The idea for this song came to me completely at random. I chanced upon this video called “You In Five Minutes”, which is a very weird clip that has nothing to do with this song, really. But watch it anyway, it’s quite hilarious.

What actually made me watch it was the title – “You in Five Minutes”. I thought, man, that’s a great title for a song. It could be about, say, listing out all the great things I like about you in five minutes; or perhaps needing just five minutes to decide if I like you or not.

Then I thought, I don’t need five minutes to decide if I like someone – I probably need just a minute to form an impression! What about something called “One Minute”? But instead of it being about me judging someone else, why not put myself in the shoes of the person being judged, and convincing them, in one minute, why they should like me? Something like an elevator pitch of sorts. So, that’s how this song was born.

I love songwriting. You can get inspiration from just about anywhere.

One Minute
© Music and Lyrics by Marcel Lee Pereira, 13 Aug, 2010

A large room, full of unsmiling faces
The sound of my footsteps
Ring louder than a churchbell
Under my jeans my knees are shaking
But I look ’em in the eye and say

I know you’ve had a long day
And I thank you for your time
I have way too much at stake
And I’ve come too far
To let this go to waste

Chorus
So give me one minute
That’s all I need
One minute
And you will take me seriously

I had a crush on a girl in school
We were friends, I hung onto her every word
And till this day she doesn’t know
I wish I had the courage to say

I know you’ve had a long day
Just give me a little time
This may be in bad taste
But I’ve come too far
To let this go to waste

Chorus
So give me one minute
That’s all I need
One minute
And you will take me seriously

Okay I’ll admit it
It’s hard to get a break
Most of us are too willing to walk away
But all I need is 60 seconds
Not an arm or leg
It’s not too much I reckon

Chorus

One minute
What will you do
One minute
To get your message through

Chorus

***

P.S. I’m really looking forward to my performance tomorrow at the Library@Esplanade. It starts at 3.30pm, so do drop by if you can! More details can be found here.