lifeblood: songs: backgrounds: i didn't

amy ray quote from 2012-02-24: lung of love: a conversation with amy ray, the huffington post

mr: let's also talk about "i didn't." we're in relationships, we're with people and there's a lot of acting out can go on, sure. but your concept rings true. it's like, "you know what? someone broke your heart, but i didn't. someone else did all these messed up things to you, but i didn't. let's have our own relationship."

ar: yeah, it's funny because in some ways, it can be seen as passing the buck. but in other ways, it's honoring the fact that we come to each other generally after a childhood and teen years, and all the things that happen to you before you end up with somebody that sort of formed you in some ways. i think it's good to be careful not to let these things weigh you down, to add to you instead of subtract, not to be constantly looking for reasons to be in conflict and that song was about that. you can always find a reason to be mad at each other if you look deep enough, so let's try for higher ground.

mr: i remember my mentor tommy west's mother-in-law gramma gretch once said to me - referring to my not having grown up in the best of family situations - "michael, it may not be your fault, but it's your responsibility."

ar: hahaha, great saying.

mr: she was right on. no excuses, you have to work on your stuff.

ar: yeah it's true, and it's hard. i definitely wrote that song in a place of realizing that, and trying to evolve past that place in myself where i can just finally be in a relationship in a way that was, not mature, but more realized and less weighed down by drama. it was a song to work things out for myself in a way.