In the 1st song on my EP "...Your Honor" I sing "Fuck this your honor, we can't go any farther, we're supposed to be protectors."
Some words carry more weight than others. I needed a word that fully expressed my anger, my frustrations. I wanted to let you all know how it felt to be in a courtroom, wondering what the hell everyone was thinking. Seeing people advocate for children to placed in obviously unsafe homes. Sometimes I just wanted to scream to the judge, "why are we even discussing this!?!?! This is obviously crazy."
That's a feeling that every Guardian ad litem feels at some point. Every single one of my colleagues has expressed that exact emotion. Anger. Confusion. Those things are part of the job. But we never get to truly vent those frustrations. We can't yell in court & expect walk out without the "assistance" of someone in a uniform.
Me & the Chemicals is about my anger. It's about the memories I have of cases that went wrong. The memories of what kids told me. It's the darkest song I've released. I'm also very proud of it.
The album doesn't stay dark for long. I sing about making the decision to leave the practice of law. I talk about the support of my wife, Annette, when I needed it most. I sing about a man I met who wanted to adopt children & how he reminds me that not everyone is bad. There's a duet with Teressa Mahoney about the "reckless" decision to leave a steady job to pursue music.
It's good to be happy. It can also be cathartic to say fuck.
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