Ocean Eyes

CAVE IN

"That song captures in just a few words, all my hopes and dreams. I'm always wondering about the great unknown and the theme of that song is about asking what else lies out there, what adventures are waiting to be had."

THE BIRD AND THE WORM

"The Bird and the Worm is a little song about an incredibly romantic bird and worm and the idea of the world being FULL of friends, even under the sea. It's about relationships that are too good to be true."

HELLO SEATTLE

"Two or three years ago, I was writing these songs, and I wrote this one about Seattle and I had never been there, because, at the time, I was stuck in the Midwest and I was working a job I didn't like and I was very much writing music as an escape. So Seattle was the farthest place away from me and I thought 'I'm gonna write a song about this place because I haven't been there.' So it really is just an interesting take on the world."

UMBRELLA BEACH

"Umbrella Beach is about a hermit living in a box car on the edge of the shoreline that corroded so badly, it wound up at the bottom of the bay. Rather than finding a new home, the hermit chooses to learn to scuba dive and now spends his days deep under the waves in his boxcar."

THE SALTWATER ROOM

"The Saltwater Room is about swimming class in junior high."

DENTAL CARE

"Dental Care is about people all over the world riding in cars on the way to the dentist and that queasy feeling that inevitably ensues."

METEOR SHOWER

"Meteor Shower is simple but it's profound. There's not a lot to say about it, but what is said is really heavy."

ON THE WING

"On the Wing is about jumping off the peaks of mountains and taking flight."

FIREFLIES

"I have insomnia and I've always had a tough time falling asleep for as long as I can remember. I wanted to sing about my inability to sleep in a whimsical way that portrayed the condition as lighthearted and almost more of a 'blessing' than a curse. It's ironic that when sleep and I cannot bring ourselves to meet is often when inspiration strikes hardest. I'd just been on vacation to Iowa the week before I wrote the song and was amazed at how many fireflies came out at dusk. I didn't really have to think about making a connection between insomnia and lightning bugs, it just sort of happened and the song basically wrote itself. It was a lot of fun."

THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG

"This song is about growing up wishing you were somewhere else and suddenly realizing you've wasted a good piece of your life. It's about learning not to take things for granted."

VANILLA TWILIGHT

"I met the most charming girl imaginable when I was in high school and most of my 'cozy' songs are about her. She moved away to college for a few years and we kind of lost touch. She and I recently started talking to each other again and life has a way of reshaping sometimes. I'm absolutely crazy about her.

That song is probably the oldest on the album. I wrote it when I first started in 2007 and I kept on tweaking it. When I needed a ballad for the album, I switched some words around and it fit perfectly."

TIDAL WAVE

"Tidal Wave is about running hard and racing for the prize with both eyes locked on the finish line so that one day, the words 'Well done, good and faithful servant' might be heard."

HOT AIR BALLOON

"Hot Air Balloon is a carefree song about adventure and exploration. Looking down on the world, leaning out and brushing the snow from evergreen branches, wondering where life will take you."

SUNBURN

"Sunburn is the occasional feeling of not being good enough, despite how hard you try. It's about relationships and finding the one that is really meant to last."

BUTTERFLY WINGS

"Butterfly Wings is a song about joy, beauty and love that can be found literally anywhere you look. It's all around you if you take the time to really see it."

IF MY HEART WAS A HOUSE

"If My Heart Was a House is a song about loving someone so much that they become a part of you."

RUGS FROM ME TO YOU

"Rugs from Me to You is a silly song about wigs. I don't really feel pressure to write songs. I just write them and they turn out the way they do, either for better or worse."

STRAWBERRY AVALANCHE

"Strawberry Avalanche is about two kids camping out in sleeping bags in the backyard and imagining what a strawberry avalanche would be like."