“Brigadoon, Kokomo, and Hona Lee” is about how imaginary places are sometimes more real than the real ones.
They’re not changed by time. They’re always there for you, always waiting for you to revisit, always as real as they ever were.
“IDIC” is a song about infinite diversity in infinite combinations.
“And the hole in my heart is the same shape as the love
The paper doll and the frame it left behind
Same little person, same little person
One is the joy and one is the fear of losing you
Klein bottle heart
Is this a love song or a warning?”
Of all the songs I’ve made, “Starslide” hits hardest for me. I jotted down the core lyrics as I was falling asleep, but later I added the starslide metaphor, inspired by Dolphin Up which is a really great game, very worth playing.
“Something’s building in my bones again
Something luminous
Something close to flight”
“I Don’t Know How to Walk” was inspired by Brian Wilson’s “Water Builds Up” from Sweet Insanity and “Walkin’ the Line” from the ‘88 album.
But it’s also just how I feel.
At its heart, “Brigadoon, Kokomo, and Hona Lee” is about how conventions are these mythical places that spring up once a year and feel discontinuous from — and more magical than — the rest of life.
“Addicted to Magic” is about being addicted to the magic of creation — pulling ideas out of yourself and seeing them become something complete and beautiful of their own. And correspondingly, being afraid you’ll run out ideas, and the magic will be gone.
“I still don’t understand
Why the best thing in my life
Arrived the same week as the worst
That’s just how it works I guess
The good and the bad don’t take turns
They show up together
Like they’re holding hands
And dare you to feel both”
“She was my favorite version of me
the one with all of you
the one who felt so loved and safe
she could really be
All the sparkling sides of me
that are usually shuttered deep inside”
“When you don’t say anything
I feel like I should fill it
but what if the silence was the answer
and I just talked over it
Are you being as careful with me
as I’m being with you
because I am so careful
I am so careful it’s almost like a prayer”
“Everybody else moves through the world
Like gravity is something they agreed to
And I’m standing at the edge of something
Flickering between the ground and gone
I don’t know how to walk
I’ve only ever run”
“You only need one tree
When it grows every kind of fruit
You only need to win one fight
When it’s the boss battle
And on the other side is the epic loot”
“The Wasteland and the Goblin City” is an insanely catchy fantasy allegory with Labyrinth-vibes about being cast out of your social group and getting harassed by trolls online afterward, all while trying to build your own corner of the world into something beautiful.
My favorite poem was always Wordsworth’s ode to a crowd of daffodils — “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.” “Daffodils Across the Milky Way” takes that starting point and tries to stave off existential loneliness by painting the daffodils all across the Milky Way.