A SESSION, AS IT HAPPENS
Four minutes at 1 a.m., or four years in a lawyer's office.
This is one session in Bandung, told in the order it happened. Nothing here is unusual. That is why it keeps producing the same dispute.
- 20:40
Everyone arrives
A producer, a singer, a guitarist, and a friend who came to listen and stayed. Nobody is thinking about authorship.
- 22:15
The chords change
The guitarist plays something different in the pre-chorus. It is the version that ends up on the record.
- 23:30
The hook lands
The friend who came to listen sings a line as a joke. Everyone stops. It becomes the chorus.
- 00:50
Someone says split it evenly
Everyone agrees out loud. Nobody writes it down, because the song is worth nothing and the moment feels good.
- 01:05
The file is saved
Under the producer's name, on the producer's laptop, because it is the producer's laptop.
- Three years on
The record speaks
The registration says one writer. Everyone remembers the night differently, and all four of them are being honest.
The sheet belongs at 00:50, when everyone already agreed and nothing was at stake yet.