Comin' Around

Album: Change: The Lost Record (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Josh Thompson grew up in a construction family in the Wisconsin town of Cedarburg, 20 miles north of Milwaukee. He was pouring concrete in his father's business when he was just 12 and by the time he was 19, he was a journeyman concrete finisher working on a road crew. Hooked on Country music, he moved to Nashville to pursue a career as a songwriter at the age of 27.
  • The first single from Thompson's second album finds the narrator coming round to appreciating his small town roots. Thompson told The Boot: "'Comin' Around' is one of those songs that I knew was special as soon as we finished writing it. The lyrics are 100% truth, and the melody to me is infectious. I'm excited that this is the first single to represent my second album. I think it will also show people a different side of me that they haven't seen yet."
  • The song's music video was directed by P.R. Brown and shot in Nashville in January 2012. "It consists of me, a vacant field and a carnival - an old-time carnival with a big wheel that's got some pictures that go back to my grandpa, my parents when they were young, me when I was young, up until the present," Thompson explained to The Boot: "It's a menagerie of all the moments that define me, turn a circle and come around. A big carnival pops out of nothing, is the one thing that really caught me off guard and caught my attention."
  • Brown took inspiration from Tom Waits' "Hold On" music video. "The shooting style and the lens, it's like how an old newspaper kind of looks like tingy yellow after a while," said Thompson to The Boot. "I saw that video and I was like, 'Man that's pretty cool.' That, and a carnival that pops out of nowhere and a monkey."
  • Thompson penned the song with Nashville songwriters Rodney Clawson (Jason Aldean's "Crazy Town," George Strait's "I Saw God Today") and Kendell Marvel ( Jake Owen's "Places To Run," George Strait's "Twang"). It was the first time that Thompson had written with the two songsmiths together and they penned this cut within two or three hours.
  • Thompson told The Boot that the song wasn't just a reflection of his experiences. He explained: "The 'Comin' Around' part, I can't remember whose idea it was or if it's just an idea that came out as we were writing it. I've found that if I try to direct a writing appointment and gear completely towards me and my experiences that more times than not it ends up negatively affecting the writing appointment, especially with someone you've not met before. Just to get in there and write the best song that you possibly can and not try to gear it towards anyone or anything that's how the best songs get written."
  • The Change album was recorded in 2011, but wasn't released by RCA. In 2015 some of the songs were made available on an EP Change: The Lost Record, Vol. 1. The entire collection was eventually released in 2017 as an album titled Change: The Lost Record.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Billy Joe Shaver

Billy Joe ShaverSongwriter Interviews

The outlaw country icon talks about the spiritual element of his songwriting and his Bob Dylan mention.

Christopher Cross

Christopher CrossSongwriter Interviews

The man who created Yacht Rock with "Sailing" wrote one of his biggest hits while on acid.

Weird Al Yankovic

Weird Al YankovicFact or Fiction

Did Al play on a Beach Boys record? Did he have beef with George Lucas and Coolio? See if you can spot weird but true stories.

Mike Scott of The Waterboys - "Fisherman's Blues"

Mike Scott of The Waterboys - "Fisherman's Blues"They're Playing My Song

Armed with a childhood spent devouring books, Mike Scott's heart was stolen by the punk rock scene of 1977. Not surprisingly, he would go on to become the most literate of rockers.

Band Names

Band NamesFact or Fiction

Was "Pearl" Eddie Vedder's grandmother, and did she really make a hallucinogenic jam? Did Journey have a contest to name the group? And what does KISS stand for anyway?

Scott Stapp

Scott StappSongwriter Interviews

The Creed lead singer reveals the "ego and self-fulfillment" he now sees in one of the band's biggest hits.