Videos by American Songwriter
“Let’s LOVE BETTER”
Written by Simone Lazer and Melissa Bollea Rowe
Interview by American Songwriter
Simone Lazer and Melissa Bollea Rowe are the Lyric Runner-Ups for American Songwriter’s Make It Count Contest Promotion for their song “Let’s LOVE BETTER.” American Songwriter caught up with Simone and Melissa to get the story behind their lyrics.
How long have you been songwriting?
SIMONE: I’ve been writing since the dark ages! I was 10 or 11 when a local (Lansing, MI) radio station kindly picked up a song that I’d written.
MELISSA: I’ve been writing since I was a child. I could hear lyrics and melody from a young age.
Why did you enter American Songwriter’s Lyric Contest?
SIMONE: It’s an honor for “Let’s LOVE BETTER” to be an official selection of your “Make it Count” contest! Those 3 words of the contest really resonated, as these seriously challenging times call for our loving instead of hating, and being proactive in creating necessary positive-change, so that we can “make it count” for one another and the future. I couldn’t not enter, (even if we’re still tweaking the song) because LLB’s lyric seemed to fit the theme. Additionally, your partner, Save the Music Foundation is incredibly important!
What was the inspiration behind your song, “Let’s LOVE BETTER”?
SIMONE: The heartbreaking challenges of the pandemic, (that for millions have yet to let up) is what initially inspired the write. My co-writer, Melissa Bollea Rowe is a treasured friend, and she was really generous to attempt to write with me while I was beyond-ill with Long Covid. And, we were talking about how cruel people can be during the toughest of times, and how we’re all here to love on, not hate one another.
Tragically, since starting the song, the heightened hatred, lack of humanity, equality and unity, has been escalating instead of dissipating, and the message of LLB has grown to cover a variety of injustices.
Hopefully we’ll be able to do something positive with “Let’s LOVE BETTER”, (there’s potential with a couple of civil rights charities) not that anyone can create another “We Are the World”, but we’re looking forward to recording and paying it forward … however is meant to be!
MELISSA: All the division in today’s world. We wanted to say something that mattered, something we felt was important. I’ve always heard and believe that silence is complicity. As songwriters, we have a platform and we should use it for good. We took quite a bit of time on this one and there were plenty of rewrites, I appreciate how passionate Simone was about getting it right, she didn’t want to leave anything out, she was right to persevere on that.
Are there any songwriters, artists, or events that have especially inspired you lately?
SIMONE: That’s a loaded question coming off of AmericanaFest! Too many singer-songwriter/artists come to mind when it comes to current inspiration, but the multitalented Regina McCrary’s co-write with Bob Dylan & Julie Miller, that Buddy Miller so beautifully sings, “Don’t Make Her Cry” (from the current Buddy & Julie release, “In the Throes”) sure hits the heart.
MELISSA: Maren Morris inspires me, it’s not easy to speak up in today’s political climate but she has and to me, that’s brave. We only live once, I think it matters what you say and do, that you make a difference. There can be so much fear in speaking up but you have to. If you are passionate about what you feel is right and good, you have to.
