How It Works

Album: Motivational Speaking (2020)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Any young person who has been in the music industry for a few years has had someone try to explain to them "how it works." That's what happened to Old Sea Brigade (the performing moniker of Ben Cramer), who decided to write a song about it. "I had received an email from someone within the industry basically telling me how something works," he said on the Songfacts Podcast. "I thought huh, ok... and we wrote this song mocking that person's email. It's funny because now that we have written the song, I just hear that phrase all the time."
  • Old Sea Brigade wrote this with his friend Henry Brill, who worked with Birdy, Rhys Lewis, and Anderson East. "Sometimes when we are stuck on a song, Henry is the type of person who you have to give him two minutes to pace around the room and his eyes light up and he gets it," Old Sea Brigade said.
  • Old Sea Brigade released this song in November 2020 but didn't issue the album it was part of, Motivational Speaking, until six months later. The delay was induced by the lockdown: With lots of time off the road and in the studio, he decided to keep tweaking the album to make it a bit "weirder."
  • The music video was directed by Evan Brace and shot in the Mojave Desert.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Tom Waits Lyrics Quiz

Tom Waits Lyrics QuizMusic Quiz

Pool balls, magpies and thorns without roses - how well do you know your Tom Waits lyrics?

Gene Simmons of Kiss

Gene Simmons of KissSongwriter Interviews

The Kiss rocker covers a lot of ground in this interview, including why there are no Kiss collaborations, and why the Rock Hall has "become a sham."

90s Music Quiz 1

90s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

First question: Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson appeared in videos for what artist?

Amy Lee of Evanescence

Amy Lee of EvanescenceSongwriter Interviews

The Evanescence frontwoman on the songs that have shifted meaning and her foray into kids' music.

Waiting For The Break of Day: Three Classic Songs About All-Nighters

Waiting For The Break of Day: Three Classic Songs About All-NightersSong Writing

These Three famous songs actually describe how they were written - late into the evening.

Al Kooper

Al KooperSongwriter Interviews

Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.