Because everything you did had to be wrong.

Those are the opening lines to a song written by 18-year-old Warren-native Skylar Martin.

It’s a deeply personal reflection about difficult times in his life.

He recently uploaded the song to TikTok.

Skylar Martin

And the early returns have exploded beyond anything he could have imagined.

It’s the culmination of a decade-long exploration of music that he’s hopeful will turn into a life-long pursuit.

“I was seven when I first picked up a guitar,” he said earlier this week. “I was just kind of playing around with it. From what my mom told me, she said that I was just like any other kid playing around with a guitar. It was a toy.”

It didn’t stay a toy.

Last February it resulted in a trip to Los Angeles for an in-person audition for the show The Voice.

Photo provided to the Times Observer Skylar Martin, an aspiring musician who is seeing some success with a recent release on TikTok, auditioned for The Voice last year.

He had applied and done a preliminary audition online before that call came. He didn’t make it to the next phase of the process but the experience certainly seems to have been some confirmation that he’s on to something.

“I do a lot of covers,” he said, and described his style as “100 percent country.” He typically doesn’t write his own music.

But the words just flowed for that song he posted on TikTok. He’s called it “Losing Who I Am.”

“I don’t know what got into me when I wrote this song,” he said. “It was emotional, that’s how it played out.”

And it came together quickly.

“I was actually sitting in my vehicle,” he said. “I was listening to a song. It had the word ‘intentions’ in it. There had been things that have been going on with my father lately…. I was having an emotional breakthrough in the truck. I started singing something.”

He then grabbed a guitar and “so much just started flowing out. I wrote it based on being pure emotion. I went right with how my life is going right now and everything about him.”

Now we’re grown up and we’re all ok, now that we don’t have you in our way.

Haylee and I never needed you, we were better off having a dad that we never knew.

All the hell that you put us through, I wish I could just forget you.

“I’m hoping people can connect to the lyrics that I wrote,” Martin said. “I know that I’m not the only one that went through these situations. There are a lot of people out there, this does hit home for them.

“That’s kind of what’s happening right now which is amazing.”

When he posts a video, he would expect to have it viewed a few hundred to a couple thousand times.

This one? It’s up over 17,500 and growing.

While Martin would like to see the song connect with others who have gone through similar experiences, it’s clear talking to him that the process of writing it was cathartic for him.

“Because the past few weeks have been very tough, seeing all the support… it kind of helps,” he said. “I have all these people in my corner just telling me to stay strong. That’s helping a lot.”

This foray into writing won’t be his last.

“I’m definitely not done writing music, that’s for sure,” he said. “It’s been a career path that I’ve always wanted.”

But how he’s looking to define success isn’t how musicians typically would.

It’s not about getting record deals or songs on the radio for him.

“I don’t want anybody to get the wrong idea,” he said. “I don’t want to be rich. Giant house, cars, nothing like that. I want none of that. I want to live the same way I’m living now.”

That sort of approach would appear to set him up for a life-long hobby.

“I want my music to be out there, to be heard, for people to interact with it, (to be) able to kind of see themselves,” he said. “I want them to be able to feel a certain way about it, as if I’m describing things they’re going through.”

He’s concerned going down this path professionally might limit his ability to meet those objectives.

“Originally, when I got accepted into The Voice, my plan was to never win,” he said. “I don’t want to sign anything…. I don’t want to be told what I have to sing. I just want to be independent.

“Don’t get me wrong, I want to play shows. I don’t want it to be where there’s a company just constantly pushing every single thing that I do. I don’t want to be told what my lyrics are going to be.

“I want to do it myself.”

Those looking to check out his music can find him on Facebook, on TikTok – @skylarmartinmusic – and on Instagram – @skylarmartin20051.