All Things Bright and Beautiful

ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL

THE REAL WORLD

"The line, 'Reality is a lovely place but I wouldn't want to live there' is a fun way of saying I appreciate life exactly as it is, and although I can't change the world by any means, I can touch it. It's merely my way of dealing with things by proclaiming I can't keep the dark days from happening or the frustrations from occurring, but I can fix my eyes on that one blue patch of sky and thus keep my eyes focused on what truly matters."

DEER IN THE HEADLIGHTS

"Deer in the Headlights is a very tongue-in-cheek commentary about the fact that a lot of people want to be in love for the sake of being in love because you're lonely, otherwise. It's kind of a sassy song about how, at least in my opinion, that isn't the case, and I think there are certain seasons in everybody's life where you're supposed to go through with somebody else. It's kind of a fine line of knowing what and when is the right season, and it kind of pokes fun at the fact of being romantic for the sake of avoiding being lonely."

ANGELS

"I've never had a Lifetime movie encounter with an angel but I definitely do believe they exist and I wanted to write a song to touch on that belief."

DREAMS DON'T TURN TO DUST

HONEY AND THE BEE

KAMIKAZE

"A line in this song, 'when diamonds boast that they can't be crushed, let them go 'cause dreams don't turn to dust,' it's like you're reaching for those parts of you that make you who you are and I think that really sums up that song."

"The message of this is just about these individuals who are at a dead place in both of their lives and are just feeling rather lonely. They meet each other and then sparks happen. It's just kind of a cute song."

"This song is about basically what I'm fighting for spiritually."

JANUARY 28, 1986 & GALAXIES

HOSPITAL FLOWERS

ALLIGATOR SKY

"It was a fun thing to do as a concept. I knew I wanted a little bit of an intermission, kind of a little break in the middle of the record. We used to play that little clip of Reagan addressing the country when the Challenger disaster happened in '86 live on tour then play some kind of ethereal, ambient music behind it. I was actually born in that year and my mom used to talk about being pregnant and watching that thing on TV and what a huge blow it was to everybody. So growing up that was a part of who I was, indirectly. On the record, I wanted to pay respect to that - just imagine what it would be like going into the next song, Galaxies, what it would be like if I were one of those guys on the Challenger. Then it exploded, and I was taken from this life into eternity. So it was fun to imagine beyond the confines of what actually happened and how disastrous that was."

"I had a friend who was in an accident and I watched his recovery change his outlook on life. I feel like we could all use a disaster here and there to wake us up."

"That song, as far as the title, is kind of quirky and that's what I was going for, something very ambiguous, and they are these two disconnected words that I think, when they are put together, create this imagery that's interesting. Someone asked 'What is an alligator sky?' And that's a tough thing to answer because the song is so scaly! The song is, basically therein, reflecting back to the idea that there are lots of good and bad and bizarre things headed your way in each of our lives. It's better to wake up and embrace what ever is coming, be it crazy or weird or scary or anything in between, and just embrace it and say 'I'm gonna take it like a man and really stand strong.'"

THE YACHT CLUB

"The Yacht Club plays on the idea of an outsider looking in. I tend not to be the most eloquent guy when I'm around pretty girls, and it's sort of a comment on that."

PLANT LIFE

"There's this lack of life in Minnesota and I wanted to sort of play off that. It got my mind thinking: What would life be like for a person trapped in a haunted house, where all these daisies are popping up through the floorboards, and there's ghosts and bears and stuff. It's about a likable guy living in a melancholy world."