INTERVIEW: Phillip Phillips on the Personal Meaning Behind New Song 'Miles'

Earlier this month (August 11), Phillip Phillips released his first single in three years, "Miles." The song follows his 2014 album Behind the Light, and is just a glimpse of what's to come from the American Idol alum. 

Over the last few years, Phillips explains he's felt "stuck," and has taken the time to write a lot of new music. That feeling of being 'stuck," as he describes to iHeartRadio, is what inspired his new single. 

The meaning behind "Miles"

"For me, I was just stuck in this place for about three years, and it was tough. People would ask, 'When is new music come out?' And I was like, 'Uh, soon.' It was never soon enough. So it was basically about being stuck, and but then finding out that those things don't last forever. It's just a part in your life that you have to go through. I think we all go through that in our lives with different circumstances, and for me, I had that and also had my wife to help me through it as well, and some friends and just awesome other people around me, and just kept writing, and finally it's out. So it's just kind of being stuck, but then getting unstuck."

Phillip reveals that his favorite lyrics in his new song are right at the beginning of the pre-chorus: "'Cause we're works of art." He explains of these lyrics, as it relates to the meaning of the song, "I think we all are. Sometimes you might get depressed, or anxiety or something, and not confident in yourself, and confidence is good. I'm a pretty shy guy, but it's good to have confidence. You don't have to be cocky about it or anything, but just know that you are worth more than you think."

Next Up: An Album

Now that Phillip is "unstuck," there is a lot more music on the way for fans. He's been writing over the last three years since he released his last album, and good news, there's a new one on the horizon. In fact, Phillips tells us that within his new music are some of the best lyrics he's ever written. He explains:

"That's all I've been doing these past three years is just writing music. [I] wrote a lot of awesome songs, a lot of horrible songs, but I think the good ones outweigh the bad ones. So we're hoping [to share] some new music before the end of the year, and definitely an album no later than January. But it's some cool stuff. Best lyrics I think I've ever written. I had a lot of time to think about them, and change them if I needed to, and make it as good as I could."

Phillip Phillips
Phillip Phillips

Photos: Rachel Kaplan


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