Singled Out: Janie May's Crash

Keavin Wiggins | 04-19-2021

Brooklyn singer songwriter Janie May just released her brand new single "Crash" and to celebrate we have asked her to tell us the story behind the song. Here is the story:

"Crash" came out of a songwriting camp that I had attended in 2018. Bryce, who co-wrote the song and is the other singer on the track, Zach, who produced the song, and I were all in the same group and tasked with creating a track in a little under 3 weeks. At the time I was doing a lot of driving on a daily basis, so driving and car-related imagery was on my mind for obvious reasons. I remember the night before our first meeting for the camp I had a dream about driving in a car with completely open windows. I typically don't remember my dreams, but this one stuck with me for one reason, and I remember mentioning the idea about that particular imagery during the meeting.

In between meetings, I had an initial idea for a melody, but things really came together during our first recording session. I remember watching Bryce get hit with a burst of inspiration with the lyrics for the first verse. After that, the rest of the song came together pretty quickly. It definitely felt like a serendipitous moment of synergy that happens once in a blue moon. I really do feel that any creative endeavor almost involves "catching" the lyrics and the melodies when they occur to you. If you don't act fast in the moment, sometimes it feels like they will escape you. While some songwriters swear by a consistent pattern of writing every day, I feel that often songs come to an artist or writer in little moments of serendipitous inspiration. I definitely feel that that is what fueled this track.

Bryce mentioned being inspired lyrically and musically by a relationship that he had had in which there were some strong ideological differences. I see this song largely as a metaphor for relinquishing control in life and love; there are always adjustments that are made in any relationship, and learning to navigate them is a lot like driving. Fundamentally, others will always change us, just as we change them; they may "throw us off course" from our comfort zone and cause us to examine our long-held beliefs or common behaviors. Relationships ultimately always force us to grow and examine the aspects of ourselves that may be holding us back. Eventually, there comes a point where one needs to let go of the desire for control and surrender to the process of transformation and change, or "crash".

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about Janie here