Songwriting Diary: The Best Coast

Backstories on lyrics from my newest song

“And the love songs I’m after

Are still in those cassettes I got from you.”

If you’re of a certain age, you remember mixed tapes.

Making a cassette of carefully curated songs for a friend was a significant statement.

It was a special gift that carried loads of meaning, often open to hours of interpretation and discovery.

You created a unique cover for the cassette, complete with hand written notes, song titles and artists.

Sharing your tastes and creativity via the mixtape was the ultimate way to put yourself out there.

A calling card for cool kids.

Goofy pics from magazines worked as unique mixtape covers.

When I started writing and releasing my own music, trading cassettes of my own stuff was next level, I soon realized. It sometimes came with an unspoken “Hey I like you and I like your music…hope you like my songs too”.

I still have cassettes from old friends who made incredible music that sticks with me today.

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“And I liked the salt in my eyes

With dense fog to drove through the night  

To get inspired and call 422 FIRE.” 

My band The Stand played in Halifax often in the early 90s, making friends with lots of great East Coast bands.

Red-eye drives from our home in Glengarry, Ontario to the East Coast was a regular trip.

At the time, the burgeoning scene there was so inspiring and local indie labels like Cinnamon Toast and Murderecords were just getting off the ground.

Some bands were being swept up by big labels and the entire area was abuzz with excitement.

I still cherish my advance copy of the killer Chaz Rules tape “Tragic Mom”. One of my favourites to come out of Halifax in those days.

We made friends with a great Halifax band called Chaz Rules and usually stayed with them downtown.

422-FIRE was the phone number of that apartment and the contact number inside the Chaz Rules cassette, Tragic Mom.

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The Best Coast is a song I recently released to Bandcamp. Have a listen to it here.

It’ll be on other streaming platforms like Spotify in the coming weeks as well.

The Best Coast: full lyrics:

Through a blown tube receiver

I swear I still hear her

‘Til the end when my spirit breaks again.

Sweet fits of laughter

And the love songs I’m after

Are still in those cassettes I got from you. 

The best coast

Is the one you dream of most

It was hard to tell

If I’d remember it well

But I remember it well

Cause I liked the salt in my eyes

With Dead Moon to light up the night

As I’d drive to clear my mind.

You’re a scene stealer

And a faith healer

In the end

When we fall in love again.

The best coast

Is the one you drive to most

And the freak scene

Was an indie punk routine

In a casual dream

And I liked the salt in my eyes

With dense fog to drove through the night  

To get inspired and call 422 FIRE.