Knar Bedian

Sharing Stories and Songs: St. Lucia

12/3/14 – Renaissance Boston Waterfront

It’s pretty hard to clap when you’ve got a drink in your hand. Which was basically everyone attending St. Lucia’s special acoustic set, thanks to the glasses of complimentary beverages at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel.

We were treated to a few firsts—the first live performance of “Call Me Up” and the first acoustic rendition of “All Eyes On You.” But surprisingly, this wasn’t their first hotel performance—as well as stories behind many of the songs. So, we decided to share some of them. Here’s what Jean had to say about the tracks:

Call Me Up 

“In Florida one night we went to eat at Tommy Bahama… (laughter). We did. It was actually pretty good, and I just came up with “Call Me Up”… I went to the restroom and went on my voice recorder and that became “Call Me Up” in the end. For a long time I was a bit self conscious about the way the words sounded in that song, because they always sound kind of mumbly. And I tried to come up with lyrics that sounded more like, really spoken lyrics, but in the end I realized that it’s a tender love song in a way, and that I wanted the lyrics to feel that way because it almost feels like when you’re whispering words into your lover’s ear or something.”

Old House Is Gone

“It’s about when you go through some life changes and something that you love so much you realize isn’t relevant anymore. Looking back at the lyrics, when I suddenly realized what the song was about…Patti and I have been together for 12 years now, we’re married now, we married two years ago. At the time we had been together for 7 years and a lot of people go through what they call the 7-year itch, and we went through this period where we were questioning the relationship, and do we really want to be with each other?”

Closer Than This

“A lot of people think this song is a love song, and it’s certainly fine if you think that way, but it wasn’t actually intended as a love song …in a slightly cheesy somewhat existential way it’s sort of about the moment that you’re in is the closest you’ll get to a perfect moment.”

 

All Eyes On You

“This song is about a time in your relationship when you’re questioning whether that relationship is right for you or if you should go and experience new things, or hoping that whatever you do decide to do you don’t regret it and that you’ll still love that person.”

Elevate

“I know it’s a very uplifting, happy song but what I realized is it’s actually about depression. Which is kind of weird that a song like that is about depression. But you know, if you have ever have known anyone who is depressed it always feels like there’s nothing you can do to lift them up and make them happy or make them satisfied. I guess the idea of the song is about talking about that and maybe hoping that this song will cheer them up in some way.”

After the set, we had the chance to talk to Jean, who admitted the sad theme of “Elevate” isn’t something he’s keen to share; “I always feel bad about telling people that because it’s a song that makes them happy,” he said. Regardless of what the motivation behind the song might be, the fans at the Renaissance that night were all smiles.