The Story Behind “Innocence Everywhere”

Today my new single “Innocence Everywhere,” is out on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, YouTube, and other platforms. It’s the first release from my upcoming EP, and I thought I'd share a little about how the song came to be. I wrote the song in 2014 after reading a news article in a Philadelphia-based street paper called “One Step Away.” The paper was written, published, and sold by people experiencing homelessness, who kept the proceeds from the copies they sold. I no longer remember the article clearly, but a few words from a social service worker interviewed in it stayed with me. The worker was discussing the plight of a man who spent years in prison and was now out and living in the community.

Based on the details of the story, the reporter asked whether the man might have been innocent. I don’t remember if the worker answered that directly, but I do remember this part of his response: “There’s innocence everywhere.” In my fictional account, the song’s main character is, in fact, innocent, but no longer identifies as a victim. Instead, he grows to accept the universality of the “raw deal,” and through this process transcends it. “I moved beyond my despair, when I saw the innocence everywhere,” he says. Maybe you know what he means.