Songfacts®:

• Wanderers are the Adelaide, Australia duo of singer/guitarist Dusty Lee Stephensen and drummer Matt Birkin; they wrote this song together. Stephensen told Songfacts: "'Make It On My Own' is about re-entering life after losing someone that has become the crutch that you leaned on too often. It's a daunting awakening, but crucial for growth. So this is a message of moving forward instead of wallowing in self pity.
  
  The chorus becomes somewhat of a mantra, attempting to dispel or counter the anxieties and doubts implied by the versus. Conquering your doubts... telling yourself you can do it... you'll be fine! Just be your own cheerleader and go kick ass."
• The band mixed modern with vintage when they recorded the track. Stephensen explains:
  
  "We recorded this song on a day off in Melbourne at a studio primarily known for recording heavy bands. I recall being met with some raised eye brows when we bought in our synths. But it became an interesting departure from comfort zones for all involved, and the engineer Julian Schweitzer was a pleasure to work with.
  
  At it's core, it's the band in the room playing live together. We managed to lock into a groove and a tempo that made us forget about the formal setting of a studio and the pressure of having to nail the take... once it all kicked in, we all just felt good and all the formalities went out the window.
  
  We experimented with different vintage analog synths, mood bass synths, and for the first time on a single we went to town on a guitar solo with a tone inspired by SRV's solo on David Bowie's 'Let's Dance.' We had a lot of fun bringing this song into the world."