AhHa

Album: Grand Romantic (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This was released as the second single from Nate Ruess' Grand Romantic album. "It's three or four songs rolled into one, and in my mind, the perfect opening track for the whole album (the same way 'Some Nights' was written as the album opener)," he said. "In fact, I always saw it as 'Some Nights' evil twin when I first started writing it a few years ago. I'd say more - but I'd rather save it for the album and let the song get you ready for it."
  • The song finds Ruess struggling with the pain of a bad relationship but concludes on an optimistic note by quoting the album title:

    I found songs among the tragic
    Hung my hat on sadness
    But mom, I think I'm ready to free this grand romantic in me


    Ruess told MTV News; "I think at some point in my life I had my heart broken so many times that I was just willing to never get too up and never get too down."

    "I think that the album is very romantic, but not in some sort of overt buying-flowers-for-someone type of way," he added. "I like to just think that romantic is the ability to feel the highs of falling in love, being in love - just the appreciation of wonderful things that happen. And then also acknowledging the low moments and being willing to go there."
  • Nate Ruess sings here:

    It's for the best you didn't listen
    It's for the best we get our distance


    He previously used the same lyric on the fun. track "Some Nights." Asked during a Reddit AMA if there is some personal significance to the couplet, or whether it is more of an artistic call back, Ruess replied: "It's a little bit of both. Coincidentally, it was my favorite lyric on the album. And so I figured I'd carry it over."
  • The song features some multi-tracked laughter. Ruess explained to Rolling Stone: "I was on tour with fun., and I think 'Some Nights' was pretty big at the time in the States. I was laying in my bunk, and somehow I started hearing this laughing. I thought it would be interesting to freestyle over the laughing."

    "A lot of the stuff I'm singing on the song is from the first take and off the top of my head," he continued. "Not only melodically, but lyrically. I went into the studio by myself and recorded the laughing. I did eight different voices of me laughing, and then just started singing over it."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

James Bond Theme Songs

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)Songwriter Interviews

"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

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

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."

Spooner Oldham

Spooner OldhamSongwriter Interviews

His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."