Throwback Thursday to this song off of Regret Over The Wires. Inspired by the poem of the same title by Seamus Heaney. The song is called Skylight. The album was produced by Doug Lancio, Mark Robertson and myself. It was recorded by Jordan Richter and mixed by David Bianco. I believe that's JJ Johnson playing drums on Skylight along with a drum machine. Mark is playing bass. Doug and Teal on guitars. I handled the synths and various weird sounds, and "sang" obviously. Skylight probably should have opened Regret Over The Wires, it was the main theme. Hope is a violent thing, hope is not some hallmark card of a sublime rainbows. It's the work and war of having every indication that things aren't as they should be, but insisting more and better is possible. Regret Over The Wires like much of my work, starts via the intimacies between (and of) men and women and then leans outward to the themes and impulses that dog our bigger stories, our collective stories. You know what they are, they're in the paper everyday. They're in our feeds and heads, and those strange distances we feel we each other in various situations. The themes and plots we navigate are not new, only the tools have changed. Yes, things, some things, have gotten better. But if you look out upon the landscape and you're troubled by what you see, you have to acknowledge that there's one constant. And that constant is us. We have the strength and guts to lean for the better. There are glowing examples of our victories over darkness and defeat. And yet still there's that nagging impulse. That's what my song Skylight is about. I hope you'll give it a listen. And as always, thank you to ALL that helped me bring and offer such a song to the world. Art is always a collective effort. As is nearly every single thing we do.
"My head is strong
My heart is open
I don't wanna fight
I don't wanna kill
But I'm desperate tonight
If I'm pushed I will
With hope comes the rent"
- that's by yours truly
Here's the great Seamus Heaney poem that pulled this out of me. I'm grateful for that, but suggest no greatness as profound as what Seamus offered:
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2003/04/21
CLICK PLAY BELOW TO HEAR SKYLIGHT: