Five years ago, this thing was a mess –I totally forgot I’d written it, it was too long and lyrically inconsistent, and I only stumbled on it trying to find another song. That said, I felt like there was something there. It wound up being the first song I overhauled in my massive song restoration process, and it’s now the first song I’ll post as I exit that phase of my life.
The lyrics are about cutting the chord, escaping toxicity, and trying to move forward. In retrospect, I now see it as a song about cleaning up your life, with a tune that had to be cleaned up itself, which was re-written and recorded in a time period I was focused on cleaning up my life. It’s a living symbol of the times.
Lyrically, I wish I could’ve executed better on the concept of the last line (I can’t bend). I initially attempted to hit on the concept that constantly bending to the will of others, and not straightening out your own life, led to the circles. A few edits later (which I liked)…the reference now just kind of sits there alone. Oh well. Songwriting is hard.
I took off “I’ll Blame You.”