Singled Out: The Davenports' We Know We Want To

02-03-2025

Brooklyn-based indie-pop project The Davenports just released their new album "You Could've Just Said That", and to celebrate we asked Scott Klass to tell us about the song "We Know We Want To". Here is the story:

I have a friend who started embracing polyamory years ago. At some point, they started spending a lot more time with one person who became their primary partner. The balance seemed fine for a long time. Then, when we had time to talk more in-depth, they told me that, essentially, the balance stopped working for their partner, who at that point was so in love with my friend that they no longer wanted to see other people. I guess it kind of crumbled from there.

The whole push and pull of emotion v. principle, if that's what it was, struck me as sad and fascinating. I'm actually not sure whether my friend was really fighting their own impulses because of what they thought they should be doing - maybe to reject convention - or if they maybe just didn't want a deeper commitment with their primary, or something else. But what was clear was that their partner was heartbroken.

So this song is sung from the perspective of the partner, who's basically saying "after all this beautiful sh*t we've been through, how can you possibly share that same thing with someone else at this point?"

After the leaf run, the bleary tumble,

the sun sizzling to the sea

And all the grand plans we made for you and me

You're gonna make for you and him, or her, tomorrow

Then the refrain is a sort of plea to drop all the overthinking and just be happy together:

It's principle we all have sold

that one-on-one is tired and old

let's put the party line on hold

and hold each other like we know we want to

To be clear, there's no judgment one way or the other here - it's just a particular love/heartbreak song loosely based on one person's experience.

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