The third track from the album Turning Sleeping into Art and the fifth to be released as a single, Could You Believe is the song the most easily sums up the very essence of the album. Early on in the recording process Elison had wanted a certain degree of space in the songs, both sonically and spiritually, and this song most successfully demonstrates that ethos.
The song was inspired by Andy Weatherall's anti-production on the album No One Can Ever Know by The Twilight Sad. As a fan of The Twilight Sad, their third album was a huge change sonically, in part down the the far sparser production and Elison wanted the same sort of thing on his album. Often leaning toward over-production though lack of confidence in the material, this time he wanted to strip things back and do as little as possible. With this song in particular as it is in essence the title track, he wanted the sound and lyrics to allow a lot of space for the listener to fill in the gaps. He wanted it to be the most memorable song of the album, without being catchy or making any sense in a conventional way.
Lyrically, although vague, there is meaning in that it was written while Elison was in a certain place. The album is about bringing up a child and this song has its roots in the same place, but doesn't talk about any particular thing. The feelings while writing were ones of fear and overbearing emotions almost crippling in magnitude at the reality of being responsible for a persons future so directly, while looking back at the potential damage to himself during his own upbringing and how to reduce his own impact on his child. As a listener, you can draw your own conclusions.
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