Vertical Horizon Songs
All of You
Angel Without Wings - Keith “wrote it on the Copley stairwell after a girl he was dating went on spring break without him.” - “We made plans to go away for spring break, and about a week before we were supposed to go, she said, 'I need more time.' I forgot to ask her for my money back, so I spent that week living out of my change jar and buying whatever I could afford to eat at Wisemiller's. I was pretty low at that point. I was eating peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches in my dorm room and watching 'Mr. Belvedere.” – Keith Kane (Summer 2001 – Georgetown Magazine)
Answer Me
Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)
Call it Even - “I wrote this next song in college. Um, I had a habit of going to parties where I really didn’t know anybody and you’re sort of talking to like kind of a cute girl or something and she sort of, like, doesn’t really know you at all, that was me. And so I kind of wrote this song for those experiences, those kind of sucky college experiences.” – Matt Scannell (04.30.96 – SkyLight Lounge – Wilmington, NC)
Candyman - “Had to play that song because my mom told me today that it had lots of sexual innuendos. So, gotta’ play thatKeith Kane (05.04.96 – Chameleon Club – Atlanta, GA).” –
Can’t Be All Wrong - “’Can’t Be All Wrong’ was written while we were on tour in 1997, somewhere around Atlanta. I’ve always liked the melodies in this song – they seem to fit the lyrics pretty well. We recorded this version with Danny Kortchmar in Connecticut – it was great to work with him. I also like the guitar solo on this one – I remember singing it in my head on the way to the studio the day we recorded it.” – Matt Scannell (CustomDisc Insert)
Children’s Lullaby
Down To You
Everything You Want - "The song is about this girl who's always looking ahead, never satisfied with the men who are interested in her, and always pushing on for someone else, even though these guys seem to have everything she wants and needs. But by the end of the song, the fella who knows her so well and is talking to her in the lyrics finally decides to get up the courage to say, 'Hey, I'm everything you need!'" - Matt Scannell (Billboard WeatherBureau)
"It's definitely a relationship song. It's a typical story that everyone goes through of being enamored with someone and becoming good friends with them in hopes that it will get more serious. Bad news is that it never really happens, and you experience the frustration that comes when you think you are the perfect person for someone that doesn't think likewise." - Keith Kane (source unknown)
Fall From The Sun
Falling Down - “’Falling Down’ is originally a poem that Kelly Moylan wrote that I turned into a song. I loved the words and wanted to put them to music, and she was really supportive of the idea. We’ve played this song last in our set for a while now because it gives us a chances to improvise and bring in other songs we love today.” – Matt Scannell (CustomDisc Insert)
Famous
Finding Me
Footprints in the Snow
Forever
Fragments - “’Fragments’ started out as an experiment in chordal structure and ended up as a pretty intense and personal song.I wrote it at my apartment in Arlington, VA, as we were getting ready to record ‘Running On Ice.’ I wrote the ‘it’s better now’ part to try to convince myself more than anybody else.” – Matt Scannell (CustomDisc Insert)
Glass Waltz, The - “’The Glass Waltz’ is the only song that I’ve written in Hawaii. I was trying to experiments with Ska rhythms made famous by bands like The Police. Lyrically, I was trying to compare the relationship between two lovers to that of a waltz. The constant pushing and pulling that seems to be a requisite to both situations. I like to describe this song as an example of the happier side f a sad predicament.” – Keith Kane (CustomDisc Insert)
Goodnight My Friend
Great Divide - “This is a song that’s not on any of our records yet. A good friend mine’s family was going through a fairly messy divorce. And after talking to her, she lived very far away from me, I wrote her this song and recorded it and sent it in the mail, to, uh, sorta’ help her through that time.” – Matt Scannell (04.30.96 – SkyLight Lounge – Wilmington, NC)
Heart in Hand - “‘Heart In Hand’ has been around for a long time and is still one of our favorite songs. I wrote it in Arlington, VA during the ‘Running On Ice’ sessions and it seemed from early on that maybe we had something. We’ve talked about doing it again on a record, so it may show up again someday.” – Matt Scannell (CustomDisc Insert)
Inside - "The inspiration for
the string melody came to me when I was hearing the sound of a motor in the
distance. It was a constant sound in the background, and I realized that I was
singing a melody that was based on the "key" of the sound of the motor. This
melody had a Celtic feel to it that reminded me of some of the old Irish music
my father used to sing to me when I was a child. When I was writing the first
verse I was thinking of how certain pieces of music have the ability to
transcend the boundaries that separate different cultures and societies, and in
effect draw us closer together. Certainly not a new concept, but a valid one
nonetheless. This brought me to the chorus, which simply states how I believe we
all would like to be held dear and loved by those around us. Of course these
words could also be read in a sexual context, and although that was not my
intention I am certainly not afraid of the slightly ambiguous nature of the
lyric. I generally prefer it when lyrics have multiple meanings, it leaves more
room for the listener to take an active role in defining the song. I think the
band performed wonderfully on this song and it's become a favorite of ours. As a
guitarist I loved enhancing the interplay between the string section and the
band. There are many driving parts that lock in with Ed and Sean, and some more
melodic and hypnotic parts that hide in the background. Plus there's even a
lighters-in-the-air approved rock guitar solo! Hendrix would be proud!" - Matt
Scannell (01.28.03 - verticalhorizon.com)
It’s Only Me
Japan
Liberty
Life in the City
Lines Upon Your Face
Love’s Light
Man Who Would Be Santa, The - “This is one of the songs of our second record. Wrote it for my dad, when we were having a bit of a generation gap. I guess that’s part of the deal though.” – Matt Scannell (07.XX.94 – Grog & Tankard – Washington, DC)
“I wrote ‘The Man Who Would Be Santa’ for my Dad. We had a big fight and weren’t talking so I wrote it to tell him how much I appreciate everything he had done for me. Since then other people seem to have liked it and they sing along, which is cool.” – Matt Scannell (CustomDisc Insert)
Miracle
Mountain Song, The
On the Sea - "This is a song from our first record, this is a song I wrote for a dear friend.” – Matt Scannell (04.29.99 – Ziggy’s – Winston-Salem, NC)
Prayer for an Innocent Man
Promise of Tomorrow
Ride, The
Reprise (Hidden Track on Running on Ice)
Send it Up - “’Send It Up’ went through a lot of permutations before we decided on this version. At one point it was called ‘Cancel The World’ but we couldn’t get ‘Send It Up’ out of our heads. So I changed the chorus a bit and there you have it.” – Matt Scannell (CustomDisc Insert)
Shackled - “I wrote ‘Shackled’ on Cape Cod in the winter of ’95. I was listening to Soundgarden a lot at that time and sat down with a guitar and tried to capture some of the emotion that attracted me to their music. As for the lyrical content, this song more than any other that I’ve written served as personal therapy in helping me through a very long and difficult breakup. Definitely the darkest song I think I have written.” – Keith Kane (CustomDisc Insert)
Slow In Time
Sunrays and Saturdays - “This is a song I wrote for a good friend of mine, it’s called ‘Sunrays and Saturdays.’” – Matt Scannell (04.30.96 – SkyLight Lounge – Wilmington, NC)
Sunshine
Take Me Out To The Nearest McDonald’s - “Just have fun with it.” – Keith Kane (7.12.97)
Trying to Find Purpose
Unchosen One, The
Underwater
Wash Away
Wasted - “I wrote ‘Wasted’ as we were getting together songs for ‘Everything You Want.’ I was trying to experiment with different grooves and ‘Wasted’ just sort of happened from the drums on up. It’s one of the songs that everybody in the band really likes so it may make an appearance on a record sometime in the future. This is the original 4-track demo of the song, which I recorded in my apartment. All of my songs sound more or less like this when I first bring them to the band – it’s basically a rough sketch that I make before everyone else adds their parts.” – Matt Scannell (CustomDisc Insert)
We Are - "This is the first single off of the record, this is a song about the breakdown of communication between people and how you can sort of distance yourself from everybody else around you and become insulated from everybody else and all the love and stuff." - Matt Scannell (06.27.99 - Just Passin' Thru - 99.1 WHFS Radio Show)
"With the Internet and with radio and television, [the song shows] how you sort of fall in love with these images and these icons of people, and sort of distance yourself from those people who are really around you." - Matt Scannell (07.01.99 - MTV.com)
When You Cry
Willingly
You Say
You’re a God
Give You Back