As far as I can recall at least half of Spin was rewritten because some of it wasn't deemed good enough.
LION I think was written from a real experience whereas Insatiable was written from a wistful longing and fantasy of wanting to be in love but for me anyway this song works. I'm pretty sure SR was written from real life experiences too.
I don't know about ICEGEOY, WYL or IMY though. I think there may be elements of truth in those although they probably were not acurately reflecting what was going on in his life right then. Could have been written from memories I suppose.
I think most of Spin was written and then rewritten under pressure but given the time constraints and where he was in his life right then, I think he felt safer producing an album like Spin. In fact I think I remember reading something about him acknowledging that the feelings he had at the time were not really reflected in Spin.
He seemed to be in a rather unhappy headspace for most of the Spin era and if you don't feel happy then it's very difficult to convey that you are through whatever medium your art requires you to. Sometimes though I get the feeling with Darren that his best work is written in the aftermath of unhappiness ie Affirmation and TTATS. Sometimes the best songs are written in isolation when there are no other distractions and feelings can be worked out and concentrated on. He seemed to be fed up and not all that well for most of the Spin era. I think his professional and personal life at the time was making him miserable and in turmoil.
Given all that ^^^ I don't think Spin was that bad an album actually. It may have been better in hindsight for Darren to have delayed releasing Spin slightly to allow him to work through his feelings a bit more and to give him more time to reflect and work on the type of material he really wanted to include on it. WYWTB which came a little later on I think illustrates this type of honest, sincere and heartfelt feelings and emotions. So many people took it to their hearts and related to it because of it's rawness, vulnerability and integrity. I think he was just under so much pressure from Sony etc to produce something after the demise of SG that this was the best that he could come up with at that time.
Janie xx
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