Mat Kearney – All I Need

Background: I love Mat Kearney for one thing—he sounds like Adam Duritz, of the Counting Crows, my absolute favorite contemporary male artist. That sounds close-minded of me, but I love that voice, and I’ll take it even when it’s not really Adam’s. (He doesn’t sound 100% like Adam, but about 90%, close enough).

Favorite line: “I’m grabbing at the fray for something that won’t drown.”  But really I love this whole song. Every single line. “Light’s just breaking so don’t let go of my arm.” “If all we’ve got is what no one can break/I know I love you, if that’s all we can take.”

My song history: I found this song at the perfect time, just as I was starting to really form Daughter in my mind. This song is inextricably connected to that story for me, and always will be.

What drew me in: Like I said, what originally drew me in was Kearney’s voice, but the minute the lyrics started to sink in, I couldn’t escape loving it.

For my writing: According to last.fm I’ve listened to this song 176 times, but that’s probably a fraction of the truth. If Ashes and Wine (my #1 on last.fm, with 198 plays) is my song for Amara, my heroin, “All I Need” is my song for Philo, the boy who loves her. This song is so Philo I couldn’t have found a better one if I’d tried. It talks about “trying to be the man” when they’re seen as just a boy, about running without knowing what you’re running for, just that she needs it, and being completely over their heads on a journey that’s much bigger than them.