LYRICS:  In the prime of my youth, with nothing at all to lose, but having nothing is saying something, when all you’re needing is a little love.  & I’m too young to feel this old, & I’m too old to let it fold.  So order another round, we’ll give it one more try, give myself another chance to make me feel alright, order another round, we’ll give it one last try, give myself another chance to make it out alright.  If hindsight is perfect distance, then all I’ve seen is inconsistent, but seeing something all means nothing, if it’s not real or never had been.  & I’m too young to feel this old, & I’m too old to let it fold.  So order another round, we’ll give it one more try, give myself another chance to make me feel alright, order another round, we’ll give it one last try, give myself another chance to make it out alright.

INTERPRETATION:  “Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat”.  This Fitzgerald quote comes to mind in reference to Fold, as its themes are preoccupied with a notion of worn perseverance.  It’s meant to convey a temperament somewhere between determination & despair; a dispositional compromise between retreat & resolve.

INSPIRATIOIN:  Ironically enough, Fold was written during an intermission for a multi-set Christmas themed gig I was playing at Jittery Joes (an Athens, GA based coffee house) back in 2006.  A man can only endure so many yuletide greetings before the holiday cheer becomes nauseating; ho ho ho, hum.

INSIGHT:  Fold was one of the trickier Shadowlands songs to produce.  Matt & I had originally planned to track the song as a mid tempo piano ballad, a la Ryan Adams’ La Cienega Just Smiled.  As we dug deeper into the arrangement process, we started to experiment with interchangeable melody lines & instrumentation; the piano parts were traded for acoustic guitar parts, the electric guitar parts were traded for piano parts, the synth accents were traded for down-tuned acoustics & keys, & natural brush kits were traded for electronic beats.  This deconstruction of the song ultimately allowed us to rebuild the arrangements using a blend of natural & synthetic textures.  Sequenced at the middle of the album, Fold best epitomizes Shadowlands’ attempt to intertwine traditional folk aesthetics with alternative sound design elements.