- Today, I play the song with the capo on four
(guitar strumming)
so I can add the riff into the rhythm.
(upbeat guitar music)
I still don't understand how and why
it became what it has become.
But when I wrote it, I'm thinking capo was on two
and I wasn't playing the melody originally.
I was probably playing bar chords like this.
(mellow guitar music)
Thank you, "I'm Yours."
I'm yours, "I'm Yours."
"I'm Yours" lives outside of me.
It's its own thing.
(upbeat guitar music)
I wrote "I'm Yours" on a sunny afternoon,
I'd say late summer 2004, so going on 20 years.
I had an electric guitar plugged into,
probably directly into this device.
This was my studio at the time, back in 2004,
and I just started emoting.
♪ Well, you done done me in, you bet I felt it ♪
♪ I tried to be chill, but you're so hot that I melted ♪
In a way, that was asking the universe,
"Make me an instrument, I'm yours."
I've not written a song in a couple of weeks
or I'm feeling disconnected,
or I wanna reconnect to my artistry.
I've fallen through the cracks, help me get back.
So I'm literally emoting what I'm feeling
and asking the universe to provide,
and saying, "I'm not gonna wait any longer, I'm yours.
I'm gonna open my mouth and sing.
Here I am, now I'm yours."
That really is what the song's about,
and it was written very, very quickly.
♪ I'm yours ♪
(upbeat guitar music)
I knew right away it was special,
but I didn't know how special.
I just thought, "This is really cute. I like this."
(upbeat guitar music)
♪ Well, open up your mind and see like me ♪
♪ Open up your plans and, damn, you're free ♪
And in '07, I'm playing at a festival in northern Sweden.
I've never been to Sweden before,
much less northern Sweden where it's less populated.
But there was something different
going on in this Borlange, Sweden.
People already seemed to know who I was.
And when I performed "I'm Yours," the place went crazy.
♪ So I won't hesitate no more, no more ♪
It was easily 10,000 people in the street
and they sang every word.
♪ It cannot wait, I'm sure ♪
My band and I we looked at each other,
couldn't believe it.
What just happened?
How do people know this song?
It only lived on my MySpace page.
♪ This is our fate, I'm yours ♪
Turns out somebody in Sweden had ripped it
off my MySpace page and played it on the radio in Sweden.
So we had a test market, and it worked.
And then we find out that the same thing
was happening on KUCD in Honolulu.
They were playing it from my MySpace page on the radio.
So we started to get this feedback
that we know your fans love it,
but people who aren't your fans also love it.
It was a pretty special song.
So I went straight into the studio and decided
we're gonna make a version of this,
because something's going on.
♪ But my breath fogged up the glass ♪
♪ So I drew a new face and I laughed ♪
(upbeat guitar music)
I've always kind of gone with my first instinct
and I'm always surprised if it sticks.
Like, wow, that's the thing.
That's the thing that we still use to this day.
Yeah, I didn't overthink it.
we had this going
(upbeat guitar music)
and it just made sense to do
(upbeat guitar music) Boom, boom, boom, boom.
I mean, honestly, I thought it was a placeholder.
I wanted to fill the intro with some kind of melody.
There's oftentimes you get into a studio
where you're like, "Okay, we've got these four bars.
What instrument can sort of add a melody to it
and give us a nice intro?"
But it kind of took care of itself.
(lively drum music)
(upbeat guitar music)
If I were to scroll through social media where I'm tagged,
it's basically one after the other,
people performing "I'm Yours."
And it's so cool to just see and hear "I'm Yours"
echoed back to me all around the globe.
I dare not change it that much.
And I also get to tap back into
that same moment I had when I wrote it.
♪ Oh, I won't hesitate ♪
Now, when I show up to sing it, I get reminded
of what I was calling out for, what I was calling in,
and I get to be an instrument for love,
an instrument for peace, an instrument for music,
so I'm always uplifted by the song.
I'll probably be singing it forever.
♪ Our time is short ♪
♪ This is our fate ♪