I don't write a lot of breakup songs. I tend to write about other topics. I think on some level art for me has always been about some kind of search for truth. Breakup stories can contain all of the emotional truth of life, but they don't tend to contain literal truth (in the sense that songs ever do- big picture stuff not details, which are usually made up.) I was on a long car trip with an old friend recently and he told me he was surprised that I had cheated on my ex-wife. He said he and his wife thought it was out of character for me. I said "it is out of character and it NEVER HAPPENED!" I did a lot wrong in the relationship but I'm happy to say I didn't do that. Why would my ex tell my friends that I did? On the surface it seems like a shitty, spiteful thing to lie about. When I look deeper I realize that it was probably the story she needed to tell herself in order to get through the breakup. It sucks but I'm ok with it. I was married to her for 12 and a half years and I KNOW I was faithful, even in some unusual situations, even when I was drunk, etc... If she needed to convince herself I cheated on her in order to move on, ok (with the obvious caveat that it was long time ago and I'm glad I didn't know she was telling that story right after we split up because my head would have exploded.) So we do what we need to to get through these things. I wrote Fallen Angel and Silence of the Night. That's enough "breakup" for me. Both are the narrator talking about their part in things...

Monday, June 6th 2022