The Answer

Album: Water For Your Soul (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song features Brazilian, Calypso, Irish fiddle, a funky guitar line, gospel and Joss Stone's trademark soulful vocal. She told OfficialCharts.com: "It's odd, but I love it."

    "The whole point of the song is if you can finally find your own happiness and be who you are in the daylight in front of the world, you'll find the answer to any question you're asking," Stone added. "I don't know if that's true, but I feel like it is! Basically, everyone needs to stop stressing so much."
  • Stone co-wrote the song with legendary reggae musician Dennis Bovell. Speaking about Bovell's qualities, Stone said, "He's like a reggae encyclopedia. And he can really sing. His pitch and range is massive. He's funny too, a great person to work with."
  • Joss Stone (from Billboard magazine): "This song is full of all sorts of influences, with fiddles, gospel choir and different rhythms including baiao and calypso. There are no rules to being happy in this world of music. This song is about letting go of your worries - be free, have a dance, don't waste your days worrying about what might be. Life is what you make it. Goodness is bright!"
  • When Digital Spy asked Stone if the song was inspired by a particular moment in her life, she replied: "I think it's a general conversation I have a lot with people that I love. I do find myself listening to a lot of moaning. I notice that it's our culture to moan."

    Stone added: "So we have big conversations where we're like, 'We should be doing this', 'That's wrong', 'That's wrong', and I think that in my life, it's always me going, 'Actually guys it's not that bad. We live in a fantastic country. We have free healthcare. We are very, very lucky'. These conversations have inspired the song 'The Answer', which is something we're always looking for but are never going to get."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Jesus In Pop Hits: The Gospel Songs That Went Mainstream

Jesus In Pop Hits: The Gospel Songs That Went MainstreamSong Writing

These overtly religious songs crossed over to the pop charts, despite resistance from fans, and in many cases, churches.

La La Brooks of The Crystals

La La Brooks of The CrystalsSong Writing

The lead singer on "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me," La La explains how and why Phil Spector replaced The Crystals with Darlene Love on "He's A Rebel."

Hardy

HardySongwriter Interviews

The country hitmaker talks about his debut album, A Rock, and how a nursery rhyme inspired his hit single "One Beer."

Chris Squire of Yes

Chris Squire of YesSongwriter Interviews

One of the most dynamic bass player/songwriters of his time, Chris is the only member of Yes who has been with the band since they formed in 1968.

James Williamson of Iggy & the Stooges

James Williamson of Iggy & the StoogesSongwriter Interviews

The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.

Brenda Russell

Brenda RussellSongwriter Interviews

Brenda talks about the inspiration that drove her to write hit songs like "Get Here" and "Piano in the Dark," and why a lack of formal music training can be a songwriter's best asset.