Hey – this is Theron. Here is the story of our song “Aligned” from Under Different Stars. Thanks for reading!

As I recall, when Pat brought me the original skeleton for the song Aligned, it had chords for the verses and chorus, and the phrase, “wait just a moment.” I don’t recall if there were additional words, because I knew with that phrase that I was going to make this song about Heidi, my girlfriend at the time. We were in love, and living together, and both agreed that we were on a trajectory towards marriage.

There’s no “right” way to get to that destination—to get engaged. Either person can make the proposal. It can be a surprise, or something you both gradually fall into. In our case, I knew that proposal would come from me. I just didn’t feel like I was a good enough prospect at the time to make that commitment. She was our primary breadwinner. I was figuring out how to run my own business, and I couldn’t afford to split the rent, let alone buy a ring. When you think you’re close to that point, there’s a temptation to talk about things you’ll do “when we’re married”, but I never felt okay talking as if our marriage were inevitable before I’d stepped up and officially committed to it. We both knew we were bound for the long haul, but we were both careful to speak in terms of “if we get married …”, rather than “when”.

So, I sat in my work space with my spare guitar, trying to put into words what I was waiting for. I needed to get my shit together. I needed to know she had faith in me. I needed the stars to align. I worked on the arrangement a bit, finished the words, and when I sang it, it really felt right. I sent my rough sketch to Pat, but I didn’t play it for Heidi until all of us had recorded our parts, and the rough mixes came back with Ken’s beautiful keys and harmonies. She knew exactly what the words meant, and she loved it.

Maybe just getting the words written and the song recorded helped me realize that I didn’t need to wait for anything in order to make my commitment to her. One day, I finished my work, dashed into a thrift store, and bought a ring that looked close to the right size, and came home and put it on her finger. She didn’t need anything else to say “yes”. We were engaged around the same time the EP came out. In October of 2019, with a nicer, better fitting ring on her finger, Heidi and I danced to Aligned at our wedding reception. It really did feel like the stars were smiling on us, and it still does.

–Theron