Joanna Sternberg - Then I Try Some More (Black Vinyl)

Although I wrote each song on this album about specific things/a specific thing, I also feel that songs are not officially "about" anything because it is ultimately up to the listener to decide what the song represents and means to them. Thank You to whoever has given my songs a chance, and whoever continues to listen to them! I will say what I wrote each song about, because I think it is interesting when songwriters explain what inspired them! (but once again, I understand if the song represents something else entirely to you! and either way, thank you so much for listening!)

Musically speaking, my main influence for this album was the music of Scott Joplin. I wrote a lot of the songs as piano rags, and then I slightly changed some of the melodies and chords, added lyrics and slowed the tempos down so they could be sung as songs.

1."This Is Not Who I Want To Be" is about my ongoing struggles with addiction and one of the first times I tried to get sober and went through drug and alcohol withdrawal.

2."Step Away" is about unrequited love for a close friend (or a "best friend" if you believe in that term.)

3."My Angel" is about the end of a romantic relationship and the death of a loved one.

4."For You" is about unrequited love and being jealous of the same person that you are in love with. (as experienced through me, when I was in high school!)

5."Pimba" is about an imaginary baby penguin! I actually wrote this song to annoy my friend, and it worked! (my friend was sitting next to while I was writing it!) It is sort of a joke song, but I know that the emotions I try to convey in the song are real. (experiencing loneliness, feeling invisible, sadness and melancholy all while trying to stay positive!)

6."Nothing Makes My Heart Sing" is about depression and hitting "rock bottom." It is also about realising that you have given up on all of your dreams. I was trying to write a song about all of this, and then I read the poem "Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes. After reading that poem, I was able to write the entire song immediately. That poem became a muse for the song.

7."Trying To Say No" is about self love deficit disorder and being a people pleaser. It is about caring about other people's needs more than you care for your own.

8."You Have Something Special" is a song against bullying and in support of the victims of bullying.

9."Don't You Ever" is about not feeling comfortable in the body you were born with and the gender you were told that you "are." It is about gender identity (or lack thereof!) and me finally accepting that I am gender neutral. It is also about loneliness, depression and social anxiety and how I believe that we all experience the same set of emotions.

- Joanna Sternberg