rockyourlyricsOn my own I may write lyrics with a tune or rhythm in my head while sitting at a bar or coffee shop on paper, or simply sit down at an instrument and let the words flow while I play something random.
Which is the best verse you ever wrote?
I have no idea.
I’ve written hundreds of songs and I have no point of reference to answer that question.
As far as The Dead Deads, I love the chorus of “Astronaut,” which says ‘how can I fault a pale blue dot? I’m just my thoughts and you’re no astronaut.”
It’s about accepting responsibility for your life and your hardships and being frustrated by those that don’t and I feel like I summed that up extremely concisely in those two lines.
Verses are harder to choose because they simply support the glittering beacon which should be any chorus.
I don’t know…hell…whichever one touches someone in a moment—that’s my favorite. LOL.
Right now I like the first verse of “Nothing Will Be Fine,” because it takes me back to that moment like looking at a photograph. ‘I walked off stage like I was walking off the edge of the world. I woke up to a death—rolled over to a corpse.”
It’s very personal to me and to the band.
and the one of your favorite song?
“Murder Ballad” is very tight lyrically. I think “Lemonade” is also.
I like “Space” a lot too. “Space” has one of the best pre-choruses I’ve ever written I think. ‘How many times can I tell you I’m fine? How many stars in the sky and when will you die? Let’s talk about this all night.’ It’s very sarcastic, which I don’t usually do—I like that about it.
“Flying saucers” is the title of your last EP , what inspired most of its lyrics?
Change, both personal, political and professional.
We are in a sort of metamorphosis as a band right now and I think our lyrics reflect that.
The EP is a lot about understanding yourself, standing up for and loving yourself, and taking care of others.
We are becoming braver as a band and our message is becoming clearer—to be good to yourself, fight for what’s right and to love one another.
Do you remember the day you wrote “nothing will be fine”?
Absolutely.
We were on tour with Bush and the last night of the tour was election night. “Nothing Will Be Fine” is about that night.
It gives a moment by moment recap of what happened.
We walked off stage and learned that Trump had won.
We were beyond devastated and felt that despite our highest hopes, nothing would be fine.
We wrote it as soon as we got home from tour. The lyrics poured like water from a pitcher—clear and quick.
what inspired the song ” fresh kicks”?
“Fresh Kicks” is a freedom anthem.
It’s for anyone that has felt trapped by their circumstances and finally found the bravery to walk away.
We used musical references in it—Weezer albums and Beatles vs Stones—to characterize differences in people.
You’re either into Pinkerton or Blue. It can be polarizing. I liked that idea a lot.
Sometimes I feel like I’m too Pinkerton to fit into certain situations that are very Blue in nature. I personally love both albums though. I’m a big Weezer fan.
Are you currently in tour?
We are writing for a third full length record currently, but we go back out on the road in November and December with Seether for a US tour.
What are your future projects?
We have lots coming up. A live EP recorded at Sweetwater in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, we are doing some acoustic stuff for future release, and we are writing and demoing our third studio record.
We are looking at another tour early next year with one of our favorite bands we’ve played with so far, so that’s exciting—lots to come.
Tell us more about the song sympathy sex, part of your album “for your obliteration” …
“Sympathy Sex” is about people that are addicted to their own perceived misfortune.
One of my band members suggested writing a song about that because someone in their immediate family was constantly unhappy and wanted everyone to feel sorry for them.
It’s an interesting song lyrically, because usually in popular music you see songs where people are using innocent metaphors to talk about sexual situations.
This song is the opposite in that I’m using a sexual metaphor to describe a very non-sexual family dynamic.
The first verse is describing the person in question. ‘You’re a wish, but you will not come true—you’re my occulter, my filter, my moon.’
Basically saying, ‘you are a person wasting your potential on darkening my day instead of improving your own.’
The chorus simply sarcastically asks the person to complain some more, and ends with the metaphor screamed ‘sympathy sex!’
I chose this because it feels like a very ugly thing that makes the person providing it feel used and that’s how family can make you feel when they force you into their sick cycle of negativity.
I wanted it to feel uncomfortable and raw.
The bridge explains the beauty of life that the complainer is missing—‘every day is crazy, I wake amazed’ and I end the bridge with ‘kids these days,’ to drive home the familial connotation by using a generational colloquialism.
Haha…I just got kinda nerdy there with my explanation, but I LOVE words and I could talk about the why’s and how’s of them forever.
Thank you so much for asking! One other thing I could say about this song is that I tried to write it, as I do with many of my lyrics, to have dual meanings.
I want someone to listen to it and also be able to relate to a completely different situation such as a lover or a boss, etc. Even if its taken completely literally about giving sympathy sex—all of my lyrics truly mean what they mean to the listener.
That is my goal and if a song resonates with someone for a reason other than why it resonates with me, then I’m doing my job!
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