Come to Light

Album: High Noon (2014)
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Songfacts®:

  • The first official single from Arkells third album High Noon is an Americana, driving type of song inspired by lead singer Max Kerman's love for sports.

    Kerman reads a lot of sports journalism and loves the storylines that happen in sports culture. Arkells songs are often inspired by these stories - you can hear examples in "Kiss Cam" and "Agent Zero" from their 2011 sophomore album, Michigan Left.

    "Come to Light" is another example. A line in the chorus, "What we do in the darkness, will come to light" borrows from a quotation from the mid-twentieth century African-American baseball player, Buck O'Neil. Kerman was reading a biography about O'Neil called The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's Life by Joe Posnanski. Kerman was moved by O'Neil's story about living in a time with segregation and having no luck going for him. Despite his struggles, O'Neil always had a positive attitude and treated people with compassion and respect.

    Kerman explained in our interview the meaning of the song. "The general idea is just keeping your s--t together when you're going through a tough time," he said. "I was using the metaphor of being in the dark and just making it to the next day so you can sort everything out."

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