Hourglass

Album: Out of the Wasteland (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Lifehouse frontman Jason Wade got to fulfill a musical fantasy and work with legendary movie score composer James Newton Howard on this harmony-heavy track. He recalled to Artist Direct: "When I went into the studio, there was a big picture of Jennifer Lawrence on the screen. He was finishing up the new Hunger Games."

    "I've been listening to his soundtracks since I was 18 or 19-years-old," Wade continued. "To get to collaborate with him and have my name next to his on a song credit was so cool. It was amazing. It was probably the highlight of the record."
  • The song was originally written by Lifehouse manager and co-producer Jude Cole along with James Newton Howard in the mid 1990s. Jason Wade told HMV.com: "I heard it a few years back and fell in love with it but it didn't have a title, so Jude asked me if I wanted to help finish the song. I said I'd love to. I put my vocal on the original demo, James loved it and played it for his wife and she loved it and wanted to be a part of recreating it. So we took elements of the demo and got to spend a couple of days with James and he did this amazing string arrangement. It's very complex and one of my favorites on the record."

Comments: 1

  • KatrinaOne of the most beautiful songs ever written. Jason Wade is pure joy with lyrics that transport you on a magical journey through the heart.. A harmonious celebration of love, the song pulls at every corner of your soul, and just like your first heartbreak, James Newton Howard’s creation will be unforgettable in the deepest most profound way.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

The Girl in That Song

The Girl in That SongFact or Fiction

Billie Jean, Delilah, Sara, Laura and Sharona - do you know who the girls in the songs really are?

Rick Astley

Rick AstleySongwriter Interviews

Rick Astley on "Never Gonna Give You Up," "Cry For Help," and his remarkable resurgence that gave him another #1 UK album.

Songs Discussed in Movies

Songs Discussed in MoviesSong Writing

Bridesmaids, Reservoir Dogs, Willy Wonka - just a few of the flicks where characters discuss specific songs, sometimes as a prelude to murder.

16 Songs With a Heartbeat

16 Songs With a HeartbeatSong Writing

We've heard of artists putting their hearts into their music, but some take it literally.

Barney Hoskyns Explores The Forgotten History Of Woodstock, New York

Barney Hoskyns Explores The Forgotten History Of Woodstock, New YorkSong Writing

Our chat with Barney Hoskyns, who covers the wild years of Woodstock - the town, not the festival - in his book Small Town Talk.

Harold Brown of War

Harold Brown of WarSongwriter Interviews

A founding member of the band War, Harold gives a first-person account of one of the most important periods in music history.