A noted composer once said “song writing is ten percent inspiration and ninety percent perspiration.” How true that is. Some songs can schlep out for days, weeks, months, and even years. Getting just the right lyrics, the perfect turn of phrase — not to mention the proper chord flow and subtle nuances of a catchy melody — can be a painstaking process.

At other times, the moment is ripe, inspiration strikes, and the process can be akin to experiencing a Divine revelation. Sometimes a special occasion or especially poignant moment will touch me and trigger an epiphany: At one wedding, after the mitzvah tantz, I was so moved I composed “The Wedding’s Over.”

At the Siyum HaShas I was inspired to write “One Daf a Day.” And sometimes, a certain unusually gifted or learned individual will stimulate the creative juices. When my rebbi, Rabbi Shlomo Freifeld ztz”l, was niftar, I wrote “A Very Special Man” in his memory. On the other hand, after I was attacked by a bunch of hoodlums, I wrote “Nebich of the Shteeble.”

—Country Yossi Toiv

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 747)