The President

Album: Fallen Empires (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is the closing track of Fallen Empires. The album is bookended by two stories of separate homeless people that lead vocalist Gary Lightbody met in Santa Monica.
  • Canadian musician Owen Pallett, who has recorded his own material under the name of Final Fantasy, did the song's arrangement. Lightbody told Billboard magazine: "In the end we just took it down to a piano and it sounded amazing cause it's so heartbreaking with just a voice and a piano. And then Owen heard it and he loved it and he said can I do an arrangement for it."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Classic Metal

Classic MetalFact or Fiction

Ozzy, Guns N' Roses, Judas Priest and even Michael Bolton show up in this Classic Metal quiz.

Hardy

HardySongwriter Interviews

The country hitmaker talks about his debut album, A Rock, and how a nursery rhyme inspired his hit single "One Beer."

Black Sabbath

Black SabbathFact or Fiction

Dwarfs on stage with an oversize Stonehenge set? Dabbling in Satanism? Find out which Spinal Tap-moments were true for Black Sabbath.

Kevin Godley

Kevin GodleySongwriter Interviews

Kevin Godley talks about directing classic videos for The Police, U2 and Duran Duran, and discusses song and videos he made with 10cc and Godley & Creme.

Dean Friedman - "Ariel"

Dean Friedman - "Ariel"They're Playing My Song

Dean's saga began with "Ariel," a song about falling in love with a Jewish girl from New Jersey.

History Of Rock

History Of RockSong Writing

An interview with Dr. John Covach, music professor at the University of Rochester whose free online courses have become wildly popular.