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Lay Me Down: update + call for action

Handwritten lyrics of 'Lay Me Down' by Michelle Branch

16 months ago, we took the time to write about a song we’re feeling passionate about, and what makes it so special.

A few things to note:
  • we’re not alone: checking out our referrer logs — a ton of people want to find out more about this song; not too bad for a track that hasn’t been released. Checking out our inbox — a bunch of emails from fans of the song wishing us good luck and hoping we get our hands on the track. (Some even took the time to send us live versions of the song — thanks!) This is odd — 16 months ago, when the original “Lay me down” entry was written we thought only we and maybe some people that frequented over at Branch’s message board cared. Turns out this is not the case.
  • hey Josh, nice talking to you: two weeks after we posted about it, we got our very first email regarding this — from Josh Abraham, himself. (Pause for a minute, and think about it.) Unfortunately, Josh was rather, shall we say, cryptic in his message (i.e. told us nothing except from a “you guys are pretty funny!!!!”) and chose not to follow up in our emails (two of them, we didn’t want to spam the guy). Bummer, but we respect his decision — and thank you for sending us that email anyway, Josh; we’ve almost had a heart attack when we noticed an email from “Josh Abraham” waiting for us in our inbox.
  • do something about it: finally, there idea of writing to Michelle’s label and asking for “Lay me down” to be released as a b-side on one of The Wreckers’ singles (their album drops on May 23rd) has been tossed quite a few times. Let’s sit on that for a while…

Call for action
How do we go about it so that our actions have the best possible result? Do we gather a list of names/emails first and then send a single letter to the company signed by that list, or each one of us sends a separate email? And are we talking email or snail mail? Maybe go with an online petition?

The “Comments” section below is yours — discuss, help us with writing the text, whatever. We’re all in this together.

(Also post a comment if you’d like to stay updated on the “Lay Me Down” front — just make sure you use a valid email address in the “email” field; don’t worry, it’s never published, we hate spam too.)

UPDATEMarch 27th, 2008: You can now listen to the original version in its entirety, in streaming mode from Michelle Branch’s official website. Click here for more.
May 15th, 2006

Comments on “Lay Me Down: update + call for action”

  1. I have no ideas in terms of the best course of action, but definitely keep me updated on this!

    Becca on May 16th, 2006 at 2:21 am / Edit
  2. I dont know but lets do ANYTHING to try to get this released. Seriously.

    John B. on May 17th, 2006 at 5:49 am / Edit
  3. It’s already coming out? It will be on The Wreckers’ CD “Stand Still, Look Pretty” which will come out May 23rd. And you can hear it on their myspace page or preview their entire album at CMT.com

    Megan on May 17th, 2006 at 5:55 am / Edit
  4. but michelle’s hotel paper version! it’s not the same as the wreckers one.

    milla on May 17th, 2006 at 4:03 pm / Edit
  5. I liked it a lot, Lay Me Down, more then the one the Wreckers now released…

    Shades on May 17th, 2006 at 5:08 pm / Edit
  6. Megan, yeah, as Milla and Shades pointed out, we’re talking about Michelle’s version. I may have a contact over at WBR (the parent of Maveric, no?) which I’ll ping in the days to come, in case he can give us some pointers… By the way, I’d still like to hear from you on what should we do. (And Josh, if you’re reading this, you know where to find us!)

    Konstantinos on May 18th, 2006 at 5:00 am / Edit
  7. I don’t know about music, but for saving TV shows, I’ve heard that many fans writing letters is the best way to go. I’ve also seen massive online petitions related to movies. Anyway, I’d love to stay updated on this. Thanks.

    Mandi on May 18th, 2006 at 9:10 pm / Edit
  8. I suggest you guys post an entry promoting the Wreckers album that was released earlier this week. If this album doesnt sell well, then…

    John B. on May 26th, 2006 at 2:33 pm / Edit
  9. hehe. i’m a HUUUGEEE fan of the original version. jessica harp is a friend of mine and the next time i see her i’m going to mention this to her… but since it’s on the wreckers album now i doubt they’d release Michelle’s version now… someone needs to leak it (*ahemjoshabrahamahem*) ;)

    jess on June 4th, 2006 at 4:33 am / Edit
  10. Hey Jess, thanks! When you do tell her, let us know so that we can brag about it :) And because the Wreckers’ version was released, doesn’t mean they can’t release Michelle’s version as a b-side to one of their singles, right?

    Konstantinos on June 5th, 2006 at 4:58 am / Edit
  11. I remember stumbling on the post that was up here 16 months ago and now, i don’t know how, but I have stumbled again. I am a die-hard Michelle fan and when I first heard the version on STLP by TW, I nearly died of heartache. It’s not BAD or anything…it’s just not IT. I know M is really close to her fans, so if you can get hold of some of the old fans that used to post up on thewreckers.org (that does not exist anymore), maybe after her busy tour with the Rascal Flatts she may look into it… maybe? But chances are, to get the ORIGINAL Lay Me Down out alot of paperwork’s gonna have to be done, and judging from how tensions are high between Michelle and Maverick, it may take longer than a while. But count me in if we’re making a move! I wanna be there when it happens!

    baicancook on July 12th, 2006 at 8:26 pm / Edit
  12. Hey, I’m the real “Shades” and I’m from the USA, not Mexico or whatever that flag is. But I do agree with his sentiment that Michelle’s original version kicks butt over The Wreckers’ countrified version. Just listen to that rockin’ chorus on Michelle’s version.

    I gotta wear shades on January 5th, 2008 at 4:17 pm / Edit