Jonah On (Some Of) The Songs

I wrote "Nestle" thinking it was about my dad, but it didn't feel right.

Then I found out I was gonna be a father, and I realized it was completely and irrefutably about becoming a dad and my fears about that.

"Another Way Out" is definitely about the end of my marriage, but I didn't know it at the time I wrote it. I would feel horrible and sad hearing that song and I didn't know why. My songs show me things.

In "Man Overboard," the "man" is humanity more than anything else. It's like, "Houston, we have a problem." I think there are people like Jesus, Ghandi, Buddha in history that try to teach us something; they bring some wisdom, and for some reason we don't listen. I know I don't most of the time. If we did, then we could be happy in a real sense, not just content.

"Mother Mary" is definitely about icons, about how we turn people into these huge symbols of something else. I mean, I'm as titillated by Elvis as anyone. Mother Mary is the ultimate icon. And while I'm attracted to this immortality that we grant people by reproducing and worshipping their image, it really is kind of strange. It's one of the most serious songs on the record, and also one of the mosttongue-in-cheek.

"I Like It" and "Wear It So Well" are a bit of a kiss off to some old shit I carried around for a while. I always considered myself a melancholy person and I used that to shut people out. Actually, I'm a happy person and a creative person who just gets sad at times.

"Tin Cans was sort of a kicking and screaming record, both sonically and emotionally," Jonah sums up. "Water & Solutions is more focused and settled, more present, more in touch.

"There's a growth in me, in us as a band, and in the songs. If there's a theme for Water & Solutions, it's letting go and reaching. Goingup ascending."