To be honest, "Near You" kind of wrote itself. One early New Year's Day morning, the words came pouring out. The song was done within fifteen minutes.

I wrote "Near You" for my fiancee Lauren (now my wife) not long after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Throughout her mother's treatment, I just tried to be there for Lauren however I could be. Lauren and her mother were both so strong it was amazing. But when her mother's chemotherapy started, it was devastating.

Anyone who experiences cancer through a loved one knows how unforgiving chemotherapy is on the body. It's a poison medicine that treats a poison condition. A fire to fight fire with. The stress of seeing Lauren's mother undergoing those chemo treatments was incredibly difficult. It killer Lauren to see her mother like that. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. I tried to reassure her; to tell her everything would be alright. Ultimately, I wanted to make Lauren feel better. But I couldn't make her feel better. The only thing that would make her feel better would be to annihilate her mother's cancer. But I couldn't do that. We could only hope and pray the grueling schedule of chemo would do as much.

So I wrote "Near You." Quite simply, it's a song about compassion: about spending time with some one you love when he or she needs you. It's about being there for someone you love. Sometimes there are no right words. You just have to be there. So that's what I kept doing. I helped Lauren however I could. Most of the time I didn't know what to say, most of the time, I couldn't make anything better. But I could be there. The song truly was a gift for me. It reassured me to just be there for Lauren. And, thankfully, Lauren's mother finished chemo in a few months and her cancer is now in remission.