"Chasing Away" appears on the new Strangefolk album A Great Long While. Here songwriter Jon Trafton offers some insight into its origins as well as the band's approach to the tune in the studio.

Chasing Away is a metamorphosis song. It was written sort of backwards. The title came first, then the music, and finally the lyrics. It was written on a traditional bluegrass/folk instrument and it ended up as an edgy rock song. The lyrical intent was originally toward love lost but ended up focusing on trying to figure out what life is all about (I guess themes with common threads and both equally difficult to grasp).

It was written a few winters ago while watching TV. I'd just seen an ad for the movie Chasing Amy. At the time I was playing mandolin a lot. I was sitting there, picking very aimless, un-mandolin-like figures, and this movie trailer came on. For some reason I mutated Chasing Amy into Chasing Away and thought about what implications that kind of title would create lyrically. What was being chased away? As it turns out it was a relationship situation that had been going on the previous autumn. Ah yes, another song about love and loss. How boring. For this one, in an attempt to freshen the idea up a little, I opted to take the role of the person doing the chasing away rather than the sad, "woe is me" take on breaking up. This led me away from the relationship motif and toward a more general life situation theme. In the end it's about assessing one's life and making positive change for oneself. In about five minutes a little song was born. Another little song about big questions.

I guess this one has the distinction of being the first song I wrote on a mandolin. I really liked the voicing of the chords and the way they fit together on that instrument, the way, in this case, that the bass leads with the third and then fifth interval rather than the traditional root as the chords change. It was kind of a Jimi Hendrix-on-mandolin sound. Well, not really. Who knows what he would have done on a mandolin? Probably set it on fire. When Strangefolk took a hold of this song we shaped it a powerful rock tune and a fun vehicle for open improvisation in the live setting. In the studio Nile Rodgers helped us sharpen up the vocals and harmonies to make for a concise recording. I particularly like this song because of its versatility. It felt comfortable and complete in the studio without any improvisation and it feels comfortable on stage, very loose and open. It began as a metamorphosis and continues to be one as it takes new shapes each time it is played live.

Listen to "Chasing Away"