Five songs, eleven minutes, and a years worth of poems. Starting bitter and regretful, yearning for different days, blossoms into healing and recovery. Van’s debut release is a look into the deep feelings of a years worth of his life, a testament to his emotions. The raw feel of his straightforward lyrics blend with the honest tones of his bedroom-studio. Days of My Youth is as bare bones as it gets, one mic, one year, one man.
Proud- “Proud was written about a year ago when I was at a very bad time in my life. I was filled with anger towards people who didn’t deserve it, and reflected that on them through my songwriting. I decided to record it because I’m surrounded by people who don’t get told how proud people are of them, and I wanted to give them an anthem and an outlet for those emotions.”
Listen to Proud-
If Only- “If Only was co-written with a friend of mine. It’s based off of a poem she wrote that I put a melody to and polished up the lyrics. It’s a song of bitterness at how the world spins, and if only certain things would change, we all could get what we wanted, but it’s just barely out of our reach.”
Listen to If Only-
Broken Engine-“I wrote this song while in the waiting room for a therapy appointment. I was at a time in my life where I wanted to fall in love with a girl, but because of my past experiences, I was too scared. I felt like a part of me was broken. I described it to this girl like how a car with a broken engine may not be completely broken, but it still dosent work right.”
Listen to Broken Engine-
Sunrise Over Coltrane- “This song was written as closure. Someone in my life hurt me more than I thought anyone ever could. For a time I didn’t talk to anyone about it and instead would wake up early, grab my guitar, and watch the sunrise as the world wakes up. This is my final goodby to all those emotions I felt.”
Listen to Sunrise Over Coltrane-
Jacket- “There was this girl I had talked to a couple of times. We went to a dance with a group of friends and when it got cold I offered her my leather jacket. I had always thought she was cute but in the moment she put it on she looked absolutely stunning. We spent the entire night talking and looking at the stars. The next day I wrote this song to her about how we should be more than friends. It worked.”
Listen to Jacket-