Rochester

Album: Young Love (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The closing track of Mat Kearney's fourth album, Young Love, finds the folk-rock singer-songwriter paying homage to his father. Kearney told Songfacts: "It's this very folk song that I wrote about my dad. My grandpa ran an illegal gambling ring in Rochester, New York out of a cigar shop, and my father lived through that. Then, he became a lawyer, went into the army, followed Pink Floyd through Europe and moved to Hawaii where he met my mother."

    The song deals with the abuse Kearney's dad and his family suffered. "It was really, really hard," Mat said about writing such an intimate song. "It's not hard for me to be vulnerable on some levels, but it's risky. There's the whole other world outside of just creating a song of who it affects and how it affects them that is the hard part, sometimes. But those are songs where you're that vulnerable and you're that open.

    You also want to feel fair, because when a song's that literal and you're talking about abuse and stuff like that, you don't want to dramatize stuff just for the sake of a song. I wanted to just tell the truth and be fair. That was an interesting exercise for me. I've never really written a song that literal about people that close to me."
  • Bruce Springsteen, and in particular his 1982 Nebraska album, was a big influence on this song. Springsteen recorded that album at his home on a small tape recorder, and the final product contains very stark, unadorned songs that tell stories of struggle.

    "When I sat down I was thinking through the mind of Springsteen," Kearney said. "I don't do that tons, but it was fun. On that record, I really set out to write songs that were within an arm's reach of me story-wise, and I actually sat down and said, 'I'm not going to write songs.' That was my M.O. It was: we're not writing songs, I'm going to tell stories. So when I sat down, I was messing with chords, and I started messing with my dad's story."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Kerry Livgren of Kansas

Kerry Livgren of KansasSongwriter Interviews

In this talk from the '80s, the Kansas frontman talks turning to God and writing "Dust In The Wind."

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Kevin Godley

Kevin GodleySongwriter Interviews

Kevin Godley talks about directing classic videos for The Police, U2 and Duran Duran, and discusses song and videos he made with 10cc and Godley & Creme.

Kiss

KissFact or Fiction

Kiss is the subject of many outlandish rumors - some of which happen to be true. See if you can spot the fakes.

Dennis DeYoung

Dennis DeYoungSongwriter Interviews

Dennis DeYoung explains why "Mr. Roboto" is the defining Styx song, and what the "gathering of angels" represents in "Come Sail Away."

Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes

Chris Robinson of The Black CrowesSongwriter Interviews

"Great songwriters don't necessarily have hit songs," says Chris. He's written a bunch, but his fans are more interested in the intricate jams.