CHAD: This one started out as a bit of a joke. I used to drive around all night in a security job I had when I was just out of the military. At the time you had a couple of choices for listening to the radio - pre-recorded shows that you had already heard, like the Top 40 Countdown from earlier in the day, or night time AM radio.

AM radio at night was… interesting. A show like Coast to Coast with Art Bell was great entertainment that would get you through a long boring shift. So, I wanted to write about stuff like “I just saw a Chupacabra cross in front of me on Interstate 80” and things like that.

Luckily, Thea pulled me to the curb as she always does. Eventually the story morphed into an overnight AM radio DJ having an “open line” night where people called in. Everything worked well, until we got to the bridge.

The bridge should be the emotional center of a song, often times. In this case we were trying to figure out what to do. Thea suggested that we have a caller who is looking at a bottle because he’s tired of being alone. I believe we initially discussed it as he was a recovering alcoholic and was struggling not to drink.

However, when we finished it the bridge was a lot more ambiguous. Was it a bottle of alcohol? Was it a bottle of pills? That’s up to the listeners to decide.

Either way, the message really is that sometimes you just need someone to listen. That’s true for the callers on the show just as much as it is for the DJ, I think.

Anything to add, Thea?

THEA: I think the bridge DID work out well. I know a lot of people who’ve struggled with the destructive impact of addiction, and some who’ve experienced the depths of depression and mental illness (my oldest brother, who was a brilliant engineer, committed suicide when I was just out of high school); I was thinking of a struggling alcoholic when I made this suggestion, but I love how you mixed some ambiguity into the phrase so we don’t know what kind of bottle we’re talking about.

And we also don’t know how long the caller held off the demons. But we find ourselves hoping he won that fight.

Love how you crafted it, Chad. That’s what it needed. Also love your observation that listening is as important to the DJ as it is to the caller.