The heart I thought was gone

There's a kind of heartbreak where you pack everything away and announce to your friends that you're fine. The picture goes in a drawer. The coffee cup shakes a little in the morning, but you blame the caffeine. You say it so many times that you almost believe it.

"Heart I Thought Was Gone" is about the day somebody shows up at the door and the whole act falls apart. Same blue eyes, same quiet way of standing there, and every broken piece you were so sure was lost falls right back into place.

I wanted the chorus to sound like a door opening, so it climbs a little higher than I usually sing, with the word "gone" repeated until it sounds like it's losing its grip on you.

The thing I like most about this song is that it isn't sad. It's the opposite of sad. It's relief wearing its good boots. If you've ever been sure something was finished and then found out it wasn't, I hope the song feels like that moment, when the air in the room changes and you realize you're still, in fact, in one piece.