Title: “Wildflowers”Artist: Brandon Caulfield
Album: Wherever I May Lay My Head (2015)
Release Date: October 11, 2014 (CD Single), October 12, 2014 (Digital Download, Weekly Airplay)
Length: 3:53
Format: CD Single, Digital Download, Weekly Airplay
Recorded: September 2014 - Three Crow Studios, Los Angeles, California
Genre: Southern Rock, Alternative Rock, Country
Label: Unsigned
Writer: Brandon Caulfield
Producer(s): Brandon Caulfield, Sarah Jade Harrison, JR Rhythm
“Wildflowers” is a song written and recorded by American alternative-rock musician ‘Brandon Caulfield’, it’s the twelfth overall single released to date in his music career and marks the first single to be taken from his upcoming fifth studio album, tentatively titled ‘Wherever I May Lay My Head’ expected in early 2015. His latest effort will follow his previous single ‘It Looks Like Heaven Has Another Angel Now’ which peaked at number #2 on the singles charts, marking another successful release from the musician, but it’s the first completely new piece of music heard from Caulfield in 2014 as his previous single featured on his December 2013 album ‘Some Roads Lead To Nowhere’, making his latest effort an anticipated one for his fanbase and as is the norm with Caulfield, he has no worries about taking his time with releases.
The release of “Wildflowers” and upcoming release of his album indicates that it could appear to be released independently as Caulfield recently finished his contract with Ocean Records and it would seem that either Caulfield will be doing things without the backing of a label or perhaps the release of “Wildflowers” may be used as an opportunity to attract some sort of interest in the unsigned musician, in the past however Caulfield has indicated that he’d be open to signing to a label but maintained that it isn’t something that he feels the need to do, “It is always a tougher thing to do, it’s not impossible but it is definitely a challenge, because without that major support or backing from a label there’s a lot more of your time that goes into the planning of things. It distracts from the main thing that you need to put your focus on and it feels like you’re not only creating this music but you’ve also got to find the best avenue for it and the best ways of getting it out to your fanbase. Whereas with a label, they can take over that side of things and often it can give you the freedom to create better music without the worries and shackles of thinking, how am I gonna do this now?”
The song was written entirely by Brandon Caulfield with additional musical support from friends and long-term collaborators, ‘Sarah Jade Harrison’ and ‘JR Rhythm’, in a change from his usual writing process the song was written while in the company of both Harrison and Rhythm, usually Caulfield writes the lyrics alone in what he describes as complete confinement, but this time around he wrote the lyrics while spending studio time with both of his closest friends. It was recorded at his own recording studio in Southern California called ‘Three Crow Studios’. The single will be released today exclusively through his own official website, where you’ll have the option to purchase the CD single version which includes an eleven page booklet written by Caulfield, the booklet is dedicated to his upcoming album and what he hopes to achieve during the recording process of the album. You will also have the option to purchase a download of the song and the track has been sent to Airplay with the release date coming this morning, October 11, 2014.
SONG DESCRIPTIONAgain Caulfield’s latest offering draws more of a similarity to one of his biggest music inspirations ‘Tom Petty’, and he explores this fascination with another Southern Rock tinged song. The song bares most resemblance to ‘Learning To Fly’ and it’s opening slide-guitar introduction goes a long way to highlighting a southern influence, it feels relatively relaxing and almost immediately sets the scene for a melancholic walk down memory lane for Caulfield, the opening line again add to this further as Caulfield sings, “We spent our youth among the wildflowers/Creating stories inside the hearts of you and me” he takes it further and continues to reminisce about days of youth that have gone by and perhaps indicates his true feelings of his life as it is now with the final lyric in the opening verse, “We laughed at the thought of growing up/Never knowing it would pass both of us by so soon.” creating the image of someone that is feeling slightly aged, Caulfield turns twenty-eight next February and this song could perhaps be his first step into that mindset of really growing older.
In a change to his usual songwriting style, Caulfield follows up the opening verse with a catchy pre-chorus again he appears to be looking outward as he sings, “Time goes by and people move on/People grow old/Some grow strong/We all forget/The promises of youth/We grow up/Someday to face the truth.” and that melancholy appears to be continuing, the tone of his voice adds to that feeling as he sings relatively softly over the backdrop of his own guitar and that of JR Rhythms, but his voice is enhanced slightly by the backing vocal of Sarah Jade Harrison during the pre-chorus, it seems to add a little more tenderness to the words and the two voices together appear to blend very well.
Another verse comes into play mid-way through the song and that feeling of growing older is enhanced even further, perhaps even more directly as his voice rises with a little more passion as he sings, “Families and jobs took us away/Children and bills that we have to pay/A life unfulfilled is this life that we now lead/Children and families and more mouths to feed.” and then the reminiscing comes into the picture again just to add to the image that Caulfield is trying to create, “Only photographs bring it all back/Memories of youth/That we now all lack.” and his guitar playing gets an opportunity to shine as an instrumental break follows with an energetic guitar riff. The pre-chorus follows and the song ends with it’s chorus.
LYRICS“We spent our youth among the wildflowers
Creating stories inside the hearts of you and me
We spent our youth bathed beneath the sunlight
Made our promises that this is how things will always be
We drank down by the seafront
We danced under the moon
We laughed at the thought of growing up
Never knowing it would pass both of us by so soon
Time goes by and people move on
People grow old
Some grow strong
We all forget
The promises of youth
We grow up
Someday to face the truth
Those wildflowers died someday
Moved on to someplace new
Those wildflowers grew up along the way
Never to be spoken of
Memories of both me and you
Families and jobs took us away
Children and bills that we have to pay
A life unfulfilled is this life that we now lead
Children and families and more mouths to feed
Only photographs bring it all back
Memories of the youth
That we now all lack
Inside we hope that we’ll relive it once more
But it’s gone forever
That’s all we know
Days gone by
Days faded
Days gone by
A life frustrated
Days gone by
Days of past
Days gone by
Never last
We spent our youth among the wildflowers
Creating stories inside the hearts of you and me
We spent our youth bathed beneath the sunlight
Made our promises that this is how things will always be
We drank down by the seafront
We danced under the moon
We laughed at the thought of growing up
Never knowing it would pass both of us by so soon”PERSONNELBrandon Caulfield - vocals, lead guitar, lyrics, composition, production
Sarah Jade Harrison - backing vocals, production
JR Rhythm - slide guitar, production
Haley Caulfield - cover artwork
