Paying tribute to his family’s long and storied history, Heyward takes his name from his five-times grandfather Thomas Heyward (dubbed “The Singing Signer”), founding father and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Other members of the Heyward family are called out in the song Spanish Moss, featuring the lyrics, “Brimmed hats on babes in waiting / Magnolia is housing / Heywards on cotton couches.” References to Savannah cotton magnate Jacob Guerard Heyward are contrasted with his middle-class Philadelphia existence, which Heyward sings about with love and empathy, “My city’s cold and naked / Who’ll wrap an arm around it?
