For songwriter and high school physics teacher Rich Anthony, music serves as a powerful vehicle for storytelling, healing, and connection. In this intimate conversation, Rich shares the surprising evolution of his song “It Never Ends“—originally conceived with a tragic ending but ultimately transformed into a message of enduring strength and hope.
Rich offers insights into his creative process, discussing how he preserves his songs as emotional timestamps while occasionally refreshing their musical arrangements. He reveals unexpected sources of inspiration, including the profound quote “Only When It’s Dark Enough Can You See the Stars,” which sparked his recent release.
With his upcoming single “Make Me Yours” set to release on March 22nd, featuring an edgier, experimental sound, Rich continues to blend vulnerability with artistic growth. Throughout our discussion, he explores the fascinating parallels between his scientific background and musical creativity, demonstrating how both worlds rely on experimentation, problem-solving, and those magical “eureka” moments.
Your songs are deeply emotional and often tell a story. Have you ever written a song that surprised you—one that took a different direction than you initially intended?
My song “It Never Ends” ended up completely different than what I originally intended. It’s a true story about knowing someone who was addicted to drugs. After they nearly died once from an overdose and made a promise to never do that again, about 18 months later they were addicted to fentanyl. A relative of mine passed away from that not long before I found out. So originally all I had in my head was an unhappy ending. In my head, I pictured a video that would go along with the song that would show them in a hospital bed hooked up to a heart rate monitor.
The monitor would beat with the tempo of the song, and at the final words, they were going to be “don’t let it end” as the monitor flatlines. I realized that I didn’t want that ending. I didn’t want to put that energy into the universe. So I changed the whole structure. The verse stayed the same (how the addiction never ends), but the second verse turned into how my love for them will never end, and the third verse is how their own strength will never end and get them through this. So far, I’m glad to say that is how it is going in real life. They are no longer addicted to drugs.
As a songwriter, you carefully craft lyrics that resonate with listeners. Do you ever go back and revise older songs, or do you prefer to leave them as they are, capturing that moment in time?
I may change a line or two but prefer to leave them as they are. They are feelings I felt that may not be a part of me anymore, but they captured what I was feeling at the time, and I wouldn’t want to change that. I have redone the music for certain songs because I felt the lyrics and melody were still relevant but the music sounded dated. In fact, I’m currently working on a song called “Connected” that I recorded over 10 years ago but want a more acoustic sound. It’s about how everyone is connected, and hopefully we can find something that brings us together. I feel like that is important today more than ever.
You’ve mentioned drawing inspiration from artists like Billy Joel and Tracy Chapman. Have any unexpected influences—whether books, films, or personal experiences—shaped your songwriting?
I’d say my most unexpected influence was when I heard the quote, “Only when it’s dark enough can you see the stars.” I’ve never used a quote from someone in one of my songs before, but it just struck me as something I wanted to write about as soon as I heard that line.
Teaching physics and writing music are two very different worlds. Do you ever see parallels between science and music in the way you create or think about your work?
In both science and music, experimentation is key. Scientists test hypotheses to explore new ideas, and songwriters experiment with different melodies and lyrics to try to discover what works best for a song. I think there are problem-solving skills used for both. I think they also both have “eureka” moments. Like when Archimedes discovered that the volume of water displaced was directly related to the volume of his body submerged while taking a bath. It just hit him. Many of my song ideas hit me in the same way. I have rarely written a song that didn’t start with that spark of an idea.
You’ve experimented with different genres and sounds. Is there a style or musical element you haven’t explored yet but would love to try in the future?
I like many types of music, but as a singer, I don’t feel I have a voice for something like country or hard rock, and many other genres, but I would enjoy writing lyrics for some of those genres.
“Only When It’s Dark Enough” is such a powerful statement. When you first heard this phrase, did it instantly spark a song idea, or did it take time to develop into music?
It instantly sparked an idea to create a song, but it took a while to finish it all. I usually start with the chorus and then work on the verses, which is how this song worked out.
The music video for “Only When It’s Dark Enough” is only a snippet of the full song. Why did you decide to release just a short video rather than a full-length visual?
There were two reasons to just create a short video. One is that I felt as if it would be enough to tell a very short story and would be good for putting on sites where people watch short videos like TikTok. The other reason is budgetary reasons. It would have cost more to create a full-length video, and I’d rather spend the money on recording future songs that I’m working on.
You’ve tackled personal and social themes in your music. Is there a particular topic or message you feel especially passionate about addressing in your future work?
As mentioned earlier, I really want to re-record an old version of a song called “Connected” because I feel as though it fits the time. I also want to get back to releasing songs from my “eMpTy” project (songs inspired by someone whose initials are M.T.) I felt inspired while knowing this person, and song ideas came easily during that time that I wanted to put out.
What can fans expect from your upcoming release “Don’t Give Up” regarding sound and storytelling?
“Don’t give up” is a phrase used in my last song, “Only When It’s Dark Enough,” but it isn’t an upcoming song. My next song is coming out on March 22. It’s called “Make Me Yours.” It’s vibe is a lot different compared to “Only When It’s Dark Enough.”. It has an edgy guitar, and a lot of the lyrics are spoken and not sung. It’s more experimental than most of my other songs. I’m excited but also a bit nervous that the reactions won’t be positive because they’ll be expecting something more similar to what I’ve done before.