Welcome to HeartSongs, our regularly scheduled (probably) look at songs and the people who write them. We spoke to Kim Ware from Americana/indie-folk collective Good Graces about their recent single ‘Remember The Old School’

"I'm a member of a Facebook group called Theme Music. I haven't been as active recently as I once was, but the group inspired about half the songs on the new album, including "Old School." The way the group works, once every two weeks we're assigned a new "theme" to either write a song based on or cover an existing song that fits it. Then you record and produce a video for the song, and post it to the group. "Old School" was inspired by an "Old / New" theme if I remember correctly. The title just popped into my head, followed by the idea of writing a song from the perspective of someone older who still plays music and perhaps doesn't feel like they are getting the recognition they deserve for it, but then remembers that what really counts is being passionate and honest about it. They aren't getting rich from it, but that's ok, and perhaps it's just as important that they realize that and understand what they ARE getting from it.

So it's sort of a song about saying, "Yeah, what I do might not be trendy or cool, but it's me, and I love it."

I guess it's a bit autobiographical in that sense, but I also wanted to add some humor to it, kind of make it my "Get off my lawn!" song. I think as we get older it's easy to fall into the, "My music is better than yours!" thing, and brush off anything new in favor of the music we used to listen to when we were growing up; I especially see it around country music. Folks pointing fingers at what's being played on Country radio but saying, "That's not "real" country!" I think that is so silly! I kind of wanted to poke fun at that, too. Near the end of the song, the lyrics in the chorus subtly reference one of my favorite bands, R.E.M. A lot of what I hear in current Americana / folk stuff they did with Automatic for the People, which is kind of amazing. That was 25 years ago! All of those things inspired the song in one way or another.

Initially, all I really knew was I wanted it to be very punk rock! Or at least more punk than anything else I had done. I felt like that genre fit the resentment and resignation that you speak of. Then when Jonny and I started putting it together, I referenced Rilo Kiley a bit in my head. I'm a big fan of their arrangements, and how some of their songs seem to have a strummy acoustic foundation but then incorporate a drum machine, or sometimes lean sort of punky, or at least have a little attitude. So I wanted the song to reflect all of those same elements.

REMEMBER THE OLD SCHOOL

We’ll make the rules up as we go

And we will break ‘em and nobody has to know

We’ll drive too fast, get there too late

And we’ll believe the others didn’t mind the wait

And we will try to cover up our worst mistakes

We’ll tempt our fate

Are we hanging out, or just hanging on

Have I forgotten all the words to my own song

I’m not expecting you to try to sing along

That would be so wrong

(Chorus)

Yeah I may never be in fashion, I don’t know the latest trends

But at least I have the passion, or at least I can pretend

When every shoulder seems so cold

We’re not getting rich, we are only getting old

Our fingers bleed, our muscles hurt

Can’t see the shine underneath all our own dirt

And all the good guys never seem to finish first

And it just gets worse

(Chorus)

Yeah we may never be in fashion, we don’t know the latest trends

But at least we have the passion, or at least we can pretend

We win the game, but lose the fight

We save the day, but we never spend the night

We only wanted someone there to hold us tight

It would be so right

We can’t go big, so we just go home

And then we stay up watching Netflix all alone

And we’d call a friend but we can’t find the phone

‘cause we’re too stoned

(Chorus)

Yeah we may never be in fashion, we’ll never be that cool

But we’ll still talk about their passion, and remember the old school

(Chorus)

Yeah I may never be in fashion, and I might look like a fool

But I’ll never lack the passion, ‘cause I remember the old school

Americana/indie-folk collective The Good Graces’ sew single ‘Remember the Old-School’ is an indie rock/jangle punk anthem about the feeling of “been there, done that”. Led by frontwoman Kim Ware, the group has opened the Indigo Girls 2015 summer tour, and have shared bills with artists such as The Old Ceremony and Vandaveer.

Set Your Sights (out now) is a reflective set of atmospheric Americana and lush indie-folk tracks, Ware’s Southern drawl and straightforward confessional lyrics channeling artists like Freakwater, Neko Case and Lydia Loveless. Thematically, the album explores getting older, looking back on your life and trying to correct missteps—it’s an honest, heartfelt attempt at redemption and reconciliation that Ware describes as her “midlife crisis record.”

It's a record that finds kinship with those who’ve fallen a few times and had to find the strength to pull themselves back up. It's the story of a woman taking personal inventory and learning to live with her choices. But it's also the story of a woman who can say she’s really lived. Sometimes looking back is the only thing that can propel you forward.