Hatred destroys from the inside out. If we don't let go of these negative emotions, it's almost like whoever inflicted the pain in the first place is still wielding power over us. Chances are, either that person has since grown into a better human being or that person is still an asshole. If it's the latter, then I like to think that it will catch up to him or her eventually without our having to harbor the immense burden of hate. Either way, that shit's on them, and they can keep it.
The chorus goes like this:
Don't hold this hate in your heart
Your anger is not who you are
Let it all go and I know you'll go far
Don't hold this hate in your heart...
The title comes from the last line of the pre-chorus, which was only added to the song after I had recorded everything else. It felt like it was missing something, including a decent title. I think the working title at the time was Poison Control or something similarly stupid. (Yes, it was almost one of those pretentious songs in which the title doesn't appear anywhere in the lyrics. Can you imagine?)
Here's a trippy version of me playing it on acoustic guitar in my sunroom (I recorded it from a stationary position, which got a little boring to watch, so I added a stabilizer effect, which tried to compensate for my movement as I played):
It's almost like the room is moving with the music. I hope nobody got seasick.
As a bonus track, here's a song called Extra>ordinary (although on digital platforms, it's never written that way, as the "greater than" symbol causes problems with the various interfaces). It comes from my 2019 album Better Days.
One day, I was in my kitchen, singing what I knew of that one Journey song about the small town girl living in a lonely world, etc. As I was almost certainly screwing up the words, it occurred to me that this could be considered a whole sub-genre of song -- but in most of them, the female protagonist seems to have no agency over the circumstances that she finds herself in, and nothing good ever happens to her when she goes away to the big city. These songs are almost always cautionary tales about the perils of female ambition.
With that in mind, I sat down and wrote my own version of this type of song as seen through what might be considered a feminist lens (link goes to an online course that I taught about Film, Comedy and Cultural Theory).
She grew up in the suburbs where time stands still
Where the scene doesn't ever change
And seems like it never will...
Enjoy. Share. Love.
Be honest. Be kind. Be fair.
Treat others as they want to be treated.
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