Flaunt Premiere | Cory Wong ft. Jon Batiste "Home"

Courtesy of the musician

Songs tell stories, agreed? Most people will proclaim lyrics as a song’s centerpiece for creating this story. Through either abstract lyrics drenched in poeticism, or rhyming couplets which don’t require much explanation, history’s greatest songwriters and story tellers are always categorized as the ones who write the lyrics. Yet, watch any movie and tell me instrumental only songs can’t tell a story. Whether it be sweeping strings indicating sadness, or a deep bassline which signals something mysterious, or haunting, music can tell a story without anyone actually speaking.  

“Home,” the newest instrumental single from Cory Wong, featuring the The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s Jon Batiste on keys, speaks about the relationship between a father and his daughter. Recorded in a single take, Wong explains the impromptu, almost improvisational genesis behind the recording as him simply speaking aloud his idea to the other band members. Within a few hours, “Home” was born. 

“The guitar is the role of the father, who has scripted melodies and messages that stay consistent to drive home a foundation of lessons and encouragement,” Cory Wong says. “The piano is the role of the daughter who starts the song off with its beauty and mystery of birth, receiving the messages of the father and weaving in and through that conversation.” 

Jon Batiste, who Flaunt profiled in its Cause and Effect Issue, plays the piano with a tenderness only he can muster. It juxtaposes nicely against Wong’s guitar. Check out the music video for “Home,” below and expect his next release Motivational Music for the Syncopated Soul out later this year.

The Optimist, an album by Cory Wong on Spotify