Not All Thoughtful Stories Need Be Sad

"Not All Thoughtful Stories Need Be Sad" is a phrase that came to me while I was working at the hospital in Pocatello the summer of 2004. I don't know why it happened...it just popped into my head during one of my breaks. I wasn't thinking about music or anything -- it just came to me. I didn't do anything with the phrase for quite awhile. I eventually put it to music. Of all the songs I've written, to me, this is one of the most lyrically profound. It has a universally applicable message. I'm very proud of these lyrics. "Not all thoughtful stories need be sad not all triumph glories from a heart that's glad not all paths worth taking are paved in bone not all dreams worth having were mentioned in your home When you're grown, some will try and say, If you're going to live, there's only one way ...and that's not true... Not all thoughtful stories need bring pain Some loves last forever and some will end today And when you're grown, some will try and say, if you're going to love, there's only one way ....and that's not true...it's just not true. Generally, there are two main principles to the song: 1) (which is for everyone) things don't always turn out like you were told they would...and if they don't...that's OK, and 2) (which is for me) I don't have to write sad stories to write thoughtful songs. "not all triumph glories from a heart that's glad" = Personal victory and achievement can come through hardship, not just social, educational, and career success. "not all paths worth taking are paved in bone" = Not all paths (career and otherwise) have been traveled by your ancestors. "not all dreams worth having were mentioned in your home" = Your parents ideas about what a happy life is isn't necessarily what will make you happy. My brother Adam plays a slow arpeggio guitar part that comes in after the first chorus in the interlude before the 2nd verse. He played it at our cabin in Island Park on his Epiphone cutaway. It's a small guitar and I put a tin sounding effect on it -- as a result, it sounds a little bit like a harpsichord.