White Flag by Dave Barnes

Album: Stories To Tell (2012)

License This Song

lyrics

Songfacts®:

The success of Barnes' What We Want, What We Get, especially Blake Shelton's cover of his God Gave Me You track led the Nashville-based singer-songwriter to concentrate more on hooks on his fifth release, Stories To Tell That is epitomized by this song, which was released as the second single from the set. He explained to Alternative Addiction: "That song, one of the really big reasons that I hired John Fields to produce the album was because I wanted to candy-coat this record with hooks. That's something I love about modern-day pop music. You can throw everything but the kitchen sink, maybe even the kitchen sink. What we did here, anything that we could have that will get you to continue to listen, we're going to do."

"I've always stayed away from that," he added, "because I wanted my music to have an integrity that didn't feel like I was trying to overwhelm people. But I thought it would be fun to do one record where I kind of slide the chips over- really go 'let's put every hook that I can sing, play, or we can think of in a song.' That song is the epitome of that. It's the litmus paper test of every little thing we could think of, we did. It's kind of fun because I've never let myself do that. This record is kind of that record for me."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

More Songfacts:

Bad RomanceLady Gaga

Lady Gaga is a big fan of horror movies; listen for the names of these three Alfred Hitchcock films in the lyrics to "Bad Romance": Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window.

Country Grammar (Hot S--t)Nelly

Nelly's "Country Grammar" is a celebration of his hometown of St. Louis, which some folks from the coasts consider "country" because it's in the Midwest.

Cigarettes And Chocolate MilkRufus Wainwright

"Cigarettes And Chocolate Milk" describes a time in Rufus Wainwright's life when he found himself hungover and pounding chocolate milk to feel better. It didn't work, so he smoked a cigarette, which is when he realized his addictive personality could be a problem.

Shine On You Crazy DiamondPink Floyd

Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is about their founding member Syd Barrett, who became an acid casualty. Notice the S-Y-D in the title.

Turn On The RadioReba McEntire

When "Turn On The Radio" topped the January 1, 2011 Country chart, Reba McEntire became the first female solo act to have a #1 hit on that tally in four straight decades.

(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The BayOtis Redding

Otis Redding often ad-libbed vocals at the end of songs, but for "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" he just whistled instead - it became some of the most famous whistling in song history.

Editor's Picks

Jimmy WebbSongwriter Interviews

Webb talks about his classic songs "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman" and "MacArthur Park."

Graduation SongsFact or Fiction

Have you got the smarts to know which of these graduation song stories are real?

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."

Dino Cazares of Fear FactorySongwriter Interviews

The guitarist/songwriter explains how he came up with his signature sound, and deconstructs some classic Fear Factory songs.

Billy Steinberg - "Like A Virgin"They're Playing My Song

The first of Billy's five #1 hits was the song that propelled Madonna to stardom. You'd think that would get you a backstage pass, wouldn't you?

They Might Be GiantsSongwriter Interviews

Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.