Songfacts®:

• Dan Reed was the frontman for The Dan Reed Network, who scored with "Ritual" in 2010. Reed traveled to India in 1993 and spent two hours interviewing the Dalai Lama for Spin magazine. This led him to a more spiritual path, and he eventually returned to India and spent a few months living with Buddhist monks, then moved to Jerusalem for 3 years. He returned to the United States, and inspired by Barack Obama, began making music again. When we interviewed Reed, he explained that this song is one of the tracks on the album that is particularly important to him. Said Reed: "'Promised Land' concerns itself with the 'changing of the guards' that happens each Friday in the old city of Jerusalem. Each afternoon on Friday the Muslims gather on the East side of the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) and pray to the God of Ibrahim. As the sun sets, they all head home and the Jewish faithful gather on the West side of the Wall, praying to the God of Avram. I found it interesting that Ibrahim, Avram and Abraham are just three names for the same person, that these two similar people, the Jews and the Arabs, are actually blood brothers separated by a 3 foot thick wall and a million disagreements, but in fact are really not that far away from each other. 'Promised Land' discusses how brothers in a family feud can become family again. 'On Your Side' is another special track to me in that it was the first song I wrote coming back to music while living in Dharamsala, India. It was composed with the thought that being on the side of elements that feed your soul is the path of wisdom. Being surrounded by energy vampires is the path of darkness and delusion."
  For more on Reed, his meeting with the Dalai Lama and his transition from Rock Star to enlightenment, check out our full Dan Reed interview.