“Forgive is to Know” started with four chords that I wrote on a rubber bridge guitar leant to me by Ethan Gruska. The first lyrics that came were for the chorus, and they quote Alexander Pope, who wrote, in 1711, “To err is human, to forgive, divine.”
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From there, I went on a journey writing verses. I probably spent a couple years writing the verses of this song and I wrote more than could fit in one song… and I did something that I rarely do which was to write about songwriting itself in those opening couplets.
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Still my favorite line came to me as I was in the midst of recording vocals: “…that the institutions don’t reward the compassionate.”