couldn’t make it rhyme Available now

What inspired the song? 

The song was inspired by a relationship that began nearly forty years ago, when I was in my early twenties. It was one of those typical youthful entanglements—the cat-and-mouse game —one chasing, the other playing hard to get, the dynamics occasionally shifting—a lack of commitment and infidelity surrounding it that could never survive in a mature relationship. Some young people have enough self-respect at a young age to avoid these dysfunctional romances. I did not. Any song I would have tried to write about it forty years ago would have been nauseatingly cliché and self-pitying. It wasn’t until a year ago, when I learned that this man died—under tragic circumstances—that the full story revealed itself to me and a song surfaced.

Is there a significance behind the song title?

“Couldn’t Make It Rhyme” is a metaphor—a song that could never come together as a metaphor for a relationship that was destined never to work.

What is one key point that makes this song unique?

The fact that the story took forty years to tell itself. That the perspective of the song could not have come any sooner. I could not have written this song in 1990. It needed thirty more years for the story to be told. It teaches you something about songwriting, actually. John Denver once said, “The songs come when they’ve a mind to.” They’re beyond your control.

What are four descriptors/adjectives that best describe the emotion or melody in this song?

Wisdom, acceptance, sadness, empathy.

Can you provide context around the visuals associated with this song, including any artwork or video? Notable photographer, director or cast?

The story began with me making the journey along the worn path from the east coast to California, pursuing a dream of fortune and fame in Hollywood.There are visuals of the desert roads that lead to the Golden State, and of the Hollywood hills and the lonely streets of Los Angeles at night.

Do you have a favorite lyric from this track that you’d like to highlight? Why is that significant to you?

“Gotta live your life forward, but I heard a fella say, you can only understand it, in reverse.”

Do you have an interesting story about the songwriting or recording process?

Once again, Soozie Tyrell, who has been Bruce Springsteen’s fiddle player for decades, and Tony Garnierr, who has been Bob Dylans’ music director for decades, play fiddle and upright bass on the song.The song was recorded live. There are no overdubs.