ERIC PETERS

(DADGBD / capo 4)
If there were an outcast on this album it would most definitely be this song. April 18, 2000: I’m driving a very boring stretch of Mississippi interstate when these words arrive (hence the “I turn another mile, twisting in my seat” part). I grabbed a notepad and pen, steered the wheel with my legs (generally a bad idea) and started scribbling while I continued driving. I had a really tough time putting the finishing touches on the arrangement so it took several more weeks to do so. On June 27, with upright bass player Roland Guerin looking on, and only moments away from recording it, we put the cherry on top and called it a completed work.

This is a song that producer and mixer Brent Milligan felt was too different from the rest of the album to include. After singing the vocal and hearing an early mix I exercised sovereignty and decided instead that it could be a refreshingly strange addition. We kept it, added it to the album, and I’m glad we did because it became one of our favorites. It’s hauntingly beautiful and is, in my estimation, alone on the album as the black sheep of the family appropriately occupying the number 13 and final slot on Land of the Living.