Singled Out: Ryan Terrigno's Get Lost

Keavin Wiggins | 10-25-2023

Orange Country, Ca singer-songwriter Ryan Terrigno is gearing up to release his debut album "Alive & Well" this Friday, (October 27th), and to celebrate we asked him to tell us about the song "Get Lost". Here is the story:

The first single released from my debut, forthcoming solo album is called "Get Lost". It was released on May 12th, 2023. It's an indie-pop anthem with huge, stomp-clap choruses, and heartfelt, acoustic verses. I've chosen to write about it today because it holds a specific relevance to my musical career, and thus, a special place in my heart. I've been writing songs since I was 16 years old - which, by my math, means I've been doing it for about 23 years! By the time I graduated high school, I already had my first rock band up & running, and would spend the next 12 years dedicating all of my heart, soul, and energy to making music a full-time gig.

By 2013, when the dust began to settle on the second of my two bands breaking up, I came to that age-old fork in the road where I had to decide: Do I keep living in this world of uncertainty that a life in music can bring, or do I settle down and find myself something more stable in order to secure a future for my wife & I? So there I was - 29 years old and ready to hang up my guitar and start my new life as a professional career man. As fate would have it, I stumbled face-first into an interesting gig at a local tech startup - by way of a random Craigslist ad that I found early in my job hunt. Little did I know at the time, but this accidental job would become my life & career for the next 10+ years.

Throughout this period of my life, I never lost that spark for music. I never stopped writing songs, I never stopped going to concerts, and I even played a few acoustic gigs here & there. But I wasn't actually PURSUING music - at least, not in the way I used to be. So, even though this career path I found myself in brought SO much good into my life (friends, stability, skills, goals, purpose, etc) - I never felt truly whole. Was I just too busy to allow music back in? Maybe. Or maybe, I was just too scared to start over.

When the Fall of 2021 rolled around, I took an accidentally-transformational trip to Nashville with my wife. It was a vacation centered around music. I returned home with a new vigor and passion for the craft of songwriting - and I began to write. I was writing lyrics differently. I was playing in different tunings. I essentially thew my old handbook out the window and embarked on a new journey, refreshed with a new sense-of-self & confidence both towards the craft of songwriting - and myself as a songwriter. Enter, "Get Lost". In March of 2022, I wrote a little song and recorded a rough demo on my phone - initially labeled "Dangerous To Pretend". Of everything I had been writing the past few months, this song immediately stood out. It felt different.

There's only been a handful of times in my entire songwriting career where I set the guitar down after a writing session and thought to myself, "Holy sh*t...this is special".

So special in fact, "Get Lost" was the song that finally made me draw a line in the sand and say "This is it - I'm going to record an album". And so I did. My first officially-recorded music in a decade.

I have "Get Lost" to thank for coming into my life and giving me the confidence I needed to call a producer (the insanely-talented, Mr. Alex Dezen) - and finally put some music to tape and take another stab at this whole music career thing. Now that you know where it came from and why, but what the heck is it about? Well, that's easy. At its core, "Get Lost" is a love song that I wrote for my wife. Not exactly a ground-breaking premise.

What makes this song stand out is its unique perspective. The lyrics are largely focused through the lends of mortality, in that - we all have a limited time on this Earth, and chances are, we're going to have to spend some of that time without the people we love. In "Get Lost", the main character essentially proclaims that they HOPE they go first as to not have to spend a day without the person they love. "I don't want to get lost without you there to lead me back with some breadcrumbs left to show me the way. I don't wanna get stuck between this world and the next one - I don't want to forget your face".

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about the album here