Origins

Album: Young & Old (2012)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The original Tennis duo of Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley decided to expand their core surf pop sound for their sophomore album, Young & Old, by adding drummer James Barone to the band full-time and enlisting Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney to produce the set.

    This was the first song written for the record. Moore found inspiration for it in a poem by William Butler Yeats, A Woman Young and Old in which a woman reflects on a lifetime's worth of memories. After hearing Riley's music for the song, she began to think of personal issues involved in being in a band such as dealing with critics and relationships. "I thought about how the suddenness of becoming a band and spending so much time on the road with others seemed to bring out the best and the worst in me. I thought a lot about human nature – mine, really, and the way it had been portrayed to me in my childhood," she told Rolling Stone. "I felt frustrated with the self-defeating conception of humanity I was presented with."
    "I wouldn't have written a line of ["Origins"] if it hadn't been for Yeats," Moore added.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Prince

PrinceFact or Fiction

Prince is shrouded in mystery, making him an excellent candidate for Fact or Fiction. Is he really a Scientologist? Does he own an exotic animal?

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s EditionMusic Quiz

You know the scenes - Tom Cruise in his own pants-off dance off, Molly Ringwald celebrating her birthday - but do you remember what song is playing?

Graham Bonnet (Alcatrazz, Rainbow)

Graham Bonnet (Alcatrazz, Rainbow)Songwriter Interviews

Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai were two of Graham's co-writers for some '80s rock classics.

P.F. Sloan

P.F. SloanSongwriter Interviews

P.F. was a teenager writing hits and playing on tracks for Jan & Dean when he wrote a #1 hit that got him blackballed.

Def Leppard Quiz

Def Leppard QuizMusic Quiz

Can you name Def Leppard's only #1 hit in America? Get rocked with this adrenalized quiz.

Ralph Casale  - Session Pro

Ralph Casale - Session ProSongwriter Interviews

A top New York studio musician, Ralph played guitar on many '60s hits, including "Lightnin' Strikes," "A Lover's Concerto" and "I Am A Rock."