Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

‘I want the sky to open up wide; Illuminate this fire inside; I want the sky,’ sings Pacific Palisades resident Lucy Schwartz in a song about ambition on her new album ‘Life in Letters,’ which will be self-released in August. Schwartz, 20, is certainly on her way to attaining her aspirations. The 2008 Palisades Charter High School graduate recently co-authored the song ‘Darling I Do’ for ‘Shrek Forever After,’ and penned the lullaby ‘Little One’ for the movie ‘Mother and Child,’ starring Samuel L. Jackson, Naomi Watts and Annette Bening. She has also written original songs for films ‘Adam,’ ‘Post Grad’ and ‘The Women,’ and contributed music to television shows such as ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ ‘Private Practice’ and ‘Parenthood.’ The songwriter grew up watching her father, David Schwartz (a TV composer for ‘Deadwood’ and ‘Arrested Development’) create music for scenes, so she finds that writing for television and movies comes naturally. ‘I always get excited; it’s like an assignment,’ Schwartz told the Palisadian-Post. ‘I write songs I wouldn’t have written otherwise.’ She explained that ‘songwriting is sort of like acting. You have to put yourself in the place of another.’ For example, Schwartz tried to convey motherhood when writing ‘Little One’ for ‘Mother and Child,’ which is currently in theaters.   ’Clearly, I have not had children, but I can imagine the feelings of love and pride and wanting the best for your child,’ she said. ‘The song is at the end of the movie and intended to rejuvenate the audience. The movie’s a tear-jerker, but hopeful too.’ Chris Douridas, a radio DJ at KCRW and producer of soundtracks, asked Schwartz to submit the song for ‘Shrek Forever After.’ Schwartz had worked with Douridas on ‘The Women’ in 2008. ‘She has a maturity and a consistency of writing quality songs,’ Douridas, told the Post. ‘I continue to be impressed by everything she turns out.’ Schwartz’s father introduced Douridas to the young artist. While out on a jog, David stopped Douridas outside his Pacific Palisades home in the Alphabet streets and asked if he would be willing to listen to his daughter’s self-released ‘Winter in June’ album, which she recorded at age 16. Douridas agreed, and, an hour later, a CD appeared in his mailbox. After listening to the album, Douridas found himself humming the song ‘Paper Plane,’ so he began playing it on the radio. He then asked Schwartz to write a piece for the ending credits of ‘The Women,’ produced by Mick Jagger and Victoria Pearman. ‘A few days later she turned it in, and I was blown away,’ Douridas said of ‘Count on Me.’ Douridas next mentioned to David that he was having trouble finding a track for the opening credits, so David suggested his daughter write another piece. Three days later, Schwartz submitted ‘Beautiful,’ which ended up being perfect, Douridas said. After that, ‘I knew that I had to keep working with Lucy,’ he added. Schwartz asked singer and songwriter Landon Pigg to write the duet, ‘Darling I Do,’ for ‘Shrek Forever After’ with her because she was a fan of his music. ‘I thought it was a really good collaboration,’ Schwartz said. ‘We combined both our ideas to make the best song we could. There was a spark between our approach.’ ‘Darling I Do’ plays during a fight scene between Shrek and Princess Fiona. ‘They are physically fighting with each other, but it’s a love scene,’ Schwartz said. She and Pigg decided not to use the word love in the song but rather convey all the ways love is expressed. On May 7, Schwartz performed the song on ‘The Tonight Show’ with her father playing bass.   ’I think that all my nervousness went straight to my foot,’ she said, explaining that she maintained her composure except for her right foot, which shook on the piano pedal. ‘It was pretty surreal. We played the song around 5 p.m., and I was on television at midnight.’ The next day, she filmed her first professional music video, for ‘Darling I Do,’ at Apogee’s Berkeley St. Studio in Santa Monica. ‘It’s about us meeting [in a studio] and connecting, while the world around us becomes more Shrek-like,’ Schwartz said. In the video, leaves start falling from the sky and flowers bloom around the piano. Schwartz abandons her casual attire for a silky green dress, and she and Pigg dance. Schwartz, who began playing the piano at 7 years old and has taken only a couple voice lessons, released an EP album titled ‘Help Me! Help Me!’ in January as a sneak peek of ‘Life in Letters.’ Her 22-year-old brother, Ian (who works for Prettybird, a film and commercial production company in Santa Monica), directed a video for the song ‘Help Me! Help Me’ at their Palisades home. She filmed another video for ‘Gravity,’ directed by her cousin, Cooper Roberts (a filmmaker), at Little Dolphins preschool in Santa Monica. Her mother, Jody Roberts, is a founding member of the preschool. Schwartz said ‘Life in Letters’ reflects her feelings about leaving Occidental College after one semester to pursue music. ‘It was a scary and exciting time,’ she said. ‘It was scary since most of my friends are in college, and I was going to go ahead with a career, but I don’t regret the decision at all.’ Schwartz plans to film a video for her new song, ‘Graveyard,’ under the direction of Sonya Tayeh of the television show ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’ She will also play at Lilith Fair in Portland, Oregon on July 2. The musician is still considering whether to join a major record label. ‘There are lots of good things about being an independent artist and owning what you write,’ Schwartz said. ‘But you can get a lot of help from the support of a label.’