MUSIC

The story behind the song: Edwin McCain's 'I'll Be'

Edwin McCain's 'I'll Be'

Edwin McCain plays the One World Theater Thursday. We talked with him about a song off 1997's 'Misguided Roses':

'We've had three Top 40 songs, but people definitely identify me with "I'll Be." Now, it's gotten kind of weird. I was on the phone earlier today with a guy from DirecTV in the Philippines. The guy freaked out like, "Oh my God, I'm a musician and I sing your song all the time." I'm like, in the Philippines? You know, I'm a singer-songwriter from Greenville, S.C. It seems strange that there's somebody in the Philippines singing your song. It's a total blessing, though. That song has allowed for me to be independent. Talk about the dichotomy.

'I was in a bad place physically and emotionally at the time that I wrote it. The song itself isn't very romantic. It's more like a personal prayer. I was in a really bad place space with substances and emotions and general hopelessness. The song was like a hail Mary prayer that came to me in the middle of the night, so it means even more. That was the moment when you go, "God, man, I'm in big trouble here, and I really need some help." I just threw that out in the universe to see what would happen, and the universe responded kindly.

'People ask if I ever get tired of singing that song, and it's like, "Um, no." It'd be like having a winning lottery ticket framed in your mansion and walking by every day saying, "Stupid lottery ticket." '

— Brian T. Atkinson