The idea for “Technicolor Dream” began in 2004.

At the time, it hadn't become a song. It was a single verse that I could never figure out how to finish.

But those words stayed with me for years.

The idea was simple…it was basically an open letter to people I had known, people I admired, and people I had watched seemly trade things they once firmly believed in for something the world told them they needed… acceptance, approval, success, the feeling of belonging.

The song was ultimately shelved in a notebook, but the words were never forgotten.

The original verse read:

Get off track
and on the bandwagon.
All the cool kids sold their souls.
Listen when they tell you
how to behave,
trash your morals and your goals.

Looking back now, I can hear the perspective of my younger self. There was conviction in those words, but there was also distance. I was looking at what was happening around me and wondering how people could lose sight of what actually mattered.

Twenty years later, the words still echoed in my mind. And, honestly, they felt more relevant than ever.

But this time, I wasn't looking at other people. I was looking at myself.

With more years behind me, more experiences, more grey hairs, and a much better understanding of my own weaknesses, I realized the uncomfortable truth: it could have just as easily been me.

The line between standing firm and losing your way is not as wide as I'd like to believe.

The only difference was Grace.

This song became less about judging the people who lost their way and more about being grateful that I had been spared. It became a reminder that none of us are above the things we criticize in others.

Originally in the early 2000's, I had planned an entire album around this unfinished song. I had even designed graphics, bought boxes of blank t-shirts to screenprint, and came dangerously close to permanently etching the words into my skin.

The album never happened and the song was never finished…

…until now.

The idea always stuck with me. The questions continued to bounce around in my mind. The words slowly transformed with life.

And after more than twenty years, it was time to return to them, finish the story, and finally write the song that I had been living with for decades.