Voice In My Head

What inspired the song? 

A desire to shine light on the dark voices that often haunt our daily existence. To bring them out of the shadows.

Is there a significance behind the song title?

No. The song title is literal.

What is one key poiont that makes this song unique?

It’s a folk aesthetic with a message from Carl Jung.

Can you share an interesting story about the songwriting or recording process?

The original idea was, “I’m always scared in the morning when I first wake up.” That’s when the voice is loudest for me. But its different fro everyone, so rather than make it about the time of day I decided to make it about the narrative’s persona. As for recording, We went from full band and a very enveloping arrangement, all the way to just guitar and vocal, then added back some of the ambient slide instruments to give it personality. The acoustic guitar and vocal version had a nakedness to it that really amplified the feelings of isolation—maybe even terror—we have when we’re with this voice alone. But the playing on the slide instruments was so good I felt I’d regret it if they were abandoned.

Stylistic production choices?

The vocal is very in-your-face in order to convert the suffering of the narrator and the immediacy of the pain. The slide instruments were an obvious choice for the haunting, distant, mood they evoke. We eliminated percussion until the end. The voice doesn’t dance.

Favorite lyrics?

“It ain’t money, it ain’t fame I seek, all I’m asking’s when I die it don’t keep talking to me.” The voice is so powerful and the narrator so defeated by it that he doesn’t even pray for relief in this lifetime. He just asks for it in death. It’s really dark.

Core Themes

I just keep trying to find those pieces of the human condition that we don’t talk much about but that are usually the driving forces behind our behaviors, moods and choices.

How does this song make you feel?

Liberated. There’s a zen saying - “What you resist persists and what you allow to be disappears.” The song calls out the demon. It has less power. It thrives on the silence of the object of its abuse.

Moods?

Darkness, fear, anxiety, vulnerability, humanity.