This Time Tomorrow

Album: In These Silent Days (2021)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Brandi Carlile wrote this poignant lullaby with her longtime collaborators, twin brothers Phil and Tim Hanseroth, which finds them giving advice to their children on how to move on after their parents die someday. The inevitability was on the musicians' minds during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they all hunkered down together to write In These Silent Days on their shared property, nicknamed "The Compound," in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in Washington state.

    Their closeness bleeds into the music. "I know everything that's going on in our lives and everything that they're going through, and I'm going through it, too. So the way that we write right now is pretty humanly interchangeable," Carlile told Stereogum. "When Tim brought 'This Time Tomorrow' to the table and the three of us put our voices onto it and our hearts into it, we knew we were basically creating an heirloom. We were basically creating a family heirloom for the kids that, pray to God, are going to outlive us by a margin."
  • Carlile performed the song live on TV for the first time on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, November 8, 2021.
  • In These Silent Days was named Best Americana Album at the 2023 Grammy Awards, where she was also awarded the Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance trophies for "Broken Horses."

Comments: 1

  • Superhero Corgi from Planet EarthBrandi and the Twins actually played this song live to audiences several months before the Colbert show during their summer tour. I believe the live debut was in Queens on July 23 at Forest Hills.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Supertramp founder Roger Hodgson

Supertramp founder Roger HodgsonSongwriter Interviews

Roger tells the stories behind some of his biggest hits, including "Give a Little Bit," "Take the Long Way Home" and "The Logical Song."

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."

Jesus Thinks You're a Jerk: Rock vs. Televangelists

Jesus Thinks You're a Jerk: Rock vs. TelevangelistsSong Writing

When televangelists like Jimmy Swaggart took on rockers like Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica, the rockers retaliated. Bono could even be seen mocking the preachers.

Justin Timberlake

Justin TimberlakeFact or Fiction

Was Justin the first to be Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher? Did Britney really blame him for her meltdown? Did his bandmates think he was gay?

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.

Women Who Rock

Women Who RockSong Writing

Evelyn McDonnell, editor of the book Women Who Rock, on why the Supremes are just as important as Bob Dylan.