The music for Lay Down Your Arms was originally written during a jam with a friend of mine. We were playing in a huge, empty warehouse made out of corrugated metal, with big concrete floors. It was the middle of summer and it was really hot that day.

The guitar and drums sounded incredible in that room and I'm sure influenced the big, epic chords. I also had some melody ideas, and sang everything into my iPhone and saved it for later.

Eventually lyrics started coming. Usually they start with vowel sounds and I end up filling in the rest of the words. Once I get an idea of what the song is about---either a clear idea or just a feeling or a mood--then it's pretty smooth sailing.

The title popped up and that helped. I read a John Fogerty interview when I was a kid where he said it always helped him to start with an evocative title. He said he got that from Duane Eddy. I always remembered that. I love the feeling of being part of a tradition, a lineage.

And Neil Young said he takes titles of really famous songs and writes his own version (i.e. taking Jimi Hendrix' Little Wing for his own Hawks and Doves record). He does it on purpose, maybe it gives him some sort of perverse thrill. I dunno.

Anyway, there's an old Chordettes song called Lay Down Your Arms, recorded during WWII. (They also did Mr. Sandman, incidentally. I've loved that song ever since I saw Halloween when I was ten.)

To me, the song is a look back at a time in your life that felt great at the time and everything seemed so easy, but you had no idea how much darkness you were setting yourself up for in the future.

And it's also talking to someone who resents you for something you did or that they blame you for. Life can get messy. Sometimes we steamroll over each other, even if we don't mean to. Or even if we don't realize it unless much later after the fact.

It's funny, I usually love hearing about writers' motivation and inspiration for their work. But sometimes it shuts down the possibility for your own interpretations, which is always more important.

Hopefully you can get something out of this song. That's the goal--to communicate something to people and have them take away whatever it is they need to take away--not to take away what I want you to, or what I think you need.

Thanks for listening.