So in my humble opinion, ...Imagining You is the best song on the Fameseeker and the Mono EP. It seems to tie the whole record together for me--you know brings it all home. But even as a single track it's beautiful in it's own right. I first heard what would become ...Imagining You when Arizona sent over some tracks to
the Two Mirrors last August for me to post. ...Imagining You was the lead in for a live version of Surviving the Savior. It didn't even have the ending that it has now. It's fun to hear this song before it became what it is now. But it is no longer available for download. But I digress...
In my interview with the band Arizona, I asked Ben specifically about this track. Check out his response.
ABO: The track "…Imagining You," is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful songs you've written to date. The lyrics and melodies seem to resonate in my mind every time I hear it. It seems like we all tend to focus on the future and what may happen, when in fact the present is all we have—especially with the ones we love. Can you talk a little about the inspiration for this track?
Thank you! I'm very gratified that "...Imagining You" is hitting an emotional trigger in people. It was a song I felt very passionately when I was writing it, although it was very whimsical. I wrote the whole thing in about the amount of time it takes to sing it, but the band really brought the song to life. I had almost nothing to do with the production of that song- laid down the guitar structure, which was re-done by Nick, gave a scratch vocal performance which ended up as the keeper lead vocal, and suggested that Alex use the upright bass instead of a too-fat electric tone we were originally using. Everything else was created by the guys, and I think they are to thank for how that song comes across. It's also my favorite mix that Danny Kadar has done for us- something about the reverb. The work of all of these people is why the lyrics and melodies pop out.
Every ballad I write, whether it be "Through the Soot" or "Some Kind of Chill" or "Imagining You" or even "Diventa Blu", the original inspiration is a specific person who I'm focused on in my life. I write these songs hoping that their heartfelt nature and catchy melodies will convince that person (who is almost never the same from song to song) to love me unconditionally for the rest of eternity. It's never worked.
And now you too can hear "...Imagining You."
