House on the reservoir
What inspired the album?
My relationship with my father and grandfather.
Is there a significance behind the song title?
IThe song is about triangulation — about getting caught in the middle of something that was never yours to begin with, and taking responsibility for things that were never yours to be responsible for in the first place. My grandfather was a brutal man in many ways, especially to my father when he was growing up. My dad was very humble and gentle, but underneath that there was an anger and a hurt that ran very deep. I found myself navigating the tensions between this overbearing man and his gentle son, between one man’s overt aggression and another’s repressed rage and hurt. And I was just a kid, caught in the middle, trying to get both of them to like me, trying to make sure I was making my grandfather happy and not betraying my dad by doing it. It was an impossible situation. And they didn’t even know they were doing it to me.
What is one key point that makes this song unique?
There are lots of great songs about fathers and sons - “Cats in the Cradle,” by Harry Chapin, “In the Living Years” by Mike and the Mechanics, “Father and Son by Cat Stevens.” But I don’t know of a song about fathers and sons and grandsons. It’s a deeply personal song. We think of love songs as the most intimate, personal kinds of songs. But I think the songs about our deepest, most ancient pain are the most personal because they require the most reflection.
Do you have an interesting story about the songwriting or recording process? If yes, elaborate. Please highlight any noteworthy collaborators.
I started writing the song about five years ago, and picked it up again in late 2023. Other than the refrain line, not a single lyric of the original song survived. There was an enormous amount of writing and re-writing. I must have rejected a hundred different verses in search of words that could convey the story, were real, would sing well, and, I hope, make the listener feel something, instead of being told what to feel. In addition, this is the first song I’ve ever written in which I played every instrument - guitar, harmonica, synth, piano, and percussion. I worked with Mary Gauthier on the song, who kept pushing me to make it simpler, clearer, as powerful as it could be. She was a huge help. She kind of ninsisted on the song reaching its full potential, which I think it has.
What were the certain stylistic/production choices you made and why?
I wanted it to be haunting and to be big and wide open, with a universe of space in which the story-telling could take place.
Do you have a favorite lyric from this track?
“It split me into pieces, and I sold my soul for parts."
What lesson did you take away from writing this song? Did you have a goal for it?
I wanted it to be honest without sounding overly revealing or sickening. The thing I learned most is the value of re-writing, for as long as it takes, to get the song to self-actualize.
What is it about this song that made it a good choice as a single or focus track at this time in your career?
This is another one of those songs I could never have written in my twenties because not only had the story not yet fully played out, but it took me decades to figure out what I felt - to get to the place of empathy and understanding that I think makes the song beautiful. No one is being judged.