Title: A Million Miles Can’t Break Us
Genre: Rock, Pop-Punk, Ballad
Length: 3:17
Recorded: Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, California
Written: November 2011
Writer(s): Amy Meyer, Justin Mullen

‘A Million Miles Can’t Break Us’ is a song from American teenage rock band, Riot! In The Boulevard. It was written for their 2012 sophomore album and was written in December 2011 although part of the lyrics were written as early as August 2011. The song’s theme is similar to one of the band’s previous singles called ‘Long Distance Conversations’ and was written by both Amy Meyer and Justin Mullen who have both dealt with long distance relationships. Talking about the song, Justin Mullen said, “It may be a theme that we’ve done once before on our debut with Long Distance Conversations, but there’s a difference, the track is about having the faith and believe that things will work out, the previous one was about how difficult this kind of relationship can be.”

Song Description
The song begins with a soft piano introduction which sets the scene for a rare ballad from Riot In The Boulevard, drums can be heard being played slightly in the background as can a soft bass line and guitar riff but the piano remains as the sole focus of the music throughout this slow number. Surprisingly the vocal duties are shared between both Amy Meyer and Justin Mullen throughout, perhaps a homage to the fact that they not only wrote the song together but have both been in separate relationships which have meant they had to deal with long distance. Justin’s vocals are soft and emotional and Amy’s vocals are similar but with slightly more power and energy to them. They trade verses throughout and join together as one on the chorus, “A Million Miles Can’t Break Us, No Matter Where We Are/A Million Miles Can’t Break Us, Your My Wish Upon A Star/A Million Miles Can’t Break Us, These Bonds Cannot Be Broken/A Million Miles Can’t Break Us, Now That These Words Are Spoken.”

Songwriter's Comments
“A Million Miles Can’t Break Us is a positive song, it’s a song about having the belief that you can make it through despite how difficult things may get. It may be a theme that we’ve done once before on our debut with Long Distance Conversations, but there’s a difference, the track is about having the faith and belief that things will work out, the previous one was about how difficult this kind of relationship can be. I wrote this song with Amy, it’s something we’ve both gone through, being on tour leaves very little time for a personal life not to mention a relationship but we’ve both gone through and it’s something that we can both relate to which is why I enjoyed working on this song.
Musically, we wanted to capture the emotion of the lyrics and what they mean, we kept it basic and a little stripped back which put the emphasis on Amy’s vocals and the words that she was singing, we like to make the best possible use of our song lyrics because that’s the basis of what we are and so it’s always important to get the right balance, musically. We could have thrashed away on our guitars and drums for the song but that would have taken away from the lyrics and what the song means and so the tenderness of the piano and acoustic guitar on the track provided the right setting for this song. It was a little daunting when Amy said, “Hey man, I got an idea … Why don’t you sing on this track too.” Because it’s not something I’m used to, I mean I’m not a vocalist, I can carry a tune but I don’t plan on making a career out of it, but I think it provided a little something different for this song and I’m really pleased with how it turned out.”
- Justin Mullen


Song Lyrics

{Amy Vocals}
A Million Miles Is Far Away, Or So That’s What I Used To Think
But The Truth Is That Nowhere Is Too Far, And Baby We’re On The Brink
We Opened Our Hearts Despite The Distance Between You And Me
We Opened Our Souls And Shared Them Together
We Knew This Was Meant To Be
---
{Justin Vocals}
So A Million Miles Means Nothing Anymore
I Felt More Love From You Than I’ve Ever Felt Before
Nothing Could Stop Us, Or Stand In Our Way
Nothing Could Break Us, No Matter How Far Away
---
{Amy Vocals}
We Shared Our Hopes And Shared Our Dreams
Shared Our Everything, Our In-Betweens
Shared Our Life, Despite Being So Far Away
We Promised Each Other, We’d Be Together Someday
---
A Million Miles Can’t Break Us, No Matter Where We Are
A Million Miles Can’t Break Us, Your My Wish Upon On A Star
A Million Miles Can’t Break Us, These Bonds Cannot Be Broken
A Million Miles Can’t Break Us, Now That These Words Are Spoken
---
My Nights Felt Dark With You So Far Away
But Your Words Felt Warm And Made Me Feel Okay
We May Not Have Those Tender Moments Together
But As Long As Your Still Breathing, You’ll Be My Forever
---
So A Million Miles Means Nothing Anymore
I Felt More Love From You Than I’ve Ever Felt Before
Nothing Could Stop Us, Or Stand In Our Way
Nothing Could Break Us, No Matter How Far Away
---
{Justin Vocals}
We Shared Our Hopes And Shared Our Dreams
Shared Our Everything, Our In-Betweens
Shared Our Life, Despite Being So Far Away
We Promised Each Other, We’d Be Together Someday
---
A Million Miles Can’t Break Us, No Matter Where We Are
A Million Miles Can’t Break Us, Your My Wish Upon On A Star
A Million Miles Can’t Break Us, These Bonds Cannot Be Broken
A Million Miles Can’t Break Us, Now That These Words Are Spoken

Title: The Cradle To The Grave
Genre: Pop-Punk, Emo, Alt-Rock
Length: 5:36
Recorded: Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, California
Label: Nomad Records!
Written: November 2011
Writer(s): Amy Meyer, Justin Mullen

‘The Cradle To The Grave’ is a song from American teenage rock band, Riot! In The Boulevard. Written in November 2011 by Amy Meyer and Justin Mullen, it is the title track from their 2012 sophomore album. It was one of the earliest songs written for the album, it follows the narrative of a troublesome girl that guys just can’t help but fall for, neglected from a young age and with a lot of anger and her own personal demons it tells the story of the rebellious girl and the title of the song could possibly refer to the girl dying young.
The song follows a slightly different songwriting approach for Amy Meyer as she states, “writing about an entirely fictional character was a little different to what I generally write, I find that kind of songwriting a little more difficult, I tend to prefer to write from the outside looking in on story, rather than from the outside looking in on a person because I think your kinda limited in theme”

Song Description
The song begins with an energetic guitar riff and powerful drums quickly followed by fast-paced rock vocals from Amy Meyer as she sings, “She Was Born Into This Life Without A Fighting Chance.” It’s rocky and shows the band at their most powerful as on the previous record they went for a more soft melodic approach, this track shows the band proving that they can create noise and energy worthy of the ‘rock’ title. Amy’s vocals are at the forefront of the song and combined with the Rhythm Guitar of Adam Benjamin and the Bass Guitar of Jason Greenberg it provides a musical explosion that wasn’t often seen on their debut album and other previous work, it’s like a mission statement from the band showing that they can not only perform the slower, emotional and melodical songs as previously seen in their past work but they can also create the fast-paced energetic kind of rock songs that inspired the teenage band in the first place.

The song hits its peak at the first chorus with everybody playing in sync with each other and again Amy’s vocals providing a powerful, anthemic feel to it as she sings, “She Goes From The Cradle To The Grave/An Existence Only For The Brave/She Goes From The Cradle To The Grave/A Lonely Path Set Out For The Brave.” The band are used to using the chorus as the main focal point to their songs but on this song in particular it’s the verse’s that provide the song’s most interesting part as it tells the story of a heartless girl, “She’ll Take Your Heart And Smash It In Two/She’ll Take Your Soul And Never Give It Back To You/She’ll Ruin Your Life If You Give Her The Chance/But You’ll Fall For Her Beauty Like An Epic Romance.” It’s at this point where the music becomes quiet and the pace slows down, Amy’s vocals now changing from an energetic rock lead vocal to a softer more mournful vocal and with the soft beat of the Bass and Drums, the song ends.

Songwriters Comments
“For me this song is a little bit of a change-up, writing about an entirely fictional character was a little different to what I generally write, I find that kind of songwriting a little more difficult, I tend to prefer to write from the outside looking in on story, rather than from the outside looking in on a person because I think your kinda limited in theme, especially the fact that I don’t want to write eleven minute epics, I prefer to write short catchy songs that cut to the core and get to the point pretty quickly, that’s the way I write, I don’t think I have the attention span to write an eleven minute track. So for me this was something that I wanted to create, I don’t want to rest on my laurels and just create something basic and uninteresting. And I think a lot more questions go into this kind of songwriting, what is this character like? Why is she like this? What is she capable of? And what kind of redeeming qualities does she have? I think I’ve managed to answer all of those questions in the song and I’ve managed to keep the track as short as I could at just over five minutes long which was important for me because I don’t want to create something over-blown and egotistical.”
- Amy Meyer

Song Lyrics
She Was Born Into This Life Without A Fighting Chance
Everything That You Take For Granted, Everything That You Expect
Imagine A Life Without Those Security’s, Imagine A Life Full Of Neglect
But She Was Born Without A Chance, Hope Never Came Around
She Lit A Match And Took A Step Back Before Burning This Place To The Ground
---
Pretty Little Princess, She’s Got Her Daddy’s Eyes
Pretty Little Princess, What’s Hiding Behind Those Lies
Pretty Little Princess, With A Killer Smile To Boot
Pretty Little Princess, Unafraid To Shoot
---
Born Into This Life, Cradled In Mommy’s Arms
Hold Her Too Tight, You’ll Be Up All Night
It’s Time To Ring The Alarms
Hold Her Too Tight, You’ll Be Up All Night
Time To Ring The Alarms
---
At Eight Years Old She Knows How To Aim
She’ll Cause A Riot With One Look, I Wonder Who’s To Blame
Neglected Through Her Youth Can You Face The Truth
She’s Learnt To Aim, Nothing Will Ever Be The Same
But I Still Wonder, Who’s To Blame
---
She Goes From The Cradle To The Grave
An Existence Only For The Brave
She Goes From The Cradle To The Grave
A Lonely Path Set Out For The Brave
---
At Sixteen Years Old, She’s A Beauty To Her Peers
Long Black Locks, Without A Care, She’ll Leave You In Fear
She Says First You Must Smile During This Pain
There’s No Use In Running, You’ve Got Nothing To Gain
---
She Carries A Gun In Case She Comes Under Attack
She Knows How To Take Care Of Herself, She’ll Always Fight Back
Darkness Is Her Only Friend, Light Is The Enemy
Silence Is An Eerie Thing, She’ll Watch You As You Bleed
---
She’ll Take Your Heart And Smash It In Two
She’ll Take Your Soul And Never Give It Back To You
She’ll Ruin Your Life If You Give Her The Chance
But You’ll Fall For Her Beauty Like An Epic Romance
---
Messed Up And Tortured, Beated And Bruised
She Never Loved You, Now You Feel So Used
You Fell For Her Trap And Now It’s A Blur
But One Thing Remains, You’ll Never Forget Her
---
She Goes From The Cradle To The Grave
An Existence Only For The Brave
She Goes From The Cradle To The Grave
A Lonely Path Set Out For The Brave