Since everything was closed, Meiko learned how to record herself by watching Youtube videos. Later she met Kai Lindner, who let Meiko use his studio to rerecord her vocals and guitar. Meiko says the album is "made up of all the emotions [she] went through during [the pandemic]. Isolation, secondary infertility, fish out of the water, being grateful for what [she has], missing home, missing connections with people." If you are interested in the whole post, here is the link: https://www.instagram.com/p/CemiYPUq7Lm/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
Meiko has had great success in her songwriting career and has had her songs featured in TV shows like Pretty Little Liars, Grey's Anatomy, and The Vampire Diaries. She currently lives in London with her husband, son, and a baby on the way!
Today I will review the song, If You Want Me, from Meiko's latest album. This song would be perfect for TV because, lyrically, there are not many lines. However, the instrumentation is excellent, and it is perfect to have in the background of a scene. When I say there are not many lines I don't mean that as a bad thing. Sometimes you don't need to say a whole lot in songs. For example, Meiko has her first verse:
"I never really had a doubt. You're the only one I think about. And I can't get you out of my head. I'd rather have you in my bed instead."
Moving on to the pre-chorus:
"Wishin' hopin' prayin' sayin' You're the only one for me. I know that you get me, baby, come and give me what I need."
Then to the chorus:
"Ooh, I love you. And I'll be true if you want me to."
It makes me wonder if this is written as an ABABA song, meaning that the chorus is the bridge and the verses are the main melody focus point. I wonder abut this because Meiko then goes back into a quick verse:
"So take me back to the first time that we met. Yeah, take me back to the first things you said. I'm..."
Then she continues to go into the pre-chorus and chorus again. This song has a very interesting writing format and makes me think about my songwriting. I always feel like I need to add more lyrics, but sometimes saying less is more. Also, the guitar in this song is perfect with Meiko's vocals.
I hope you all have enjoyed this blog post. Hopefully, I can get in touch with Meiko again to post another interview on the blog. I will have the link to Meiko's song and a link of reviews I have done of other women attached below.
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