"Miles Away" - Stories behind the Song
**This month we're doing a sort of 'behind the music' thing. Looking at each song on Seven Hour Storm and telling some of the stories behind the creation of the music. Head over to our facebook page Misner & Smith to see all. Here's the first installment.**
Sam on Miles Away -
"Miles Away was the last song to be written for the album, and actually was based on something that I'd written when I was about 18. I rediscovered it on an old cassette tape I'd made back then and decided to try to re-imagine it, keeping a couple of the lyrics, and letting the music spur the new ones.
Unexpectedly, as we started recording it some of the lyrics began to embody what we were experiencing in the studio. 'For whatever else we're after/there's no finish line or prize' Trying to trust in the process, and trying to remember that there wasn't a "correct" way to approach the music--we were exploring. The meaning is in the journey.
Our graphic designer, Kyle Monhollen (2407 Graphics) responded to one of the lines in the song, too--'There are only two directions/To wither or to grow'--and incorporated it into the album design. As far as the placement at the end of the album, it seemed fitting to end with a song about looking back, reflecting on what came before.
Also, in a world of instant gratification it's so easy to forget that meaning can change and deepen over time. 'You may not hear the first time/You have to listen twice'."
-- Take a listen once or twice, leave your thoughts, and share - if you're into that. :)