I've decided to do a few short backstory blogs about some songs I've written over the years. I wanted to come up with super catchy name and settled on…um, backstory.
Here's one about a song I co-wrote with my band The Nixons that appeared on our MCA Records release Foma; "Sister". The reaction this one got and still gets in some ways has always fascinated me. The reason being, I didn't lose my sister. Nothing bad happened. Quite the contrary; she just moved. Right out of college she took off to L.A. And this song was a direct response to that. The tag line is pretty on the nose: "sister I miss you." I had written her a post card from wherever I was at the time that included a few lyrics "the miles that stand between can't separate" and "I see you on a stage of memories" (okay some semblance of what became final lyrics but you get the picture). I kinda had some beginning structural ideas come into my brain and ran into band practice one day in our Norman, Ok rehearsal room. The guys very quickly manned instruments and began chopping away. I especially love the outro which is a variation of the chorus really just adding one e minor chord each go round which created a dark but, I think, hooky rolling ending. The song went through a few modifications and finally appeared on both our independent LP Halo and the aforementioned Foma. That intrigue with the reaction to this song is also a huge point of pride. I have probably gotten hundreds of notes over the years about the song bringing people closer to a sibling; helping people cope with losing one or quite frankly just reminding them to give sis a call. This song did a lot for my band and ultimately my path in this music business.
There you go: the backstory of "Sister."