About the Song

Track: By and By

Length: 4:40

Album: By and By (2019)

Artist: Caamp

Songwriters: Evan Westfall, Mathew Vinson, & Taylor Meier

Favorite part:

“Lookin back over my life

Spent most of it tongue-tied

I wish I had more time

Listening to you speak your mind”

Here’s Why I Love It

There’s no way around it, really. This song is just catchy. It’s more than the lead vocals of Meier, which to me, sound like a blend of Joe Cocker and Ray LaMontagne (or at least in that vein.) The trio as a whole works really well together. Their sound is easy-going, smooth, and calm. This holds true even in their more upbeat tunes. I love the rhythm in this one, though; the solo acoustic at the opening sets it in your ear (instantly.) Right, right so about the lyrics…

For starters, I love the verse above because we’ve all been tongue-tied when perhaps we shouldn’t have been. It’s so human. Hurts, almost. Songwriters will often embrace a character to write from, so I’m always reticent to conclude a song is autobiographical. There’s really no way to know unless they outright say it. However, this one sounds plausible for any artist. It seems to be about a guy or girl on the road all the time— “I’ll be home next spring / Won’t you say you love me later, by and by.” I enjoy how the song is written looking backward. As in, they learned the hard way—through time past. It’s more painful. More truthful. No matter what the person does, they just keep thinking about that other person and wishing they could spend more time with them. This only gets clear with age as your perspective widens and you realize time is everything—nothing can replace it. Like Meier sings, “this past year I got so much older.” (What a line.)

Oh, and they even manage to use the term “life force” without making me mad, a term for whatever reason that I hate. I don’t know why, don’t ask, but this is a feat all in itself. (Haha.) You’ll like the song. I’m sure of it.

Read the Lyrics

LIsten to the Song

*This article is part of the ongoing Lyrics I Love series: short interpretations of the meaning and story behind one song with lyrics that move me.