Most Downloaded, December

“All I Got,” by Astra Kelly, was the most-downloaded MP3 from SDReader.com during the month of December. Below is an interview with the songwriter.

What inspired you to write “All I Got”?

Astra Kelly: The chorus came first in a late-night writing session over red wine with my boyfriend/engineer at the time. We were playing with beats and built a minute’s worth of the backing track. I came up with the chorus lyrics on the spot, sang a bunch of backing parts, and with some fancy editing we built a song.

We then forgot about the track for almost a year. We were in the studio recording some band tracks on some other tunes, and we found a “mystery track” on my hard drive. We took a listen and were so into it, we went right to work on it. I had the verses written within minutes, sang the lead, tracked the band…the weird electronic sound you hear up front and throughout the song is this crazy feedback loop that was going on with the board. We couldn’t figure out how to get rid of it, so we ended up recording it into the song and joked that it was the studio ghost.…

The song is my vow to give everything I am to the music that I make and to share it unconditionally. It is also an acknowledgment that everyone has a similar quest that they can potentially take no matter what their “music” may be.

Lyrics to “All I Got”:

• It’s my condition, my ambition
• My struggle, my test
• Believe in you, trust in you
• Always see your best
• Been in trouble had to still my pride
• Been accused of being far too nice
• I felt the sting and my rage, my pain became
• My rhythm, my passion, the music
• My rhythm, my passion, the music

CHORUS:

• I give to you everything, everything
• I give to you everything, all I got
• I give to you everything, everything
• I give to you everything, all I got
• You think you’re wrong, but you still hold on
• And you’ve never let go
• The road is long, seems to just stretch on
• You’ve come so far, I know
• The transition could go either way
• You weigh it out and you lay your bet down
• You felt the sting and your rage, your pain became
• Your rhythm, your passion, the music