Singled Out: Alice Anna's Standing in the Rain

The song/music video of "Standing in the Rain" actually has a very personal attachment for me. When I wrote the song I never intended to speak about it, but the way it came out seemed so impactful that when we were deciding on the single to shoot the video for, there was no getting around it. So here it goes�

I have a younger brother who was adopted by my parents at the age of five. He came from bullsh*t, heroin addict parents and therefore the least attractive childhood one could encounter. He never really found comfort in life and to this day has been in and out of trouble. We always had a close relationship but there was just a point where he couldn't be helped anymore unless he figured life out on his own (For those of us who have dealt with addiction or know someone who has, this is pretty much always the case). This is where the song comes into play. I made a pact with my parents that any decisions he made on his own, he would have to live with the consequences of. At this point he had just gotten out of jail and was staying in a halfway house. I guess he got flustered by it quickly and he called me up one night around midnight and said, "Dan, I can't take it here anymore, I don't get along with anyone, I'm going to do something I regret if I stay". Because this wasn't un-common for him to say, and because I promised my parents and myself that I wouldn't enable him, I told him he'd have to figure it out for the night and go check into another place in the morning. I could hear the rain pouring from the pay phone he was at, and it was cold as hell outside. He always counted on me for things like this, and the kid has such a big heart that it was tearing me up inside. He had spent countless nights on the streets on his own, but the fact that he was trying to get his life together made it hard for me to leave him on the streets in the pouring rain on the middle of a cold night. I eventually had to hang up on him, I didn't sleep a f*cking wink that night, and the pain I felt for him and the help and love I wanted to give him was as intense as ever. So if you read into the song and go along with the emotions of the music, I think you will be able to relate to what this song is about.

The video was shot in downtown Baltimore (where he spent a lot of his time) so it really hits home for me. The director, Brian Morrison, did an amazing job capturing my thoughts and the emotions of the song.

You can find the "Standing in the Rain" on iTunes or Amazon MP3 if you just type in "Alice Anna". You can also watch the video at www.aliceannamusic.com on the homepage. If you use www.aliceannamusic.com, there are also links to our facebook, twitter, youtube, and myspace pages.