Odes to a Magic City

Dave Daniel’s excellent new album The Cost of Living is more than a semi-autobiographical collection of soulful, smart earworms. It’s an epic ode to Florida.

The splendor, the quirkiness, the mysterious, and yeah...darkness,” as Daniels tells AQUA Miami. “It is easily the most meaningful album I have made to date in my 25 years of recording music,” the singer-songwriter adds. “This feels like a return for me. Finally, at 42 years old, I find myself happily living in my hometown, doing what I do best: fish and play original music.” 

Between casting lures and strumming chords, Daniels generously agreed to give AQUA Miami a track-by-track breakdown of The Cost of Living.

• Willy “I’ve learned the most about loving myself and others from my Australian Shepherd. She rescued me in a time I needed it the most. Dogs—pets, in general, really—seem to come to us when the universe knows we need them, and they need us. My dog, the real Willy, is much more timid in real life than the song. I can relate!”

• Some Light “There are always two constants for me: The ocean and The Beatles. They have been my refuge, where I go for understanding, healing, and to be in absolute awe. Both are mentioned in this song. It is a story about learning how to let go with grace. And also a prayer and a reminder that love and mercy is always on its way—like the breaking of dawn every time I go fishing. New hope.”

• Mayaimi “This song means a lot to me. A tribute to three waves of Miami migration. I am not a

history expert, but I’ve learned a lot about it from my dad and Dr. Paul George at HistoryMiami. There are endless patchworks that make this city what it is. There is no “true” Miamian.  And no one group was really here first—maybe the Tequestas?—and no one will be last. Except the gators and the lizards.”

• Cost of Living “There is no geographical cure for a spiritual longing. But a place can haunt you and heal you simultaneously. And sure, I’ve done my share of time outside of South Florida. And all of that’s fine and good. Still, there is absolutely nothing like this city. Not New York, not Nashville. There’s a line in this song: ‘When you’re gone, you’ll return to limestone.’ It means you can’t take it with you when you go—and that my roots are in this city, no matter what I do. I can’t escape. And that’s a good thing! Who would want to? Sure, Miami is not for the faint of heart, but if you really look around, there is beauty and mystery here like nowhere else. You just have to go find the places that call to you.   

• Good Kids “I was raised in Kendall back when there were more pine trees, and we could just ramble around like kids from Lord of The Flies! I had a wonderful childhood and had amazing parents and a loving community to raise me. I had great teachers, baseball coaches, and all kinds of amazing opportunities to excel in school sports and the arts. Yet…I was a true menace. So were my friends. We’re older now and we’re “slightly” more grown up. A lot of us have kids. And just like our parents, we thought: I’m going to raise them to do better than me. And they did a damn good job—and so are we. Now I have the privilege of working with a lot of teenagers in Miami, and I see them evolving year after year. They are kinder, more thoughtful, and open-minded. They give me hope.”

• The Spill “This is a Gulf Coast folk dirge; a lament from the perspective of a charter fishing guide I knew in 2010. He was hired, like other guides, by the government and the big gas companies to go out to the Gulf of Mexico and clean the terribly spilled oil that had occurred because of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. I found it very troubling to know that fishing guides—people who work harder than anyone I’ve ever met—were out of work for a long time and could only find work to feed their families by cleaning up the very same ocean from where they make their living. If you think there’s not a song in that, you’re just not paying attention.”

• Florida Man “I am not a political singer. But I think we need to protect our water and our animals and our lands. If we do not, all parts of Florida life will crumble—our drinking water, our beaches, our tourism, our ability to enjoy the outdoors, our small farmers, and our way of life. This is the one bipartisan issue we seem to still agree on, so let’s not let it slip away! Folks should check out Captains for Clean Water and MANG and watch Path of the Panther today!”

• Back to the Island “Ukuleles can be a powerful instrument. This is a song I wrote years ago when I was living in Atlanta and Nashville and was homesick to the point where I was not in a good place. Your home is where your center is. Some folks don’t feel that about their birth city. Between fishing and diving, the Everglades and the Bay—there’s nowhere else in the world I know makes me feel more at peace. Everglades National Park, Big Cypress, Biscayne National Park…these are holy places to me.”

Follow Dave Daniels on Instagram at @davedanielsmusic.