The Consequences Of Falling” This is the only song on the album that
I
didn’t write. When I first heard it I was working with Rick Nowels on music
for a
movie called Anywhere But Here and he played it for me. As soon as I heard
it, I
knew immediately that I wanted to record it. It suited me, suited my voice
and I
said, ‘I want that song.’ As far as the subject matter goes, I think it's
the only
track that doesn't exactly fit the concept of this record. But I couldn’t resist.
Summerfling This is really the core of the record thematically. It gets
to the
heart of what I was trying to express. If I had to explain it, I’d say
it’s about how
being in love makes you feel like it’s summer all the time. This was the
second
song I wrote for the album and, although I worked out some of the imagery
and
the vocabulary in my mind beforehand, everything really came together with
this
song.
Suddenly This was the first song I wrote for the record. It’s about that
feeling you get meeting someone for the first time and thinking you’ve
known
them before, in some other time or place. It’s about using the reincarnation
excuse to want to be with somebody… which I used to do all the time.
It's Happening With You This song was written on the beach when I was
out one day with my dog. I have a little suitcase I carry around with me
that has
paper, some pens, a tape recorder, and I’d gone down there with the intention
to
work. It’s a great atmosphere for inspiration, especially when you’re trying
to get
in a summer mood. The song itself is about how your perspective on everything
changes absolutely when you’re in love.
Extraordinary Thing This is basically on the same subject. Come to think
of it, the whole album, on one level, deals with how love makes everything
different. It ties in with the summer theme of the songs, about how love
feels like
summer. I mean, love can also feel like winter, or spring or fall. But
for me, the
atmosphere of these songs, the melodies and the imagery, are definitely
geared
more toward that particular time of the year as a way of expressing an
emotional
state of being.
Love's Great Ocean” This is the one song I wrote with my old partner,
Ben
Mink. I've always been a big Roy Orbison fan, so it has a bit of an Orbison
feel to
it, and, as far as what it’s about, I’m using the ocean as a metaphor for
the
immensity of love.
Simple This song, for me, has the deepest personal significance of anything
on the record. I think of it as a mantra, a prayer or a hymn. It’s about
how love is
really a simple thing, not nearly as complex or complicated as humans make
it.
Every act of love is connected. Loving God, your dog, your lover. It’s
all the
same.
What Better Said” This is about that moment we’ve all experienced when
you're waiting for that person to say that they love you, and you wait
and wait
and start hinting at them to say it, trying to open up the moment for it
to happen.
And maybe it does and maybe it doesn’t. It’s out of your hands.
When We Collide This is about that overpowering moment when you
encounter someone you’re secretly in love with, someone you’re coveting.
You
see that person, and what ensues is described in the song. It's like a
whole
universe that you keep accessing throughout the days that follow because
you
want to recreate it. You want to live there, to be in that moment forever.
Curiosity This a strange little song. I started out with the idea that
curiosity
is a woman, but it turned out to be more about being enamored with someone,
being infatuated and obsessed. The funny thing is, I wrote it with my dog
in mind.
My dog’s name is Saylor and we go swimming together a lot in the ocean.
We’re
very fond of each other.
Only Love While I was writing this album a couple of my friends went
through very severe breakups. I wrote this for them. It’s about how love
is really
the only thing that can both kill you and bring you back to life.”