Smoother Ride

Album: Red Light, Green Light (2022)
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Songfacts®:

  • Vonda Shepard was on a hike when she got the idea for this funky, modern-day spiritual song about perseverance. "The focus of this song is that there is something driving me to always keep going - pushing hard, no matter what, but I thought it would all be easier than it is," she told Songfacts in a track-by-track feature.

    "It's my modern-day spiritual song. One of the lines came to me on a very hard hike: 'Something is driving me up this hill... something spiritual, like a force of will.' But even in all of the strength and positivity, I admit that, 'I thought it'd be a smoother ride.' It's also about letting go of trying to be perfect: 'Took a while to get myself straight... I'm sure I'll be bent one of these days.'"
  • Shepard said she worked on the funky vibe with her husband and producer Mitchell Froom. "Something about it reminds me of a Los Lobos song (Mitchell produced many of their albums)," she noted.
  • Red Light, Green Light, Shepard's ninth studio album, spawned the singles "Shine Your Light" and "Disappear." It was her first studio release since 2015's Rookie.

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