You Found Me
© 2025 Owen Hovenden
Music & Lyrics: Owen Hovenden
Link: https://soundcloud.com/rainydayman/you-found-me
You Found Me
Verse 1
I said I had it handled, I swore it was done.
Smiled for the photograph, fooled everyone.
But the mirror cracked, and the nights got long—
And I left far behind the line I said I'd never cross.
Chorus 1
You found me, hiding in the shadows.
You found me out.
I was out of reasons, out of sight.
You found me out
But you didn’t run, didn’t turn away—
You saw the door, but you stayed
You found me.
You found me.
Verse 2
You stood in the doorway, didn’t raise your voice.
No need for anger—you just gave me the choice.
Every barrier, every lie I tried to defend
Came crashing down when you reached for my hand.
Chorus 2
You found me, out of excuses
You found me out.
Deer in the headlights, frozen in doubt.
You found me out
But you didn’t run, didn’t turn away—
You held out your hand, you stayed
You found me.
You found me.
Bridge:
I don’t know what tomorrow brings,
But I know I can’t go back again.
If there’s a way , I’ll try to find it—
If you’re beside me when the night ends.
Final Chorus:
You found me, breaking the silence.
You found me out.
Searching for daylight, still full of doubt.
You found me out—
But you didn’t run, didn’t turn away.
And now I’m learning how to stay.
You found me.
You found me.
Comments
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A beautiful song well written and performed. I love the way your lack of obvious rhymes doesn't detract from the flow of the song, it glides effortlessly from start to finish.
If I was to venture a slight comment, I found the storyline raised more questions than answers, I found it difficult to follow.
I'm probably missing something obvious here, so forgive me if that's the case.
Sid
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Guy and a guitar, my favorite combo. Your voice resonates perfectly with the Cmag7, one of my favorite chords. A really sweet song my friend. You should write and present more stuff.
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Thanks Sid! Yes, I deliberately left it ambiguous - maybe too much so!
Emotionally it's an arc about redemption through love and compassion from a shameful act. I wanted the focus to be on that emotional arc rather than specific actions involved. And also to let it be applicable to various situations, but the model I was using for it was drug use, the person seemingly having given it up, only to secretly relapse. But the pattern is reusable across any secret vice.
Yes, I quite like using combos like long / cross, or defend / hand which don't look like rhymes on paper, but seem to fit when sung. Certainly gives you more flexibility! And then some harder rhymes within the lines for contrast like behind / line, saw / door
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Thanks for that, I figured he'd been caught doing something wrong but couldn't figure out what. I get it your using a generic theme here to cover a multitude of sins and vices. Knowing what I do now, it makes absolute sense, sorry about that.
It's quite emotional really, the depth of passion within the words and phrases is extremely good. Quite a few pieces jump out but this is my favourite, "And I left far behind the line I said I'd never cross.". Could write a song based just on that line alone.
The guitar work is very good too, though the emotion in the lyrics cry out for a solo piano.
Really got something here you can get your teeth into.
Well done,
Sid
P.S. I'm intrigued about the use of your rhyming patterns and style here. Any recommendations on where I can find more info on this style, very interesting.
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A very nice song Owen. Love the lyrics, especially. That guitar has a nice sound to it as well.
Good stuff!
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@RainyDayMan - I think the message is there, you did a perfect job of towing the line between being too vague and too obvious I like the melody.. flowed like a meandering stream. You can put this song in a mix of songs to gel too. .
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I got the gist of what the song was about, although my first thought was that it was infidelity that had been found out.
It's a nice song. Maybe worth taking further production-wise? Do you use any tools like EQ and compression. I can't help feeling you could beef up your voice, give it more presence.
It's a good lyric, especially verse 2, which paints a moving picture. Nice one!
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To me it meant, you found who I really am, despite my actions, I wish I had that kinda support. All I do is get kicked in the ass.
Back to song. Love the guitar hook sounds kinda jazzy. And the way it sneaks up on you after hearing the minor feel during the verses, very cool. Has a 70's singer songwriter feel.
I like some of those chord changes what are the chords btw?
I like that minor chord getting higher in the mirror crack part..
The way chorus comes in is great. I think the chorus might be too long. The verse already takes it's sweet time to get to the punchline.
I think you might consider stopping before the' but you didn't run part"
Maybe use that second time or third time around.
But I love the melody 'you didn't turn away " that's Springsteen phrasing for sure.
Overall I thought it was really cool to hear, there were some parts where the strumming seemed aimless as if you weren't sure what chord was next. But that's easily fixed I assume this is a rough draft.
But it had my attention through most of it
Worth tightening up, I got a pink Floyd vibe in parts and cat Stevens.
Also might consider and upbeat tempo
Great stuff man!0 -
Thanks guys! Really appreciate the feedback
@StoneFlowers Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, CMaj7 is a go to chord for me as well.
@sidshovel Piano would be interesting to hear. I don't have the skills for that though. I'm afraid I don't have a reference for the rhyming. I suspect it's an accumulation of things I've heard over the years.
@IronKnee Thanks Tom, appreciated.
@bhengen Thank you Bill. Good to hear the message landed. Interesting point on the style. I wasn't especially trying for that, but maybe I'm a middle of the road type songwriter.
@OnlyGavin I'm pleased to hear you thought it was applicable to infidelity. That more general applicability is exactly what I hoping for. The drug thing was only a mental scaffold to help me write suitable lyrics, it wasn't meant to be part of the song.
@Domd That's wonderful, thoughtful feedback. Thank you so much!
"To me it meant, you found who I really am, despite my actions" that is exactly the progression from "you found me out"→ "you found me" in a nutshell.
What I'm playing in the chorus, those rising notes, start as Cmaj7 using 3rd fret on the 1st and 5th strings (G and C notes) and an open B. Then I just slide up to the 5th and 7th frets keeping the open B. I'm not sure what they are exactly, but it will be some variant of D and E chords. On the E I find the open 6th string gives it some weight. After that I've got some paired notes: 12th fret E and B on the first two strings dropping back two frets to D and A, then move to the 2nd and 3rd strings @12 for B and G notes. Then repeat the whole motif.
In the verses it's CMaj7 → Dsus2 (x2) then Bm7→ C (so just dropping back a semitone really).
The Bridge is a D chord played using a C shape up two frets → Cadd9
I hear you about the chorus length. For me, the chorus, like the song, is in two parts: his actions and hers. And they're both important. I think part of the problem with it might be the return to the Cmaj7 chord of the verse. Rather than shorten it, there may be a way to change the melody for the second half of the chorus to make it feel less repetitive. Not sure, but I can take a look there. It's 4:22 overall, so definitely not a short song, but not drastically long either. And commercial considerations don't count.
And yes, there are a couple of rough spots. As you say, not a final version.
I think you're right about upping the tempo. Not much, but a few BPM. I've played it at home a few times now and I find myself naturally going a bit faster, so I think you're spot on there.
Once again, thank you all for the helpful comments and advice.
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@RainyDayMan - Very nice, the theme of redemption through an act of unconditional love and forgiveness is coming through clearly throughout the tune. I felt you could change the direction on the melody a bit more in the Bridge so that when it segues into the main verse once again it sounds a little more "adventurous", but overall a very cohesive song.
You can consider adding a nice electric bass if you are thinking of producing it for a release :)
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Thank you Arnab. Yes Bass, and Drums as well, I think would work well. I don't know about a release, but it would be nice to have a more complete recording and mix. I'm not unhappy with the Bridge as the vocal gets a dynamic lift into the chorus, but I agree that it's not very adventurous! Appreciate your input :)
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@RainyDayMan - Yes definitely, it's not actually necessary. The song has a certain completeness and the bridge is rightly in its place.
Yes to get a set of original tunes completely recorded and mixing/mastered is a great possession to have :) Even if you don't want to release that, you can cherish the body of work forever :) Its such a beautiful feeling!
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Your songs have alway so deep lines and poetry! This line is wonderful .
"Deer in the headlights, frozen in doubt.!
Love the sound of guitar here, it gives the smell of a tale, I don't know why, at least in my ear.
Wonderful and moving song. @RainyDayMan
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Thank you Mora! Your own work is so rich, so I value such a comment from you :)
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