Why did I name my second album Diaspora?
I named the album “Diaspora” after the Greek verb διασπείρω which means “I scatter.” I chose this because the style of the album is all over the place, with many genres of music, so I felt it fit; and also in honor of my Irish heritage. Now, some notes about the tracks themselves:
The first track is called Damn Near Twenty. It’s about both my sometimes strained relationship with my deceased father, and also the anger and bitterness I felt far too often as a younger man. The song is basically a conversation with my younger self and my father, and how they’d feel about how my life has panned out, and how much, if any, they’re responsible for my life today, and the person I grew into.
The second track is called I’m Comin’ Home, and is the story of a man who created on his wife sometime in the past, who’s learned the error of his ways, who feels genuine regret and remorse at the life he threw away, and who – as the title says – is coming home to try and repair the damage. While it’s about regret, it’s also hopeful about a second chance.
The third track is I Dig You and is a rockabilly style jaunt about unrequited love, about someone who wants to shout from the rooftops about the love they feel for someone, but can’t. And while they’re upset about their situation, there’s still a manic energy about the song (probably caused by those damn love-related endorphins).
The fourth track is called Like You Mean It, and it’s a sweet little declaration-of-love in a song. Not bombastic declarations, no grand statements, just an intimate baring of one’s soul.
The fifth track, Silence, is about nothing. More specifically, doing nothing. Just being around the one you love in a quiet, soothing moment.
The sixth track, Like Candle Wax, was written from a love note a friend of mine had written for someone she’d just recently met. I ended up going for a sort of smoky, dark nightclub jazz feel for it, because I felt it worked best for the content of the lyrics.
Next up is Still In Denial – another song about second chances. This was originally going to be the opening track for the album because I wrote it originally for my first album (Dirty Little Empire) but I had trouble nailing the mood. I dusted it off and got it to sound like I envisioned. But, I felt that Damn Near Twenty was a stronger opening track.
The next song is called In The Mirror – it’s written from the point of view of someone struggling with addiction, and that addiction destroying their life. They don’t like what they see in the mirror, but they don’t know a way out.
The following song is called The Drunken Mind Speaks the Sober Heart, and is one of the two most personal songs on the album (the other being Damn Near Twenty). I wrote the lyrics several years ago when I’d learned that my best friend from 2nd grade until my early twenties had committed suicide. I tried several times to get the music and mood right, but it never seemed to come together until now. It’s about the regret I feel about not reaching out more – would I have made a difference? Could I have made a difference? Is that even a fair question to ask myself?
The next track is Who Knew? I wanted to write a Bakersfield/Dwight Yoakum style song, and what better topic to cover than lost love. And while the lyrics are sad at first, by the end of the song, the singer has gotten over the on again/off again nature of the relationship and is ready for better days.
Next up is How Could Anyone, which is another country jaunt, and another song that was originally going to be on Dirty Little Empire. It just took me about a years too much time to get the music right, so it’s included here. It’s a song about falling in love, or more specifically, blaming the person you fell in love with for falling in love in the first place.
The twelfth song is called In a Summer Dress. It was written and recorded in about a two week span after the death of Tom Petty. Tom was a pretty big influence on me (in the style of lyrics I write and the stories I want to tell), so it seemed right to create a song to honor that influence. I hope it does him justice.
The last song is called Free, and it’s about being stuck in an emotionally abusive relationship, where you feel like you’re in a prison cell, cut off from emotions and interactions that others take for granted, but finding yourself unable to go, begging the other party to cut you out of their life since you can’t find the strength to do it yourself.