Destiny

October 20, 2012

Some songs arrive like a spark — and then they just keep burning. “Destiny” is one of those. It’s a song about timeless love and the feelings that accompany that deep kind of love.

It started as my solo version. I wrote “Destiny” back in 2007, and I demoed it until 2010.

The early demos were something else entirely. Neil Donell — another former lead singer of Chicago — sang all the backing vocals on the Destiny demos, and there was even a sax solo from Richard Underhill of the Canadian band the Shuffle Demons. Those versions only live on my hard drive in the vault — they were never released. They’re a part of the song’s winding road to completion.

Finally, in 2012, Harry helped me get it across the finish line — and that’s the version that lives today.

The strings were recorded in the UK, played by real string players.

The Heather Rankin version came after my solo version. It was a thrill working on the song with her and getting to hang out afterwards. She is an amazing talent and an even nicer person!

On September 14, 2012, Billboard’s “Bubbling Under” column — its weekly look at acts making their way toward chart success — picked up “Destiny.” Billboard called it a rare case of conservative AC radio helping expose an unsigned artist, with the strongest support at KWAV in Monterey, California: 64 plays through September 9, according to Nielsen BDS, aided by minimal independent promotion. I told Billboard then: “I base my success on the premise that you need to believe in yourself and surround yourself with people that also believe in you. After all, my all-time favorite movie is ‘Rudy.’”

The chart run that followed was electric. “Destiny” debuted on Billboard Adult Contemporary on September 29, 2012, and peaked at #27 in the week of November 10, 2012 — a re-entry week — spending 6 weeks on the chart in total.

Linda Dawe and Music Solutions were working it in Canada while it sat at #39 on Billboard Adult Contemporary in the U.S.

Bonus — listen: the radio interview

As a bonus, here’s the full radio interview with Jay Smith at CKXS — me and Heather Rankin, with Heather at the end. Press play and hear it as it happened.

Destiny — lyrics

Here I go again
Tangled up in memories
Can’t remember when
You weren’t here beside me
Without you
I won’t make it alone
Without you
Don’t wanna live
Don’t wanna try
By myself
Don’t wanna laugh
Don’t wanna cry
With no one else
I hope in time that you will see
All roads lead back to you and me
You’re my destiny

Skid around the bend
Crash into reality
Can’t we just be friends?
The last words that you said to me
Without you
I won’t make it alone
Without you
Don’t wanna live
Don’t wanna try
By myself
Don’t wanna laugh
Don’t wanna cry
With no one else
I hope in time that you will see
All roads lead back to you and me
You’re my destiny

Written by Franklin McKay and Harry Hess. © 2012.

— Franklin

behind the music · franklin mckay