Brave

Album: All That Echoes (2013)
Charted: 64
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is the lead single from Josh Groban's sixth album, All That Echoes. Groban introduced the ballad at a listening party at the Sunset Towers in West Hollywood by saying, "I really like sad songs - woe is me, depress-o. It feels like a natural thing."
  • Co-written with longtime songwriting partner Tawgs Salter ("You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)"), the ballad steps away from the trademark Groban sound as it gradually builds, ending with a chiming electric guitar. "We wanted the song to have an intensity and an urgency, even if they're in more of a traditional style vocally," Groban told Billboard magazine. "The goal was to try and bridge those two worlds."
  • The song marks Groban's first collaboration with Canadian singer/songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk. "We've always been sniffing around for the right thing to do," Groban told Billboard magazine of his long-time friend. "Tawgs and I wrote this melody and she was in the forefront of my mind, so we gave her a couple of ideas and she just flew with it. Tawgs had been playing this riff on a guitar while I was playing on the piano and the first thing I started singing was 'Wake up, wake up.' So from the get-go we felt this was a song about rejuvenation."
  • Groban explained to Billboard magazine that he and producer Rob Cavallo knew straight away this was the right song to lead his All That Echoes album. "As I sang the first few words of the song, it all of a sudden felt that we had the first inspiration, the first nucleus of something that could be really inspirational, really fun," he said. "As people started listening to it, they were like, 'Yeah, this is a good first single.'"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

John Lee Hooker

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.

Angelo Moore of Fishbone

Angelo Moore of FishboneSongwriter Interviews

Fishbone has always enjoyed much more acclaim than popularity - Angelo might know why.

Millie Jackson

Millie JacksonSongwriter Interviews

Outrageously gifted and just plain outrageous, Millie is an R&B and Rap innovator.

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.

Who's Johnny, And Why Does He Show Up In So Many Songs

Who's Johnny, And Why Does He Show Up In So Many SongsSong Writing

For songwriters, Johnny represents the American man. He has been angry, cool, magic, a rebel and, of course, marching home.

Lita Ford

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.