Behind The Tracks: THE PHOENIX WITHIN - Daddy Issues (Single) (2020)

The meaning behind the track Daddy Issues is really quite literal and direct. The song is based on true life stories and an in-depth self analysis made after reflection of personal choices and consequences that followed decisions I have made in my past and present relationships.

Everyone who knows me personally knows the following things: I am short, I can be infinitely annoying, I am not married and I have no kids. It became clear to me a while back that some of the above mentioned “issues” stemmed from - yes, you guessed it, genetics - but also partly from growing up in a home with an absent father who was also an abusive husband. My mother was and is one of the strongest women I have ever met. I would never want to endure what she endured and never want to sacrifice what she’s sacrificed. There was no denying that she herself was greatly affected by episodes in her own past.

Where cycles become hard to break, healing can easily just become wishful thinking…but you have to start somewhere, right?

For me, it started when I picked up the guitar and notepad. Writing always feels right to me and music has always been my personal savior. I do both because they help me vent and because I enjoy them. I fiddled around with chords on the guitar until I felt I found some which resonated well with some of the chicken scratch I’d written down on the topic. I got another piece of paper and separated some of the words into verses and a chorus then right in front me they became the lyrics and before I knew it the title Daddy Issues was scribbled on the top of the sheet of paper with two big bold black underlining marks underneath the title. When I took the song to the guys in the practice space all I had was the intro, verse and a very shaky possible chorus idea. Lucky for me it was one of those tracks that just clicked with everyone in the room. Nick, John and James slapped on their own parts, brands and skills and shortly after we booked some studio time and recorded it.

The song is open ended. I offer no solution and I am not attempting to say I’ve discovered a cure for anything. The interpretation of this song is solely up to the listener or reader of its lyrics. All I did today was provide you, the patient reader, with my Behind The Track story.