Clay Davidson

"UNCONDITIONAL"

tracks

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I Can't Lie To Me
Clay Davidson/ Kenny Beard/ Casey Beathard
That's the squealer song, the one where we just squeal on the guys. We did it with kind of a Skynyrd vibe but a real country vocal. My co-writers and I were thinking about the whole idea of how people put on these big fronts when they break up. Well, the truth is more like this: You can put on your show, and you're fine; you're all smiles. Until you get home, and nobody's around, and then the S comes off and you ain't superman, not any- more. You're just lonely. Even though it was the first time I had written with these guys, it turns out that this song is one of my very favorites on the album.

Unconditional
Liz Hengber/ Deanna Bryant/ Rivers Rutherford
Man, Scott found and played that song for us. It almost made you want to look away from it, in one sense, because unless you pay attention it can be taken the wrong way from the start. That's because 'I hate you," those are strong words, very strong words, and out of context they could just stop the whole show. But as the song goes on, it floors you; it's one of those songs about the kind of love you're always told about when you're growing up, this unconditional thing. No matter if you turn out to be in trouble or whatever, your family's still going to love you. It's one powerful song. In the end, we decided to make this song the title of the CD because we were all so floored by it.

Plain Ol' Pain
Jimmy Stewart/ Tim Nichols
I found this song when I used to work as a demo singer. I've known about it for three years now. It just so happened that I lucked up, when I was able to record my album, and it hadn't been taken. It made me feel that the tune was supposed to be mine. One of the writers told me that it's from a real-life George Jones tale. At one time, after one of his break-ups, he was said to be driving around, just hoping to see the woman in question again and talk to her one more time and he felt like he was going insane. 'I'll just tell you, son' this is what he reportedly said to the writer when asked why he was doing all those crazy things, 'it was just plain ol' pain."

Sometimes
Clay Davidson/ Kenny Beard/ Casey Beathard
I absolutely love ballads. You can just dig in and pull up every emotion you've got; you can just lay into 'em. This one's touching for me; I think it's a real important song to have on the album, because of what it says. It's about reassurance, more than anything, for the one who wakes up and says 'Hey I had a bad dream that you were gone', or 'I lost you.' The song tries to remind you that even though you know you love someone completely, sometimes you still need to say it.

My Best Friend And Me
Clay Davidson
This is one of the main songs that got me my record deal. I wrote it six years ago while I was still in Saltville, Virginia. I was just thinking about how I had been best friends with this same guy since grade school how we had gotten in trouble together, chased girls together, and played music together for years. I leave it pretty open. The song doesn't say whether the relationship continues. Some people have the same best friend forever, while others move on. I want listeners to be able to come up with their own ending to the song.

DogHouse Rights
Clay Davidson/ Jude Cole
That's a song that Jude Cole and I wrote, just a fun thing. Everybody's been in the doghouse one time or another. It's about a guy who's had a pretty rough way to go. He can't take the doghouse for one more second. He feels like he's done his time; 'Just let me come back in and try this thing again,' that's the tune he's singing now. It's real bluesy, but it's got more of a fun groove to it. It's the big groove on the record.

Come Rain Or Shine
Clay Davidson/ David Lee/ Johnny Park
This is the sort of the gospel song on the album; it's got that vibe to it. It actually describes what my wife and I have been through. We've been through it all. We've weathered storms. I think we've stood strong.

One More Day
Clay Davidson
For me, this song is almost a testimonial to a way of living life and dealing with the things that you go through. When I wrote it I was sitting in a rain in Virginia and just thinking. It was during a rough time in my life. I was thinking 'How am I going to get through this.' Then it came to me: As awful as things seem right now, it's just one more day. So you keep living one more day after another, until you can come out on the other side of your pain.

What Was I Thinking Of
Chris Farren/ Chuck Jones
This was another song that I found singing demos, and it's another one I've had for the three years it's been around. Everybody's been in a situation where maybe some things slipped by and everybody's asked the question 'Why did I do that?'

We're All Here (cause we ain't all there)
Clay Davidson/ Frances Davidson/ Mark Marchetti
My wife Frances and I wrote this song, with Mark Marchetti. It is not just about a bunch of crazy guys who give up their easy chairs for bar stools. On first listen it may seem that way, but what's really going on here is folks coming to the conclusion that they are pretty nuts - they're sitting in a bar, after all, trying to get therapy from beer. They're not with the people they really love. Parts of their hearts, as well as their minds, are missing.