They’re coming at me like a…
Stampede is one of my favorite songs off of "Status Change." One of the things I love most about the song is the story behind it. I am constantly on the lookout for interesting words that might inspire a song, and when I thought of the word "stampede," the concept popped into my head immediately: how about a stampede of men?
This song, as with all of my songs, draws from personal experience. Relationships are very public in today's world. With social media, everyone knows immediately when someone gets into a new relationship or goes through a breakup. Every time I'd go through a breakup, I'd have to change my profile pic, update my status, etc. And yet that freeing, empowering feeling would be clouded by a very specific type of guys messaging me due to my new "status." It was as though this "status change" meant it was open season for them to act like boys instead of men. I had tried to be polite but somehow they still weren’t getting the hint that I simply wanted some space. Like many women have experienced, this was very challenging—no means no!
Is this the new modern dating ritual? Coming at girls from every angle, from Facebook to Instagram to text messaging? Is there no longer a friend zone? The chorus really sums up my feelings: "Do I really have to spell it out? Nothing's gonna happen then or now." Because that is how empowerment works.
One of my favorite parts of songwriting is using really specific, detailed storytelling. In the second verse, I refer to some specific instances from my own life in some of the lyrics, such as the "black tie," "moonlight drive," and "put your guns away tonight." I'll leave the details a bit of mystery!
Another interesting part of Stampede is that it was the song that took the longest to get right of all of the songs on the album. We went through a whole bunch of iterations on the production, trying to mesh an intense, resilient, upbeat musical vibe with edgy, unbreakable lyrics and feminist message. I wrote the song with Jay Denton and John Coggins and just loved working with them.
Stampede is also my favorite song to perform live. Last year on tour with Aly & AJ, I ended my sets with Stampede, and it was such a fun and powerful way to end! I love singing huge and energetic choruses live. I always felt it was the perfect way to close the set.
A final piece of my love for Stampede is the music video. Directed by Tracy Phillips, it was perfect from the moment I read the treatment and saw her vision on paper. I bought in on this and worked really hard with Tracy on choreography to be ready to shoot the video. Shot over two days in Joshua Tree, it really was a special experience and one that I will never forget. I was so lucky to get to work with such incredibly talented male dancers who totally blew me away! Everyone involved gave 200% to make it happen and it turned out even better than I dreamed it would!
As I said, it's probably my favorite song, and I think that's because I think it's such an interesting concept/story and every other part of it has been filled with new memories. I’m not sure if I have heard another song like it, but I think it's something that so many women experience.
It's been a lot of fun revisiting Stampede in making the acoustic version for this EP. The new Stampede EP is available everywhere now, along with some new videos on my YouTube channel.
