Explanation of Songs – Jenna Nicholls – Radio Parade
Title: Radio Parade – All of these songs came from personal experience that I had during the making of this record, all the while exploring the roots of music, and the best of the radio days.
The Back stories:
1. Piggy
Brendan and I purchased a house upstate in 2013. A year later we realized via our contractor that the foundation needed to be totally redone…Long story short our inspector was a hack. It took all of our savings to fix it. Basically it left us financially devastated. I wanted to escape. I was newly married, new home owner and completely broke. It all felt so overwhelming. I started to think about mothers who are dealing with being broke and kids and bills. I thought about a mom saving her few dollars in a cookie tin or piggy bank, standing at the sink drifting off into her thoughts, (Like I would often catch my mom doing) dreaming about someday grabbing her piggy bank and running – having a day for herself where she didn’t have to think about any of it.
2. Sweet Talkin Ladies Man
Pretty self-explanatory.
3. Picket Fences
This one is about different view-points in a relationship as compared to a picket fence. One side is white washed, the other side isn’t. It’s one fence but the 2 sides never see each other, have completely different views, are never face to face unless the door swings open and around.
4. Home
When I was little I used to think everything was alive – the chair, the walls, the piano, and I would treat everything as if it could hear me. I would be extra gentle with the furniture because I didn’t want to hurt it (physically or emotionally)
One evening my parents called me (I was now in NYC) and told me that they’d had a great offer on our family home and decided to take it. They would be moving quickly and I wasn’t going to have a chance to go home and say good bye to the house I grew up in. So I sat at the kitchen table in my apartment, had a good cry and then wrote this song and said goodbye to my friends in the house.
5. Take Me Out Tonight
I heard a comedian say once that “Women want to be treated like a queen and at the same time be treated like a whore.” I hate to say this but I think this is actually true. Feeling safe is great and beautiful and comforting, but sometimes the bad girl wins.
6. Millionaire This is the odd man out on this record stylistically. But I don’t really mind. Again – during the “really really broke” period. I was in the middle of making the record and thought I might have to do a Kickstarter (something I wasn’t really into) I’m not good at asking for help, money, and I’m extremely independent (to a fault). So rather than make a video saying “hey I’m making a record and would really love your help” I decided to write a song about it instead. (I never did do the Kickstarter – but I got a song out of it)
7. Back to You This is the cute little love song – kind of self-explanatory