Redshift

from Redshift by The Okay Lakes

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about

Many songs describe feeling like a stranger in a place you used to belong. “Redshift” reckons with the fact that so much of who we are—who our friends, family, and neighbors are—is shaped by the push and pull of forces that are random and blind and predetermined and far beyond any individual’s control.

In astronomy, “redshift” refers to the way that wavelengths of light stretch and appear redder as objects in our expanding universe move away from us. I first learned about it in a college class, and I’ve never shaken the realization 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 the tug of these two poles in the verses of this song: the cosmic and the material. I still can feel paralyzed by the thought that we are not beings moving through life, but rather that life is a thing moving through us. But when we’re lucky and clear-headed enough to recognize a choice between fear and love, we have to choose the latter.

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

from Redshift, track released February 16, 2023
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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The Okay Lakes Chicago, Illinois

Debut album, "Redshift" out now.

Songs to soundtrack late-night drives on the backroads of the Midwest.

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