The Finest Line
by A.J. Croce (featuring Margo Price)

Album: Heart Of The Eternal (2025)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song deals with the fragility of love: "Between our loving arms is drawn the finest line."

    It's a duet between A.J. Croce (Jim Croce's only child) and the country singer Margo Price.

    "I was not initially planning on recording as a duet," Croce said on the Songfacts Podcast. "I had never met Margo Price. She just stumbled into the studio the second or third day of tracking, heard what we were doing and offered to sing on something."
  • Most of A.J. Croce's songs come out of him quickly, but not this one. He told Songfacts how it came together:

    "I had been brooding over those lyrics for about a year, even though they're relatively simple, because I wanted them to be really effective. I had written it on guitar. The day I was leaving for LA, I was on the phone with my girlfriend and I was playing it on piano. I had played it for her on guitar, but something resonated with it on piano - it was so much more emotional and dramatic. I finished the lyrics on the plane flying out there that day.

    When Margo offered to join on a song, I was trying to think where it could be most special to have a guest like her. When I looked at that song and took the verse and broke it in half, I realized it was a really interesting conversation. It answered a question with a question. It had a Gothic feel to it, but it was very much in keeping with a spiritual connection to something deeper. It's a conversation.

    I felt lucky that there was an opportunity to explore that - it hadn't even been in my mind that that would be how it was done."
  • The song is part of A.J. Croce's 2025 album Heart Of The Eternal. By this time, he had been performing his dad's songs in addition to his own. That change of heart came around 2013 when he felt established in his own right. Unlike his dad, who was tethered to his guitar, A.J.'s primary instrument is piano.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

American Hits With Foreign Titles

American Hits With Foreign TitlesSong Writing

What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?

Stephen Christian of Anberlin

Stephen Christian of AnberlinSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist for Anberlin breaks down "Impossible" and covers some tracks from their 2012 album Vital.

Grateful Dead Characters

Grateful Dead CharactersMusic Quiz

Many unusual folks appear in Grateful Dead songs. Can you identify them?

Second Wind Songs

Second Wind SongsSong Writing

Some songs get a second life when they find a new audience through a movie, commercial, TV show, or even the Internet.

Andy McClusky of OMD

Andy McClusky of OMDSongwriter Interviews

Known in America for the hit "If You Leave," OMD is a huge influence on modern electronic music.

Terry Jacks ("Seasons in the Sun")

Terry Jacks ("Seasons in the Sun")Songwriter Interviews

Inspired by his dear friend, "Seasons in the Sun" paid for Terry's boat, which led him away from music and into a battle with Canadian paper mills.