I wrote Dark Days at home on an acoustic guitar. It was very natural and happened without too much of a struggle. From beginning to end I’d say it took two days. I think a lot of great songs are written that way. The Bee Gees wrote ‘To love somebody’ literally overnight!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykU8iSKkJR0)
I was not happy when I wrote this song. I was struggling with my self worth and identity, and I felt like half a person. I was feeling a growing sense of panic, and I couldn’t help but think “what if this never ends, what if this just goes on until I die?”.
I think of the lyrics to this song as kind of a snapshot of that state of mind and emotion.
I brought Dark Days to the band, and we got straight to work, just like we always do. Within one or two practices we had the bones of the thing, and from there it was just adding in the details and ‘colors’.
My favorite part of the song is the bridge. I love how surprising it is, it comes out of nowhere. I feel like we managed to really capture the bittersweet feeling of the song, and it hits me just as hard when I listen to it now as it did six months ago. The guys really worked some magic here, every instrument just ‘clicks’, and Dave’s solo is breathtaking.
Personally I really like a good dark or sad song. I’ll jam to Radiohead or Leonard Cohen any day of the week. Dark Days is Johnny Tango’s humble offering in that tradition, please enjoy.
