What Was It Like

Album: Damned Devotion (2018)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Joan Wasser, AKA Joan as Police Woman, was adopted at birth by her parents, Pauline and Dick. Her research chemist adoptive father was one of the kindest men she's ever known, and here she pays tribute to his calm and generous spirit.

    You said, I could never see what passing judgment
    On anybody else would ever do for me


    Wasser told Uncut magazine: "My father had passed a couple of years before, and I got a quote of his in there, in the chorus, because I wanted to remember it - 'I could never see what passing judgment. On anybody else would ever do for me.' That song is 100 percent about him and how gentle he was as a person."
  • Wasser's crooning of her devotion to a parental figure ties in with Damned Devotion's theme of devoting herself to things obsessively. She told Uncut the record is "about the creative process and also that idea of devotion in general, the fact that when your devoted to something all of your peripheral vision disappears."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Adam Young of Owl City

Adam Young of Owl CitySongwriter Interviews

Is Owl City on a quest for another hit like "Fireflies?" Adam answers that question and explains the influences behind many others.

Shawn Mullins

Shawn MullinsSongwriter Interviews

"Lullaby" singer Shawn Mullins on "Beautiful Wreck," beating the Devil, and his writing credit on the Zac Brown Band song "Toes."

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.

Chris Tomlin

Chris TomlinSongwriter Interviews

The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater RevivalFact or Fiction

Is "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" about Vietnam? Was John Fogerty really born on a Bayou? It's the CCR edition of Fact or Fiction.

Weezer

WeezerFact or Fiction

Did Rivers Cuomo grow up on a commune? Why did they name their albums after colors? See how well you know your Weezer in this Fact or Fiction.