The Story: "Dive" was written, recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by Mikey Maramag (Blackbird Blackbird) in Montréal, Canada, circa March 2024. Lyrics by Mikey Maramag. Feelings can crystallize so deeply & intensely that at first it feels like you are diving into a vast sea of love, or an 'ocean of love', as the lyrics portray in the second verse (one of my personal favorite parts of any song I've ever done). The intro hook "Don't worry, I'll catch you if you fall", foreshadows the drama of the second chorus, and refers to the initial feeling of uncertainty of the start of a relationship. Diving straight in to something real, with barely any time to test the waters is scary at first, but sometimes love comes in a rush of moments and happens so fast that it takes over your entire world in no time at all. Throughout the song I wanted to play around with space. The intro starts dry and trots along, kind of symbolizing where I was at in life & reflecting on the difficulty I had in finding a love that wasn't toxic or superficial. Then the gentle guitar plucks come in and glue things together playfully, sparking an ambition & building curiosity. Only through self-care and bettering myself was I able to be alone and content with myself, which is also what happened right before I met my true love, and gave me fortitude & strength to accept this love. There is also a kind of kinophobia, or fear of open spaces (which I personally suffer from sometimes) that I wanted to address in structure and feel of the song. In contrast to this feeling, love bridges distances, brings people closer, and acts like a warm light or radiance, like something familiar--something that feels like home. Hopefully the song can do this for you as well. The buildup right before the drop into the synth-driven, abyssal ocean that is the chorus, I wanted it to feel like the listener is catching their breath & getting ready to 'Dive' in! Meeting your true love can feel like a religious experience, a moment of awe, or an instant cure-all for the nihilistic loneliness & dystopia of modern dating life. But there are always challenges in a relationship or partnership, and I wanted to express the mutual feeling of being there for each other to catch each other, in case either of us falls down, we'll help each other get back up. I guess I just thought, why not just put all these different conflicting emotions of love together and write a song about it. Dive is what I came up with. I hope it can help others find both true love and SELF-LOVE, and regardless of what they are going through I'm happy to have it out in the world & hope you enjoy! :) Love, Mikey <3 BLACKBIRD BLACKBIRD