Premiere: Kim Ware & the Good Graces spin heartbreak tale with ‘U2 (Means to an End)’

“I should’ve known it would fade,” groans Kim Ware. “U2 (Means to an End),” premiering today via B-Sides & Badlands, finds Ware and her band the Good Graces untangling heartbreak and finally putting all the pain six-feet deep. “It was fucked up in hindsight how you stood me up in the dorm room that late night,” Ware reopens wounds as an avenue to healing. Part of that process, the letting go, Ware has learned, “means letting you know,” she sings, burning up the past with lyrical wildfire.

In her work, Ware frequents the heartbreak well, including across 2017’s Set Your Sights. When mulling over the past, the singer-songwriter realized that one relationship had never been immortalized in song. So, she set about writing “U2 (Means to an End),” a vivid depiction of pain and “what I learned from it,” Ware says. “But I’m not sure I actually learned all that much — my husband and I were friends first, so…” Ware cheekily references “some friends of mine who had recently become romantically involved,” as well as “anyone that might relate to it, really.”

“Years later, I married, and you followed that jam band around the whole country,” continues Ware, further dismantling the once-bright and hot romance. “Were you thinking I’d follow you too / I bet you still haven’t found something true…” Her words consume in relentless sole-licking flames, accentuated with a “rocking and noisy” arrangement that “made me chuckle,” she shares.

Producer and musician Jerry Kee injects a jangly vibration with his guitar work. “The first time I heard it with Jerry’s guitars, I kind of felt like that guy in the old Maxell ad. That took a little getting used to, but now I really love it,” she continues. “One of the most fun parts of making this album was tracking the backing vocals to this song. I really didn’t have a solid part in mind. I just was sort of trying whatever came to me. If I remember correctly, I did the ‘around the whole country’ part, all the way until the end, in one take. It was so fun, singing harmonies to all the noisy stuff going on in the background, and I felt like the harmonies brought out the country vibe just a bit.”

“U2 (Means to an End)” samples Kim Ware & the Good Graces’ forthcoming Ready, out next Friday (September 16) on Potluck Foundation (CD) and Fort Lowell Records (digital).

Listen to “U2 (Means to an End)” below.

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