coastal alt/indie rock

​​Field Notes​​

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"A Better Place" started with a pretty simple idea: there are some people who make you happier just by seeing them.

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Every time I see your face


It takes me to a better place.

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From there came the idea of finally escaping that endless search for something better—the grass on the other side, the next town, the next job, the next life.

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A place where dreams are true and I’m with you


A place where I can breathe in love


A place where I can rise above


Where I no longer chase a better place.

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If you’ve found the person who takes you there, what else are you looking for?

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Then I started backing into the story. What if you’re somewhere you don’t particularly want to be, doing a job you don’t particularly want to do, and the reason you stay is one person?

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I’ll admit it: this part was inspired by Jim and Pam in The Office.

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I punch the clock again


My misery starts at 8 a.m.


No, they can’t pay me enough to keep me here


But I come back each day


And only you know why I stay


It’s just ’cause our two desks sit so near.

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That’s pretty much Jim and Pam.

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Scranton also has some personal resonance for me. My mom grew up there, as did my sister, so I’ve known that part of Pennsylvania and its particular vibe for most of my life. That made it easy to imagine the rest of the world around these two people:

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This town shuts down at nine


There’s not a decent place to dine


We know we should have left here long ago.

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But she has family who needs her, so she stays.

And he stays because she stays.

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That’s where the two ideas become one. The “better place” isn’t the better town, the better job or the greener grass somewhere else. If the person you love is here, then maybe here is the better place.

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To me, that’s romantic in the truest sense of the word. Not roses and declarations.

Commitment.

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Sometimes love isn’t about where you’re willing to go for someone.

It’s where you’re willing to stay.

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Shout out to Kelly Bado for the voice memo in the outro. Kelly and I were in a songwriting cohort when I was writing this. I asked the cohort if the lyrics were too pathetic. Kelly responded and reassured me that it wasn't, and I loved her sentiment so much that I asked to include it in the song...

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