True Confessions about True Companion
By Aaron Wulff
On my first day at a new dance studio in the early 2000s, a wedding couple came in with a song I had never heard before. “What’s it called?” I asked. “‘True Companion’ by Marc Cohn,” the bride-to-be replied.
Since I was a major fan of Cohn’s “Walking in Memphis,” I was surprised I hadn’t heard of it. “Cool,” I responded. Little did I know the cosmos was about to royally screw with my head in the name of Marc Cohn.
I fired up the CD player and listened. The couple noticed a pained look on my face. “Is there something wrong?” they asked.
It started with the long guitar intro, then the pregnant pause before the piano kicked in. “I’m just trying to find a detectable beat.” I smiled reassuringly. The song continued with beautiful lyrics and powerful swells of instruments. It was a badass song.
“Ok, this is going to be a tough song to follow and it has some change-ups.” The couple didn’t care. They wanted to dance to it. “OK, no problem,” I said. I was getting paid either way.
The lesson was a struggle. The groom couldn’t hear the beat and the bride was getting frustrated. She was dancing to the rhythm and he was dancing to his own tempo. I sent them home with homework- practice listenening to the piano so you can find the rhythm and stay with it.
Later that evening I had a lesson scheduled with a second couple. The groom marched up to me triumphantly and handed me a CD. “True Companion.”
“Is this, like, a popular new song?” I was clearly confused.
It wasn’t. It was more than ten years old. “Weird. I have another couple working with this song and they’re really struggling with the beat,” I said. “That’s fine!” they replied. “We love the song and we want to make it work.”
The next day I had a third couple, and when they handed me “True Companion” I almost sh*t myself.
“Come on, are you serious?” They were a little taken aback by my surprise. But it didn’t end there.
When the next couple came in I welcomed them and joked, “I can only teach you to dance to the song ‘True Companion.’”
“That’s our song!”
I had to be on a hidden camera show. Or drugs.
“What is going on?!” I was having a moment in the back office at the end of the night, waiting to see if my fellow instructor could explain. “Are you guys hazing me?” Somehow she was unimpressed. “Maybe it’s just a great song.”
To this day I don’t know what the odds are of four consecutive couples bringing in a song that was twelve years old. But they’re probably even less than Marc Cohn getting shot in the head and living to tell about it.
As great as this song is, it’s challenging if you’re doing choreography.
The song begins with a 30-second guitar intro before the piano and vocal start, and you’ll need to decide how to use it. It’s a little long for a standard entrance, so get creative. I’ve used longer entrances and intros, and some couples have even cut it altogether.
That’s not a bad option if you’re looking to simplify the song, and it brings the length down into a better range for your audience.
The body of the song features Cohn’s voice and his piano. They’re beautiful, rousing, and can be difficult to follow during certain parts of the song. You’ll get a few stretches where the song kicks up with additional supporting instruments, but the groom/leader will need to be on their toes when things get quiet.
Just when you think the song ends and the piano resolves, there’s another transition to a violin ending. Frankly, most couples choose to cut it.
Your guests will probably get bored if you use the full-length song (4:09), but cutting out the intro, or violins at the end can help.
“True Companion” requires patience and a good ear for couples who want to stay with the beat, and for those reasons, it gets a low danceability score. If you’re willing to put in the planning and practice, the song has a great tempo and fantastic lyrics.
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