The album ends with the single, Samantha, which features John as the lead vocalist for the first time. The song finds a thread between two disparate experiences, the joy of a first kiss and the thud of loss. In Gleason's words the lyrics are about, "being knocked down on your ass mentally and physically. You will get back up, but never the same way. The way you first felt the world is gone with the loss. Further exhilarating experiences will be that much less felt.” The song’s delicate arrangement pulls the listener in as it weaves through the story, ultimately climbing to a lush and powerful hook.


“Samantha” attempts (hopefully successfully) to combine two narratives, both narratives being personal and lyrically close to the truth yet they are also universal to most (the elation of a first kiss and the dropout feeling of the loss of a loved one). Both events are quite vivid, blasted with memories of the tiniest things, & tied together through the strength of each emotion. These are moments when our senses are on fire, our surroundings enlarged, and our bodies barely touching the ground.

Director’s Cut tidbits:

Samantha is the name of the first girl I kissed. I was in grade school, still had my catholic school uniform on (gray slacks, white shirt, plaid tie) and it happened in Ian Peacock’s basement (which had an intercom system so his parents could send down requests of “Turn the music down” with ease). I was overjoyed that it happened. We never kissed again.

My father and I would ride our bikes along the railroad tracks in the summer and cut down cattails (he called them punks) to later burn in our backyard in an effort to keep mosquitoes away.

Ralph Tresvant was the lead singer of New Edition. His solo cassette would surely have been in my Walkman around this time. I’ve had a desire to give him and other R & B singers of that era a nod in a song in appreciation for all those hours I spent watching their music videos on BET after school.

Those berries were everywhere when I was younger, turns out most parts of that plant are poisonous and can be absorbed through the skin (so constantly squishing them between my fingers was probably pretty dumb), originally known as the “common yew”.

Casinos have wild patterns in their carpets to hide the chips you just dropped.

When you lose a parent the world looks post apocalyptic for awhile.

Lowlight had already written the music. Lyrics were inspired by their composition. I was simply to be a guest songwriter/singer , but I think this song changed everything.