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about
// About //
Many songs describe feeling like a stranger in a place you used to belong.
My song “Redshift” reckons with the fact that so much of who we are—so much of who our friends, family, and neighbors are—is shaped by the push and pull of forces that are blind, random, predetermined, and far beyond any of our individual control.
In astronomy, “redshift” refers to the way that wavelengths of light stretch over time, and appear redder as objects move away from us in our ever-expanding universe. I first learned about this in a college class, and I’ve never quite shaken the sensation that, with each passing second, the farthest fringes of the observable universe are sliding irrevocably into darkness.
In America, “redshift” refers to a far more immediate slide into darkness.
I feel tugged between these two poles moving through the verses of this song: between the cosmic and the terrestrial, between the abstract and the material. I am occasionally paralyzed, dumbstruck by the notion that we are not beings moving through our lives, but rather that the universe is a thing that moves through us.
But… down here on earth, when we’re lucky, able, and clear-headed enough to recognize a choice between fear and love, we have to choose the latter.
lyrics
// Lyrics //
It's the 42nd parallel
But half of this bar
They talk like they're from somewhere else
With a fake southern drawl
It's like I turned the AM dial
Sliding through to get a beer
I'll stick around a little while
But I don't wanna be long here
They fly the rebel flag in Michigan
They're born with the right
Grandkids of militiamen
Bred for the fight
I hear these villains playing victim
Though they're falling on deaf ears
The same words sounded different
Back when I belonged here
Those same words sounded different
Back when I belonged here
I knew these men as kids
When I was like 'em myself
Righteous with an ignorance
Unknown to itself
But gravity took over
I saw a world beyond this sphere
If it'd pulled me closer
I still might belong here
Instead, I came back every Christmas
Bit my tongue till it bled
Felt my closest grow distant
As their blue blood went red
Felt 'em recognize a stranger
Too far gone to draw in near
Didn't notice I was changing
Till I didn't belong here
Didn't notice I was changing
Till I didn't belong here
Now, I'm drunk under the glimmer
Of a thousand more stars
And they'll go red as they grow dimmer
Till they're lost to the dark
I'll be restless in my searching
As heaven disappears
Man, I used to be so certain
Back when I belonged here
So here's to every nowhere village
To the dark-hidden stars
To the places god no longer visits
Or sends his regards
I left here for a reason
Way back then it wasn't clear
With some distance now I see it
I don't wanna belong here
With some distance now I see it
I don't wanna belong here
credits
released February 16, 2023
// Credits //
Drums & Perc by Ryan Birkett
Recorded at Populist Recording & Shirk Studios in Chicago
Mixed by Grant Cornish
Mastered by James Scott
Cover Art by David Bez
Written, Arranged & Produced by Jordan Keller
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