Singled Out: Coley Kennedy's (We Are) Born to Lose

Coley Kennedy of Welcome to Ashley and The Buddies fame just released his solo debut "Neptune Blue" and to celebrate we asked him to tell us about the single "(We Are) Born to Lose". Here is the story:

Loved ones and lovers. Hopes and dreams. Sunshine and intoxication. Born to lose.

Words and Music by Coley Kennedy
Guitars by Pete Javier.

When I write, I daydream. Vignettes play out as colors in my head. There's an absolute setting; a mood; characters and landscapes. I don't force it, or necessarily create it. There is no intention. I let it grow and unfold as it will. Then I write what I see, and what I, or my character(s), feel. Because my words are personal - a marriage of hard truth and dreamy fiction - I believe there's a mysteriousness to them. I'm a student of R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe and Echo and the Bunnymen's Ian McCulloch and Richard Butler from Psychedelic Furs and Bernard Sumner from New Order. I never can quite grasp exactly what their words mean but their words and their phrasings have always been like candy to me..

“So your circle had an end/You lost your whole world/You're so lonesome why pretend/There are better days, girl/On a dark and lonely road too fast to find you/Your ton-up boy lost all control/Forever so blue/We can't stop the rain in our hearts/We can't hush the blues/Oh, but it's true/We are born to lose”.

“Mother moon hangs bright above what's buried in the dark.”.

At the core, "(We Are) Born to Lose" is just another song about love and loss; nothing new and never old. .

I don't consider myself "poetic." And I'm certainly not a true "musician" or even a great vocalist. But I need to write songs. And I need to sing them..

My forever pal, Pete Javier, IS a true musician. And he plays all the guitars and bass guitar on "(We Are) Born to Lose." If the song is great - and I think it is - it's because of Pete's parts. Pete and I have known each other since the first grade. We've lived together and traveled together. We've listened to mountains of records together. And drank at many many bars together. We understand each other musically and emotionally. We love many of the same bands. We've been singing and playing guitar together since the mid 90s with The Bennies, Welcome To Ashley, The Buddies, and Black Vincent. And now his talent and soul adorn this song and many others on my new record 'Neptune Blue'.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more here

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