We’re all just trying our best, but few artists spell it out as powerfully, as poetically, and as passionately as Sydney Sprague. As churning as it is emotionally charged, “i tried my best” (feat. Kevin Devine) is essentially an unfiltered 2.5-minute self-therapy session.
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“i tried my best” – Sydney Sprague ft. Kevin Devine
It feels only fitting that Sydney Sprague would eventually open a song with the words, “I had a fear the world was ending.”
Her debut album was entitled maybe i will see you at the end of the world, and her 2023 sophomore LP somebody in hell loves you continued that doomsday-like trend. Yet what’s most exciting about “i tried my best,” the Arizona singer/songwriter’s first release since her last record, isn’t necessarily that opening line, nor is it the presence of an indie music legend in Kevin Devine; rather, it’s the sense of hope that resonates out from this song’s core.
I had a fear the world was ending
I never thought I’d be right
Slipping down the final backslide like
Oh f*
As churning as it is emotionally charged, “i tried my best” is essentially an unfiltered 2.5-minute self-therapy session. It’s spirited and invigorating sonic upheaval (rugged, angsty garage rock) wrapped in a soothing blanket of empathy and understanding, re-centering and rebalancing as Sprague and Devine pull themselves back from the brink.
Getting out of our heads is far easier said than done, but a fresh perspective – in life, and in song – can go a long way:
Think I took my whole life for granted
Just thought there’d be other nights
To sneak out of parents house ‘til sunrise
Guess what
Nobody cares what’s in your head
Grab at the string, pull at the end
Doing the best that I can
“I wrote ‘I tried my best’ during lockdown,” Sprague tells Atwood Magazine. “When I was pretty sure the world was ending, it was the first time I felt like I was writing purely for my own experience. As long as I can remember, writing has been a form of therapy/catharsis for me, but the element of knowing or hoping that someone outside of myself would hear what I wrote always colored what I was saying in one way or another. It helped me reconnect with the whole point of why I do this, which is basically just to self-soothe.”
“‘i tried my best’ is about getting back to that feeling, and ironically it turned out to be my favorite song I’ve ever written and the one I hope people hear the most.”
Sprague hits a definitive high in the chorus as she affirms, “Nobody cares what’s in your head. Grab at the string, pull at the end, doing the best that I can.” It’s as much a reminder of the agency we have in our own lives, as it is a recognition that all we can do is try our ‘best’ each and every day – and that the definition of ‘best’ will itself vacillate, and that’s okay! But no one will ever be in our corner more than we are for ourselves.
That this track gets some extra love from Kevin Devine – whose presence both amplifies the music’s message, and turns it into a rare Sydney Sprague duet – makes it that much more special. His short four-line verse is filled with existential dread, and yet the way his and Sprague’s voices melt together stands to showcase in real-time how we really are never alone in our suffering.
Wonder how long the wheels keep turning
And if they grind to a dust
Or take another shape
while learning to adjust
For what
Nobody cares what’s in your head
Grab at the string, pull at the end
Doing the best that I can
“Having Kevin Devine on the song adds another layer,” Sprague admits. “I’m a longtime fan, and the fact that he liked the song enough to sing on it is so crazy to me.”
“I’ve been on tour with Super American the last couple months, on the heels of a recent, pretty major tragedy in my life,” she continues. “Playing this song on the road has been really healing for me and helped me process. I feel like I find new meaning in it every time I sing it. It sinks in a little more all the time how important it is for me to write about the things that are hard for me to communicate in regular conversation. It really helps me, and I hope maybe it can help someone else too.”
We’re all just trying our best, but few artists spell it out as powerfully, as poetically, and as passionately as Sydney Sprague. If at the end of the day we can look back and say, “I tried my best,” well then, that’s all we can ask for, isn’t it?
Nobody cares what’s in your head
Grab at the string, pull at the end
Doing the best that I can
I had a dream where nothing happened
I guess I’m out of ideas
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:: connect with Sydney Sprague here ::
“i tried my best” – Sydney Sprague ft. Kevin Devine
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© Tyler Ann
© Tyler Ann
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