Let's go for full disclosure, here... In my most insecure moments, in the quiet parts of the day when doubt creeps in and eats my delusions alive, I dreamt up a silly mantra to ward off the intrusive thoughts. "Boss of myself and boss of this life," became the mantra, the call to arms, that I'd repeat until I believed it. Sometimes it took a hundred spins, sometimes it just felt like punishment, but all times it pulled me from the brink. While I'd come to call this my anti-work anthem when producing this with the band... truly, it's a song about knowing that I'm worth fighting for, and refusing to waste that fight in a toxic workplace that'll never love me back. But, of course, I've almost had nothing but toxic jobs that chew away at the soul. This one is about climbing out of the gutters, being seen, being heard, finding strength in the darkness. I'm sick of asking for permission.