VIDEO CONTENT:
A while back I did a version of this song on acoustic guitar for YouTube Live. Here’s the replay:
And here’s the official lyric video:
LYRICS
Heard you came back to town this weekend
Back to the place where what we had began
Chasing our lives like we were much older
Wishing our time was feeling much slower
But we were just kids then living cell phone free
Writing our notes by hand back in ’03
What would we say if we could just see us
Now that we're facing opposite distance?
Don't let go.
Back of my mind you turn I see you
Dancing with rose in hand like you do
Holding it close while we step forward
Teal in your eyes is bringing me closer
But what to do now you're right in front of me?
Holding back is our old enemy
Never to find out what became of us
Turning it over, only way through this
Don't let go.
Won't let go..
I've got a lot of things to say to you
Like, apologies for what I put you through
But if turning it over is what I need to do
Then why do I have to keep running into you?
Don't let go.
Won't let go..
Can't let go…
SONG LORE
Writing Process
This song started with the same chord progressions as another song from my “Visionaries” album called “Not Alone” (just in a different key). I came up with the lyrics for “Not Alone” after I wrote the lyrics for Don’t Won’t Can’t, and I couldn’t decide which lyrics I liked better so I kept both!
Each song is in a different key and instrumentally are composed differently enough that they sound totally different now, but if I strummed the chords from each in the same key, I could sing both sets of lyrics over the same chords. :)
I can’t not mention the amazing featured artist Rose Read though when discussing the creation process here. Rose grew up besties with my youngest sister so she was like another sister to me, and she has a KILLER voice! That’s why this isn’t the first time her voice has been featured on songs of mine. In fact, depending on your choices on the upcoming Part 2 story and beyond, you may even end up choosing one of my other songs with her vocals featured on it.
Song Meaning
I always hesitate to share a song’s meaning because it’s usually specific to me, but I truly feel these songs are meant for each listener to interpret and find their own meaning. I’d hate for my meaning to get in the way from a listener finding their own. Also, over time I usually find different meanings come out of my songs for me so it’s always changing.
That said, for me "Don't Won't Can't" is a song about pure heartbreak and deep regret. Beginning to embrace the deepest shadows in my life require taking a good, hard look at past heartache & regret.
When I embrace this part of me, although it may be painful, I can more fully appreciate my present relationships that are still a part of my life NOW.
I had a listener ask me once what the lyrics “turning it over” meant in the second verse and bridge. For me this means turning over what I cannot control, over to the Universe or a Higher Power. It does me absolutely no good to dwell on things from the past that I can’t change, but what I can do is focus on what I can do now about the present so that further pain & regret isn’t created for the future. All of this of course is a lot easier said than done and can require working at it, but it CAN be done. :)