I started writing St. Bernard at the Hotel Benesse on the island of Naoshima in Japan, while the sky was falling. In 2008, I was newly married and visiting my wife during her fellowship in Tokyo. For weeks prior to my arrival the world economy had been trembling. Not long after we arrived in Naoshima, it cracked apart. As Dana would settle in to sleep each night, I would step out on to the porch of our room and shiver from the cold while I communicated with New York as the markets opened there. I watched my life savings disappear while looking at my phone. I felt embarrassed and terrified. How could I possibly rebuild all I had lost. At my age. With my industry gone. What about our plans? The song arrived in shards. Even through the disorientation of what I was experiencing, I made sure to preserve them, hoping I’d be able to assemble them into a mosaic should I ever be lucky enough to have another moment’s peace. Over the years that followed I tried periodically to finish St. Bernard, but it wasn’t until I read the book “Crazy For The Storm” by Norman Ollestad that I was finally able to discover the verses and the bridge of this song. You can hear the influence of this book in the first line. I’m lucky to have become friends with Norm.