All We Ever Knew

Album: Signs of Light (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The Head and the Heart contributed this song to Cameron Crowe's dramedy, Roadies. The group also ended up playing a role an opening band in the Showtime series.
  • Co-frontman Jonathan Russell had already written parts of the song during the recording of The Head and the Heart's Let's Be Still album. Pianist Kenny Hensley explained to Radio.com: "The offer for Roadies came about and it was the kind of song that had been sitting and we hadn't finished so we took it as an opportunity to kind of hunker down in the studio for a couple days, finish something to offer them and see what comes out of it."
  • Russell explained the song's meaning to Radio.com: "Everyone's gone through a relationship where things didn't work out… you try it again and it doesn't work out," he said. "That feeling of 'Why are we doing this to ourselves? We know it's not going to work out. We've tried it before. Just let it go.'"
  • Russell's initial impetus for penning the song was the realization that he'd chosen the life of a musician over an amazing relationship. "What the hell are you doing?" he recalled asking himself. "That's where my head was at when I started that song."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The Kingdom

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Corey Hart

Corey HartSongwriter Interviews

The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."

Ralph Casale  - Session Pro

Ralph Casale - Session ProSongwriter Interviews

A top New York studio musician, Ralph played guitar on many '60s hits, including "Lightnin' Strikes," "A Lover's Concerto" and "I Am A Rock."

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real Group

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real GroupSong Writing

The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.

Tony Joe White

Tony Joe WhiteSongwriter Interviews

The writer of "Rainy Night in Georgia" and "Polk Salad Annie" explains how he cooks up his Louisiana swamp rock.

Superman in Song

Superman in SongSong Writing

Not everyone can be a superhero, but that hasn't stopped generations of musicians from trying to be Superman.