The Truth Behind the Song #15 – Elizabeth Donald’s ‘Easier to Apologize’
Welcome to our ‘The Truth Behind the Song’ feature. For this feature, we’ve asked a number of our favourite artists to give us in-depth piece about a song that has a special place in their heart. Today we feature the wonderful Elizabeth Donald, who gives us an insight into the meaning behind ‘Easier to Apologize’.
When it was decided that I was going to return to Nashville to record under the guidance of John McBride and being produced by Dann Huff, giants of the industry I was struck with a conundrum of sorts. I knew I wanted to record two tracks at Blackbird Studios to begin and feel my way from there. I am a songwriter by nature as well as a singer and over the years of my life have written many…. many songs. I thought to myself, do I record one of my own songs or do I take this phenomenal opportunity and look at getting two of the very best songs I could have to release that were not written by myself. In the end, I chose the later. I was incredibly fortunate that in the process many of the big labels opened their catalogs to me with hours and hours worth of songs by some of country music’s biggest songwriters. John McBride and I went around Nashville and listened to as many tracks as we could. I wanted to make sure the songs we chose we some that I really resonated with. I wanted the hairs on my arms to stand up, I wanted to feel either deliriously happy, teary or any emotion in between. That’s the way to recognize a truly great song. In this process, there was one particular track that I gravitated to time and time again. Each time I heard it, the more I connected to it and loved it. Both John and Dann felt the same way. So “Easier to Apologize” was chosen.
The fact it is written by one of the greatest songwriters in country music is of course a plus. Hillary Lindsey, in my opinion, is a lyrical genius. She strikes the chord time and time again in your heart. “Easier to Apologize” is no different than any other of her big hits. Most important to me was the actual lyrics of the song. We live in a day and age that is so incredibly fast-paced, materialistic and sometimes downright shallow. Every relationship has its ebbs and flows, and the older I get the more I see couples having petty arguments, over minor things and when that happens it chips away at a relationship. “Easier to Apologize” for me is more in line with my character. I am first to admit fault or communicate because I hate arguments and unresolved issues. It’s so much easier to apologize than hold grudges that in the end are only detrimental to ourselves. I wanted an entire team together in the studio for the making of this track. It was imperative that the producers and musicians, many of whom had not played together in years and it was like a big ole reunion, be able to be in one room together, bounce off one another and really FEEL the track. I do believe because of this there is something special in the end result. To be a new artist and have access to a song like this makes me feel incredibly grateful, and that perhaps I did something right in a former life. I do not take for granted being the vocalist on this track, it will always be one of my biggest honours.
