In May 2026, my boyfriend asked me to write a love song for him to sing. I dedicated this to our two-year anniversary of being together. I chose Dante Rossetti's poem, Love-Lily, for the libretto because it depicts love in a more passionate, almost spiritual way. When I read this poem, I immediately thought of how emotional some of the classic Broadway ballads are. A big challenge was that my boyfriend had no singing experience. So, I had this difficult balance of writing a song that was not only within reach of a new singer, but also still being expressive and musical. The way I achieved this was by keeping the vocal line rather simple, while shaping the emotional beats through the piano.

Love-Lily, following the poem's emotional path, begins very softly, reflecting on the awe of experiencing love. Over the course of the song, it builds up more and more until it hits an emotional high, then winds down and becomes soft once again, until it gradually builds back up to the biggest moment in the song, finally winding down to the softest point, and fading out.