This dude will never know how oddly specific every single line in this song was for me personally. To know that someone else in the whole entire world felt the same way was so insanely comforting in a world where you feel totally alone.
What you say makes me think of the lines of this hymn: How great the pain of searing loss - The Father turns His face away, As wounds which mar the Chosen One Bring many sons to glory. Jesus has been where you were. When I think of Jesus, in his crucifixion, being forsaken by his father, and I picture the kid in the video to Father of Mine, I just weep. The excerpt above is from a hymn called “How Deep The Father’s Love For Us”. I think of it as a kind of companion piece to this song. Also check out the hymn Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul by Anne Steele.
So true Nick and same feelings. The only exception is after he left me & my Mom when I was 10 yrs old to marry his new squeeze (w/a new family), we had to move out of our nice 3BR middle-class home on a cul-de-sac to a lower-middle class apartment project in a primarily Hispanic neighborhood right next to the Santa Fe Railroad tracks & I-5 freeway...with me being the new white kid in the hood. Hardly got to know him even before the divorce, so yeah, I turn "Father of Mine" WAY up!! Peace.
It was oddly specific to me too. I have that same very specific memory of "I remember blue skies walking the block, I loved it when you held me high, I loved to hear you talk" and "Wasn't easy for me to be a scared white boy in a black neighborhood."
My little boy had a better child-hood than he would normally have had because of this song. You know why? Because of the one line in this song, "I loved to hear you laugh". I learned from this song that kids love to see their parents happy. And because of that I always made it a point to laugh and be in a good mood whenever I my little boy was in the room. That one line in the song stuck with me and I used it as a "theme" in the kind of parent I wanted to be. Many thanks to you Art Alexakis.
This song is basic word for word my childhood to young adulthood. Dad went awol when i was 4 or 5 and would send a bday card now and then. Moved to an all black neighborhood when i was 9. Ended up having 4 sons myself and my experience growing up made me the dad i was. I always swore my sons would never know of the pain I knew. Great song.
Whenever I hear the line, “now that I’m a grown man, with a child of my own, I swear I’m never gonna let him know all the pain I have knoooooown!” I get overwhelmed with emotion. It resonates so strongly with me. My Dad wasn’t part of my life, but I made sure to be a faithful father to my kids. This song reminds us how we can use the pain to break the cycle, and change the future. Powerful. Thank you, Art, for this gift.
This song always gets me. I grew up without my dad. Thank goodness for my grandpa, and then when I turned 13, mom moved us in with my step-dad, and he really took me in and taught me about work and auto mechanics. I'm so grateful he took care of me and my mom.
I met Art before an Everclear show when I was 11, in 1995. He was so kind and down-to-earth, spending at least 20 minutes talking to my brother, mom, and me. He also briefly spoke to us after the show, thanking us for coming. He's truly one of the nicest professional musicians I've ever met.
@@DWINC, no. I believe Everclear was the headlining act, as I’d never heard of the other two bands that played. It was a pretty small venue that my brother’s band played at several times called Hollywood Alley.
I had my dad around till 19. Maybe "picture" wise, we seemed normal. My parents are still married. But I wouldn't say he was the most active w/ me. It's just a long story. But I just thought of this song today, at work. Thinking of how I relate to ppl. I think ppl that come from broken things will always feel weird inside. Not really always knowing how to relate to others... Bc I guess it does alter your outlook on how u view the world. I remember when he credited to Drew as idek remember the wording specifically, but they pretty much just put respeck on each other, lol. & thats the 1episode I even remember from loveline. Idkw,... it just is. This new generation needs another kind of love line. But w/ Dr Drew's compassion, patience, maturity, and humor And idk if this is an unpopular opinion but maybe radio needs to start throwing older ppl back in the mix. So kids might get insight, on older humans just being humans. Tbh maybe I could've been bratty...back then. Like y is this older dude still talking about his daddy issues? But its just the way he articulates his lyrics I guess that makes it easier to digest for ppl. Kid him vs older him type stuff.
I had a pleasant, happy, stable, quiet, uneventful childhood. I had a great dad, I now have a great son, but this song hits me hard everytime, the tune, the passion, the anger, the feeling Art's giving out, but who on earth in their right mind can abandon any of their children for whatever reason? I'm generally not big into lyrics, I like tunes, but this chokes me everytime. This, and Wonderful....
I went to elementary and middle school in Richmond Heights, south Florida and I was the only white person in a lot of my classes. I was a quiet book reader, but still got beat up. It's not a race thing to me, kids are mean to anyone who they percieve a different. But the lyric definitely resonates.
Bad things are more common than most people admit. I had try to do something to me I didn't talk to anyone about. I was used to getting blamed for everything that happened to me. Luckily, they were too high to successfully fight me. I dealt with school riots in Junior High and High School.
Same here. I grew up on the edge of Kensington and North Philly in Philly. I had a couple close friends but I went through stuff that most can't understand.
He is a really good dude. My old band opened for him in anchorage, alaska several years back and he went out of his way to introduce his self and be kind. Also, my estranged dad and I were driving one day and this song came on and it was one of the most uncomfortable moments of my life. Gorgeous song tho...
Saw them well over 20 years ago at a smallish club right as they were getting big. After they played he came out and sat down at the bar. My friends and I were annoying little 14 year olds, as kids are, who wouldn't leave him alone. He was still really sweet to us. Would have been totally understandable if he told us to screw off, but he actually had a conversation with us like we were regular people.
Had the same situation as Art, Dad took off to Oklahoma, about 1000 miles away from me and my brother. Never understood the decision, especially when I had kids.i could never leave, no matter what. One of my all time favorite songs!
Great song! I had a dad that left when i was 2 and was in and out of my life constantly. Every time he moved, he just disappeared and would pop up all of a sudden and act like he wasn't gone. This song always spoke to me more than ever realized until i got older.
Every Everclear album has been exactly the head meds I needed at the time. I listen to them every day. Thank you, Art. It's not quite wonderful yet... But I'm still learning how to smile. (Fire Maple Song is the best med in the cabinet)
Without a doubt, Art Alexakis is one of the most underrated songwriting icons of the 90s. Father Of Mine and Local God are 2 of my favorite songs he wrote. Father Of Mine really helped me through a difficult period in my personal relationship with my dad (a retired Conservative Baptist/Missionary Church minister from Jamaica, West Indies aka the Caribbean). My dad was very strict on the music (I listened to), movies I watched and events that I attended with my childhood friends. It made me angry 😠😡😤 and bitter towards him. Yet it was this song and counselling for kids like me (Christian counselors who truly helped PKs ➡️preacher's kids) that helped me understand him. This amazing song and Almighty GOD truly got me through the toughest times in my life. And through it all, I'm grateful to Almighty GOD for giving me the courage and strength to love and forgive my dad to this day (he's still around). Thanks Art, Greg and Craig for making this amazing song possible.
I had an alcoholic father. It was like growing up with a whole other person. He was mean and he ignored us and eventually abandoned us to be with his mistress. I first heard this song a couple of years ago I am 51 years old. It made me cry. I've been a fan of everclear ever since. I understand his pain in more ways than he could possibly know.
My father also was an alcoholic. He died at 51 years old; I was 23. I've ignored a lot of emotions left over from all of that, and actively avoided listening to this song for a long, long time. I went through a tough situation a few weeks ago that brought this stuff back up, and decided to try and listen. I couldn't make it past the first few notes before I broke down. So many memories just overwhelmed me. 9 years later and I'm finally getting help. I just wish I had sooner, rather than downplay my own experience and tell myself it wasn't that bad. It was, and it left its mark. If anyone is reading this in the future and can relate to this song, don't discount your trauma. The only shame in therapy is the stigma against it. Even those with the healthiest childhoods benefit from it.
I went through the damn same scenario as the song. I'm 55 now with 4 daughters. Father of Mine resonated with me when it first came out, and still does to this day.
Art writes anthems from the heart. Everclear's So Much For The Afterglow is a masterpiece to me. I drive 18 wheeler and playing that album start to finish is a journey I've taken dozens of times. One of my go to CD's for sure! The songs are so easily accessible that every time I play it I find myself harmonizing with them right from the beginning automatically before I even realize I'm doing it. I can honestly say that anyone who bought So Much For The Afterglow got more than their money's worth, they also got a little piece of Art himself.
I bought So Much For The Afterglow in 1997 after reading an album and interview with Art in Total Guitar magazine and they have been one of my favourite bands ever since. I had never heard of them before that.
Song hits home. Dad didn't split but was never around for any of my siblings. Too busy drinking or working. When he quit drinking I was already out of home and we really never understood each other or like dude said didn't really care too. I'm fully involved in my daughters life from day one and we understand each other 🤘😁 could never think about not being in her life.
I still cry or tear up whenever I hear FATHER OF MINE. There was a time when I would sob if I paid any attention to it at all when it played on the radio - and 99X Atlanta played it A LOT. It tells my story a little too closely. Thank goodness I had a fantastic mother and I never knew anything but love from her. As for my father: alarmingly absent. I saw him for about three months over the summer when I was 8 - apparently long enough for him to know for sure he definitely didn't want me around or to be my father - and I saw him at my high school graduation.
I'm adopted. I've been a fan of Everclear since I was 11, I'm now 35. Art's music has always spoken to me in a special way. Everclear is the ONLY band I have gone out of my way to see live, & multiple times. Each were magical for me.♥
This song is exactly what happened to me. I was shocked when I heard it . I thought someone wrote a song about what happened to me in my childhood. His song brought me comfort that someone understands my pain because it was identical. I love this man because he can relate to me and we had the same childhood at the same age . And in his interview he said things that I feel I want to say to him Thankyou for that song . ❤
My wife is younger than me and she never heard the song. I played it for her and she started crying uncomfortably and said it's your life babe every word and I told her I wasn't alone in that childhood
This song is my life, my sister turned me to this band and one day was like, "no this is your song". Its really amazing how it captures alot of people's lives. Its a classic and for me a forever song! Maybe i make that film one day. Go looking for this hit one day.
My parents got divorced probably because of my mother, but my father stopped trying to be involved with us... In the past few years I became a father, diagnosed with MS as my father was on his deathbed, he was unconscious in hospice the first time they met. Art Alexakis has been a special musician to me and even more nowadays
Bruh! I never knew my biological father so I can relate to this on some level. I’m a bit of an empath, so needless to say I always choke up when I listen to this Masterpiece of a song. I’m blessed to now be a father too, and I remember literally crying when I told my kids about this.
This song always makes me cry. When ever my father was around or I had to around him I was scared and depressed. I have a very abusive father. He cheated on my mom when I was 3 years old. They got divorced when I was 4. I come to find soon before I was 5 he has a whole new family and they were just as bad as him. My father was in multiple rock bands not well known. He claims to have written guitar music for candle box and says he has met Art and says they got along great and Art is a great guy. I don't understand how they can get along with such different views and don't understand why my father and mom both loved Everclear as do I as well. My mom went through so much trying to take care of us kids. My mom, one of my siblings, and I got blamed a lot for things that have happened with my father when we were only children. Art has such a beautiful voice.
Makes me feel better knowing how many relate to this song. I always wondered why my father didn't love me enough to stick around. He screwed up and died without his sons, and grandchildren. He could have had so much with just a little effort. I've made it clear to my boy that a man always lives up to his responsibilities. Always.
Art is one of the best lyricists of the 90's he wrote so many great songs. Just on" sparkle and fade & so much for the afterglow" those albums are masterpieces.
I can really relate to this song. I think that it was so popular because there are many people that can relate. Adults have no idea how divorce or abandonment affects children that are involved.
Everclear will always be my favorite band. Absolutely love and admire Art. All his songs have touched my life in one way or another. It all started with Father of mine. Always a heartfelt man. Thanks for interviewing Art and sharing this story.
I remember the first time hearing this song. I played it, over and over. It was all my anger and pain from my childhood, our father left us so many times. I have 3 daughters, and I will never leave them, willingly. Thank you for this song, Art !
I grew up in virtually identical circumstances to Art Alexakis, the writer of that song. I cried when I first heard it when it first came out, and I never cry.
Thanks for writing this song. I’ll never understand how parents walk away. It’s the easy choice. Hearing this song helped keep me from walking away. I didn’t want to give my daughter a name and walk away. She came to live with me around the time this song hit big , and I listened to it , I said I won’t walk away. Many days and nights crying while driving a truck trying to give her a life. We made it. She’s now 30 and is a school teacher. Again , thank you for the song. It had a great impact on our lives.
I saw Everclear with Matchbox Twenty in 2000, they are a great live act still, Santa Monica has always been a favorite of mine since the first time i heard it, Father Of Mine is a very powerful song
I saw that tour as well. Everclear remains one of my favorite live bands of all time. They were so tight, no light show or pyrotechnics, just amazing live music. They opened for matchbox 20, but after seeing both I rather thought it should be the other way around.
So so powerful. I have loved Everclear since approx 1998 when I heard Everything to everyone I was instantly hooked. The radio totally overplayed Santa Monica which was awesome, then Wonderful became a massive hit single and then I heard Father of Mine. Such an amazing song, I loved it so much I sang it for my sister and we both cried as we both come from broken homes. She was about 6 yrs old when my daddy drove away, I was 4 and if I close my eyes I can still see the yellow Ryder van backing up to the house out in the country where we were raised. After that, we had to leave our beautiful house and move to the city living in a townhouse which felt like the projects, so this song really spoke to me. Happy ending though, my dad (although he left) was always actually a part of my life. I was raised by my mom, but he did right by her and paid child support. My childhood is actually way better than my wife's was as she also had her dad leave at an early age. We both keep in touch with our dads, but things will just never be the same, you can't go back so there's no choice but to move forward. I miss Everclear so much. The other day I had Alexa play so many great songs and it brought me back to when I was a teenager.
This was the first album I bought when I got a job when I was 17 for I will buy you a garden. I fell in love with father of mine on the first listen. I remember when it finally hit the radio months later, I felt special because I had know about it for months prior. I was like it’s about time you guys played this on the radio!
I have loved Everclear since the 90's and I'm a product of the 80's. Any time I hear an Everclear song I stop what I'm doing and scream it! So distinct, relatable and powerful music. And I heard that on AM Radio.
I love Art, love Everclear, this album is my favorite. Good on Paul Hunter for directing the powerful video for "Father Of Mine". Although mine was present in our home, he should not have been. Blessings to all parents who do their best, love, and don't physically or emotionally harm or abandon their children. Even if they themselves were. They're our future. Do your absolute best with them, and more! They deserve it. So did you. 💕
I got on stage with Everclear in Philadelphia at the electric factory and got to sing that song on stage with him and it made me feel so good to sing because I felt the same way about my father... Gives me chills to think about
I was watching 90's nation yesterday and came across this song for this first time. The music video was on point with my personal life except I don't have kids, it got me really emotional. Really good song.
I had a great relationship with my dad, but I still cried like a baby the first time I heard this song, because it wasn't my dad who walked out on me. It was my mom
There were several songs on this album that I connected with, including this one. Thank you for doing this video. Because of this album, Everclear became one of my favorite bands of the 90s. The album prompted me to go listen to their first two albums which were also great to experience. Sparkle and Fade, in my opinion, is a masterpiece because of how unique each song on that album was. Loved the variety on So Much for the Afterglow. Had it on CD. Had it been a cassette it would’ve been completely worn out due to how many times I played it. Fell so in love with it I got my friends into it and loving it as well and we ended up traveling to Vegas to see Everclear. Was amazing. They opened with El Distoro De Melodica and wow how the place erupted. Will never forget that experience. I ended the 90s a complete Everclear (the band, not booze, hah ha) junkie.
As a Father that loves his kids more than can be expressed, and was there every minute of them growing up, this song is oddly meaningful to me. I took my daughter for her 1st concert to see Everclear in AC when she was just 8 years old. I remember it being 20 degrees and bitter cold. Before the show we walked down the boardwalk from the House of Blues to the Rainforest Cafe. It was 20 degrees and bitter cold but the cold is last in my memories of that night. The Everclear show led to many years of concert that we shared together. Concerts from my favorite bands of the 90’s, that became her favorite bands. Each concert together is a memory etched in my mind that can never be taken away by anything. Love you Chickie!
Thanks Everclear. Do you guys got me through plenty of tough spots in my life. I’ve never stopped listening I even play your songs on guitar now. #HeartSpark$
One of my most favorite songs. Makes me remember my childhood and my father leaving. When I had my son it made so much more sense. Great song for sure.
Love the song and love the artist for writing this song. When I had my daughter I was instantly in love with her. It’s a love you can’t explain. I can’t imagine walking away from her. I would rather die than not be in my daughters life. Great interview. Some artists are just real and Art Alexakis is one of the real ones.
It's an anthem song for many. It is something people relate to but hopefully it didn't define who they became. Grateful for a dad who worked swing shift for over 20 years and always had time to play catch with me in the backyard. I love you Dad ❤️
One of my favorite artists and writers of all-time. The way he concisely, succinctly, and perfectly tells his stories and conveys emotions with his lyrics is second to none. Art and his music got me through some of the toughest of times, and I thank God for him and his art. Knowing there was someone out there, with such a platform and powerful voice who had felt and experienced the same things I had have me strength in knowing I wasn't alone. Thanks, Art! And thanks Professor of Rock!
Loved Everclear so much in the early to mid 90’s. Their songs stack up so well today still and sound amazing. Songs with meaning and feeling always stand the test of time. So good to hear their songs again.
"Wonderful" is also a very moving song in this same vein. He must've gone through some stuff. What a good guy, though...that Lilo & Stitch makes him emotional is pretty adorable, too.
I also cried @ Lilo & Stitch. Seriously one of the saddest cartoons I have ever watched because yes family is the most important thing to me now after what I have been through with my own and being broken and torn in different directions. Wonderful is such an amazing song and yeah we were all told the same thing. "I don't wanna hear you say, that I will understand some day, no! no! no! no!" You can never understand, only accept it and move on.
I Love Everclear!!! Grew up with them and Art's music Really hits home. So happy he's still around, and he has been a part of my life, emotionally, for a long time-60 years and counting. Much Love and Respect!!!
beautiful song from the heart... art has this special skills in writing lyrics where every word has a story behind it and then you hear the whole song its like you have read a book..... articulate art in everclear ... i love u guys
Great Album. Great Song. I’m glad to see that You and Art are doing well. Thanks For Another Great Interview. This song always reminds me of how important it is to hold fast for my Children and to always be there.
The entire album is amazing! Every song was so good on it. It's very rare when you can find an album where EVERY song is enjoyable to listen to, but "So Much For The Afterglow" is definitely one of them!
what a cool guy. They're coming to town This Saturday and after seeing this video can't wait to see the show. Plus they have a nice string of Radio hits from back in the day.
