About the song: "Blue to Black"

A while back in my history, I lived in downtown Toronto and walked by a huge book store every morning on my way to school or, later, work.  Invariably there were always a couple people sitting against the outside wall asking for money.  They usually seemed happy.  They weren't old, or sick...one of them even had a dog that seemed only all to happy to be there working with them.  It was interesting to think about the differences between us and what we each had to deal with throughout our day.

The dog owner was there in front of the store consistently and, over time, we got to saying "good morning" to each other as I passed by.  I don't recall giving him money more than a couple times, but I was tempted every day.  I never asked him, but wondered what his life was like, what he did with his money and what his backstory was.  Blue to Black is what I imagined his life was and what was he was hoping to become.

It's not a secret that many people on the street have inner demons that tend to take over lives.  I imagine that he had a girl somewhere that either didn't know where he was, or didn't want anything to do with him.  Naturally, like all of us, he works for his food during the day, misses his girl at times, and fights his demons at night.

As in life, he inevitably falls down nightly after his demons visit, but wakes to start another day.  Trying again and again to climb out of the hole he's built himself is both the stuff of dreams, but not often of reality.  In the song we hope that he wants to rise above his current state to move back into society.

Chorus:

I've lost my way, you can blame me for that,

Mis-steps along the way, you can blame me for that.

I've got these things under control,

Just need some help to pass the goal,

Just need a hand to move from blue to black.

The blue to black in the song is a play on the accounting term of moving into the black;  getting the company balance sheet back into the positive and a more balanced state.  I envision the guy outside the bookstore, sitting wrapped in his worn out sleeping back, his happy, panting dog at his side, genuinely wants to move his life from varying shades of blue into solid black.

As a final note, we actually saw the guy drinking in a downtown bar some years later and overheard him talking about putting a down-payment on a condo;  maybe my hopes for the guy weren't that far of the mark.  I often wonder what became of the dog... maybe there's another song in that.

• Blue to Black - lyrics

Thanks again to everybody for listening and, if you like the tunes, please spread the word.

Yours humbly,

-Pete