I'm psyched to share the second track from our new album with you, it's called "Lost in the World." I think this and the title track may be the most direct songs on the album lyrically, and possibly the most direct of anything I've written since the start of this band. I guess I tried to lay it all out there with the first 2 lines:
So we never got famous
So we never left home
This album is very much about living up to a set of ideals that I've been talking about for a while. I believe in creativity for the sake of being creative. I believe the process is the reward. When you make records it can feel like the world around you presumes that your goal is to achieve some level of fame or fortune, or to go out on the road and tour. There's certainly nothing wrong with either of those things, and I'll always have those types of dreams and ambitions, but I think I needed to come to a place where that was no longer the primary motivating factor in making music. I needed to say it out loud in a song that it's okay if that's not what this is about for me right now, and the songs can still matter, and have value, and be important.
Another theme that I got sort of obsessed with that shows up alot on this album is the desire to express the duality of our experience, of being alive. So much of the time, we're supposed to summarize our existence in absolutes. People see you and ask you how you are, and you tell them you're great. Everyone is cultivating a perception of who they are through social media updates, and they're either great, or depressed, or inspired or angry. I realized it's often the same with pop songs, you've got to boil emotions down to something that's easily categorizable. In my own songwriting that started to feel a little dishonest. As I learned a little bit about Buddhism and the concept of staying neutral and not reacting to things, I became more aware that "happy" and "sad" are feelings that usually exist alongside each other. I wanted to try and capture that in songs, and do it in a way that was as direct as possible. "Take it Forever" starts with the line:
Sometimes it feels like nothing matters
Sometimes it feels like everything matters
As simple as that was, it felt significant to me. I felt the satisfaction of articulating a thought that i had been turning over. With "Lost in the World" it was very much an autobiographical song, and I wanted to carry that same thought a bit further:
Sometimes it feels like it takes all that you've got
just to keep from unraveling
Sometimes it feels just like you won the whole goddamned thing
I hope you guys enjoy the song! Also, I haven't gotten to say much yet about Dan and Paul, the new lineup of the band, I probably will next time, but I really love their performances on bass and drums on this track, and I feel really lucky to have gotten to make this record with them.
Cheers!
B
lyrics
so we never got famous
and we never left home
there were times when i was lonely
i was never alone
and all my friends got tired
everybody moves on
i always seemed to find a reason and i
i kept singing songs
some were borne of imitation
of the people i admired
some were borne of pure ambition
others borne of desire
some were borne of a compulsion
or an irrational fear
that if i didn’t get it all down i would somehow disappear
sometimes it feels like it takes all that you’ve got
just to keep from unraveling
sometimes it feels just like you won the whole goddamned thing
i used to want to make a record
just to know i was alive
it took a while for me to figure out my own way to survive
the only virtue is irreverence
claim your own authority
and never let yourself get bitter
don’t forget that you are free
take a moment to remember you’re alive and you’re awake
take your time to look around you
take your time to make mistakes
there’s something infinite inside you
that no one else can ever know
there is is stillness and a silence
a place where no one else can go
sometimes it feels like you get lost in the world
and you’re tired of wandering
sometimes if feels just like you won the whole goddamned thing
Will Stratton's new LP is one of my faves of 2012. This one unfolds slowly, and majestically. RIYL: Nick Drake, Red House Painters, and the lighter/more melancholy side of Nada Surf. beat radio
Johanna Samuels writes introspective and empathetic songs that explore authenticity with lovely, low-key pop melodies. Bandcamp New & Notable May 20, 2021
