Words and Music by Eg

This song is the most recent addition to the Kleen repertoire.  I wrote 
it in 2011.  This cut has become one of my favorites on the record.  
It is a simple, straightforward lyric and chord progression.  The song 
is written about the relationship between denial/avoidance and acceptance.  It is a composite of all the times I have tried to make a “geographic cure” to a spiritual illness, only to find that “My assassins followed me.”  But is also abut that sweet moment when we stop running and the miracle that follows—about how much pain and suffering it takes for some of us addicts to face things instead of running from them.  For me, I have never addressed any issues in my life that scare me until I have suffered enough from trying to avoid them.  This song is meant to honor and accept that this is my process—come to awareness, I avoid, I suffer, THEN I accept and begin to change.  However, for all that, by the end it is just another song about unrequited love.  The song also gives allusion to my 1996 thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.

I wrote this song with an intro using a first-position acoustic riff out of G, Am and Em—lots of hammer-ons, slurs, and triplets.  When I played it for the guys at County Q before they began to work on it, Gary (the acoustic guitarist) said “That into is to F-ing long.”  JT countered, “Hold on…let’s give it a try.”  JT just beautifully grabbed the spirit of my riff and just warmed and mellowed it into a very nice groove with Jim’s Neil-Young-ish harp blending perfectly.  I think it creates a haunting and soulful intro.  I love every one of JT’s solo on the album but this one may be my favorite.  It is just so smooth and fits exactly the spirit of the song.