A Darkness in You

“This is the most pop I’ve ever done”. To quote Jonathan Davis, frontman of the metal band Korn. I think he said that statement in one of Korn’s unplugged live performances and, when I hear it, it always put a smile on my face.

So yes, “A darkness in you” is the most unexpected, left turn, “non metal” song I’ve written and recorded till now and I absolutely love it for that. Many people of my closed circle told me not to include it in the record “The change” but, alas, it found its place as the album closer.

“The change”, to me, symbolizes a metaphoric change in how we should live our lives to the better and not be imprisoned by our own fears and darknesses. That’s why I wanted to include something so unexpected from a Metal band in it.

I personally don’t like categorizing songs into genres. Music, to me, is so deep and goes way beyond any classifications and, quite honestly, I personally get annoyed by all the sub-genres that we have today. However, I think “A darkness in you” falls somewhere between indie and alternative. I’m a huge fan of Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen and I definitely was channelling my inner Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen while singing this song.

I’m a firm believer that songs take a life of their own. Songs tend to rise above the meaning and themes their creators wrote them about and connect with listeners on so many different levels. A lot of my favorite songs are like that. I know that some songwriters refuse to explain the meaning behind their songs and leave them open to their listeners interpretations.

While “A darkness in you” was written about a relationship I had, yesterday, While checking out the final version of the video and listening to the song (Thanks Hadi Sarriedine @hadiplaysmusic and Dani Sarriedine @areyoudani for this amazing video), I found a new meaning to it and this is what I’ll briefly elaborate on.

We all have a darkness in us and this darkness tends to drive our loved ones away. Love should be stronger than darkness and it should conquer it and, in the end, we should accept our loved ones with the darkness that they have in their hearts and help them cast it out.

Love conquers darkness, always.