Listening In

Album: Critical Equation (2018)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This pensive track introduces Dr. Dog's Critical Equation album. Co-frontman Scott McMicken told Consequence of Sound the story of the song:

    "I was alone at my house and I had one of those '90s, battery powered keyboards. I was using that to write songs. I do that more and more. Most of my life I've just written songs with an acoustic guitar or a piano. The feel of the song has become a more exciting part of music in general for me. I wrote a bunch of songs that night. It was such an awesome night. For whatever reason, everything was just making sense in the way I wanted it to. It was this intuitive thing where I'm not taking things too seriously. Turns out the less seriously I take them out of the gate, the closer I get to a conclusion that in the end feels really serious for me. It's inviting yourself into that process without any pretense. It's a nice way to get somewhere deeper.

    Listening in is the voyeuristic thing. It's like being at a restaurant and listening to people. They're not talking to you. Sometimes the natural world feels that way. That's where I was coming from with that tune."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root

Michael Glabicki of Rusted RootSongwriter Interviews

Michael tells the story of "Send Me On My Way," and explains why some of the words in the song don't have a literal meaning.

Timothy B. Schmit

Timothy B. SchmitSongwriter Interviews

The longtime Eagle talks about soaring back to his solo career, and what he learned about songwriting in the group.

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)Songwriter Interviews

Chad tells tales from his time as drummer for Nirvana, and talks about his group Before Cars.

Adam Young of Owl City

Adam Young of Owl CitySongwriter Interviews

Is Owl City on a quest for another hit like "Fireflies?" Adam answers that question and explains the influences behind many others.

Waiting For The Break of Day: Three Classic Songs About All-Nighters

Waiting For The Break of Day: Three Classic Songs About All-NightersSong Writing

These Three famous songs actually describe how they were written - late into the evening.

Chris Rea

Chris ReaSongwriter Interviews

It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.