Nothing’s Enough

Song credits

Guitars: Cait Leary, John McNally
and Nick Bullock
Bass: Kevin Harper
Drums: Brian Cox
Engineering and Mixing: Kevin Harper at kleesounds
Nashville, TN
Mastering: Adam Grover at Sterling Sound
Nashville, TN

Nothing’s Enough lyrics handwritten in green ink on kraft cardstock.

what do you do when your hearts not home i get real small and take to things like going around on my own reaching for something to help me remember and hoping that i might get left behind fighting the truth with empty anger missing the point of the lesson that i preach to every other person around falling in love with wrong ideas and knowing its all just a catch 22 in the end so at the end of a never ending hour day beside another day oh i hope that you gave all your love away i hope that you gave all your love away i reach in my hat but the trick's not there oh but my fingers pretend they could learn a little magic by grasping at the empty air i wanna be more substatial than science says i am but i can only seem to make things happen when im lacking a plan so at the end of a never ending hour day beside another day oh i hope that you gave all your love away i hope that gave all your love away oh wrong aint wrong until i say its so hey and if you find our father let him know yeah we all got a book of notions inside our heads but nothings enough when youre trying not to end up dead and nothings enough when you want the whole world instead so at the end of a never ending hour day beside another day i hope that you gave all your love away i hope that you gave all your love away oh i hope that you gave all your love away

Behind the song

“I hope that you gave all your love away...”

I wrote “Nothing’s Enough” while trying real hard to get somewhere meaningful with my life. I wanted to get better, work harder, make every decision the right way, and turn all that effort into something that mattered. Meanwhile, the moments when I felt most alive kept happening when I loosened my grip and forgot to have a plan. This was inconvenient information for someone trying to take herself seriously.

There’s a strange tension in loving your craft enough to work hard at it, then getting so caught up in where it’s supposed to take you that you forget to enjoy doing it. Life needs room for play, for being yourself, and definitely for experiences that don’t have to become opportunities.

You can spend your whole life keeping score and holding the best of yourself back for a moment that looks worth the risk, or you can give your love away with both hands because it feels good to have them open. I’m willing to be called naive if it means feeling at home in my own life—making a beautiful mess of things. The people handing out instructions are also making this up as they go.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.