BTW you can read my story on david-cook.org under the title “I met DC @ the Carrie Underwood concert!”

When the light runs from the day, Will the darkness be too much, Will I ever be enough

I know he’s talked about being realistic, knowing that winning AI is not a magic ticket, etc. So “will the darkness be too much, will I ever be enough” could be asking, “How would I really feel if I step off that stage and it’s the last time I feel this way? How would I feel if it all ends tomorrow?” Or it could also be about the day to day weirdness of his new situation, where one minute he’s on stage and basking in the all that positive energy (light) from the audience, and then the next minute, when he leaves the stage, he would kind of have to decompress and go back to being just Dave until the next performance. Kind of the dichotomy of being David Cook, The American Idol, and just Dave, goober from the Midwest, and not letting the fame consume him… :ponder_tb:

I had no idea who David Cook was ….if I had known he was the AI winner, I would have fast forwarded…..after hearing him, I think I am going to get his album…he was great.

I’m loving all the positive feedback from the uninitiated, because things tend to get a little murky fangirl land. I didn’t realize though that there was still such a strong perception that people coming out of AI are not really legit.

LOL, Hey now, I didn’t say the whole song, I said 7 notes of the song. That’s a very small part.

And I hope the former claim is more correct, that ups it’s cances of being played on a station I listen to.

If anything because:
“I’m taken just the way you are,
Imperfect words inside imperfect song”

I took to mean maybe AI isn’t the way he envisioned getting here, but here he is and it’s working out pretty well so far! (Also…shout out to ToML? which certainly has imperfect words in an imperfect song, but represents such a wonderful thing that we fans have learned to love it)

And
“Will I ever be enough?”

Sounds to me like he is talking about all the expectations being put on him since he became famous so fast and in such a way.

It’s my deeeeeeeee-cla-ra-tion! To anyone who’s listening….

He wrote a ton of songs right after Idol right? He said there was a 2 week span that he felt all the pent up songwriting during Idol just poured out, and I have a feeling that Declaration is one of them. He spoke about “exhaling” and “feeling validated about choosing this path (being a musician)” and “getting a new lease of life”. Being an Idol contestant was both grueling and isolating, when he got off Idol he discovered that as the American Idol it was going to be even harder. I think that David finds inspiration from everything: his family, friends, co-workers, fans….

You’re my inspiration, As I stand alone against the world

These are the people who cheered for him, cried for him

Cause you love, And you bleed

And he has repeatedly mentioned being so touched and amazed by it – he said in one interview that he is a little freaked out at how much people have invested in “some guy who just sings on a tv show”. But he also says that he doesn’t know what he’ll be doing 5 years from now, but that he knows he’ll always be a musician (note that he doesn’t say: singer / rockstar (!)) and that he’ll be happy doing whatever he’s doing – a capacity to find happiness is the mark of a truly free soul.

And you stole my soul to set me free

And he wants to shout it out to the whole world

It’s my deeee-cla-ra-tion

So there!
I can hear echoes of this message throughout the whole song, but some of my favourite lines:

That I wear your heart (meaning our hearts / the listener’s hearts – everyone who invested in him) upon my sleeve
Sometimes I think you never see, the only truth I see, Is you, It’s you (I like the play of words here)
And are there any words to say, That would ever mean enough,
When the light runs from the day, Will the darkness be too much, Will I ever be enough
(he wears his own heart on his sleeve here….)

Anyway, the reason being in a span of two days, Declaration has been declared both à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“too hard for Top 40à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ³ and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“practically identicalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  to a Hannah Montana song. As such, I feel confident in my earlier pronouncement that this song is going to kill on varied formats. People hear different things when they listen to it. Tell me that isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t songwriting talent!

Amen, sister! Let’s hope RCA is smart enough to release this one (or an even better one) as the next single before too long. I’ve seen several artists with more than 1 single at a time on the iTunes chart over the past several months, so why not David, especially now that TOML is down at the bottom sliding on and off the chart. I think the Jonas Brothers had 4 as “iTunes specials” just before their album came out.

Funny to think back on how I waited (im)patiently for them to upload more songs. It took them forever to post The Truth, IIRC.

I remember that! But we got the live version. That site and their newsletter are so made of win. David’s got some really funny friends.

ETA:

I think the Jonas Brothers had 4 as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“iTunes specialsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  just before their album came out.

I don’t know about Jonas Bros., but Metallica did that. FOB kind of is too, they have “album countdown”, I love it. But that doesn’t seem possible for David at all.

I already know my brain makes strange connections and segues between songs. If I started out singing TOML, I would end up in “You and Me,” the Lifehouse song. They don’t have anything in common as far as I know except the swirly waltz time. That’s why I guessed TOML would be a waltz on SYTYCD in no time. And I won that bet!

Anyway, the reason being in a span of two days, Declaration has been declared both “too hard for Top 40″ and “practically identical” to a Hannah Montana song. As such, I feel confident in my earlier pronouncement that this song is going to kill on varied formats. People hear different things when they listen to it. Tell me that isn’t songwriting talent!

Personally, I hear similarities but then again similarities in songs isn’t anything new. Whether it’s the same chords in a chorus, the same baseline or the same first 5 notes in an intro. Happens all the time. IMO, it’s closer to the Searchlights’ chorus than Best of Both Worlds but hey, if you hear it, then you hear it.

So, not so much copying each other as having inevitable similarities. Personally, I couldn’t stand to listen to Miley Cyrus long enough to find out how close the songs are. I give John a lot of credit for braving enough of her to analyze the songs.Listening to Declaration is way, way more enjoyable for both of us. Too bad some of you have apparently had to listen to Miley instead of David Cook!

Sue me.

(Cookie will always rock both my worlds.)