Brave

Album: All That Echoes (2013)
Charted: 64
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is the lead single from Josh Groban's sixth album, All That Echoes. Groban introduced the ballad at a listening party at the Sunset Towers in West Hollywood by saying, "I really like sad songs - woe is me, depress-o. It feels like a natural thing."
  • Co-written with longtime songwriting partner Tawgs Salter ("You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)"), the ballad steps away from the trademark Groban sound as it gradually builds, ending with a chiming electric guitar. "We wanted the song to have an intensity and an urgency, even if they're in more of a traditional style vocally," Groban told Billboard magazine. "The goal was to try and bridge those two worlds."
  • The song marks Groban's first collaboration with Canadian singer/songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk. "We've always been sniffing around for the right thing to do," Groban told Billboard magazine of his long-time friend. "Tawgs and I wrote this melody and she was in the forefront of my mind, so we gave her a couple of ideas and she just flew with it. Tawgs had been playing this riff on a guitar while I was playing on the piano and the first thing I started singing was 'Wake up, wake up.' So from the get-go we felt this was a song about rejuvenation."
  • Groban explained to Billboard magazine that he and producer Rob Cavallo knew straight away this was the right song to lead his All That Echoes album. "As I sang the first few words of the song, it all of a sudden felt that we had the first inspiration, the first nucleus of something that could be really inspirational, really fun," he said. "As people started listening to it, they were like, 'Yeah, this is a good first single.'"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine BandSongwriter Interviews

Harry Wayne Casey tells the stories behind KC and The Sunshine Band hits like "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)," and "Give It Up."

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And HellSongwriter Interviews

Guitarist Tony Iommi on the "Iron Man" riff, the definitive Black Sabbath song, and how Ozzy and Dio compared as songwriters.