Heartland

You can hear the song here.

I had the first draft done on 1 May 2022 and I called it “PopHRock”.

At the time I was also listening to Imagine Dragons, Lady Gaga and Kings Of Leon along with dance/techno music. When I listen to dance/techno I make it a habit to play along to the beats/pulse of the song.

Suddenly I started to get a feel happening that I was interested in developing further and the riffs started happening.

During the songs construction, I was also cranking Ghost and the vibe/feel of the band and the songs rubbed off on me.

The little melodic sections that have guitar leads were meant for vocals, but it felt like the song had too many words so I did the usual and learnt the vocal melody on guitar and made those sections like melodic leads.

I had the title “Heartland” in mind for ages, but I couldn’t think of the words for it without sounding corny.

I wrote over 20 different versions for the song. But in all of those 20 versions there was a line or two which stuck around and made the final version.

The chorus hook originally was meant to be “It calls, the Heartland calls me back home” but then the other version felt better.

Who we are is shaped by the people we grow up with and the area we grow up in. It all starts in our heartland.

Crank it.