Hallowed Be
Another one from the archives for the ride or dies
Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned—it has been 2 weeks since my last newsletter.
My deepest apologies. I’ve been consumed by various projects and snuck in a last-minute flight to New York to visit family. My nephews have begun walking, and I didn’t want to miss that chapter.
My intention was to let everyone know I may be off the grid for a few weeks and miss a newsletter or two, but then days moved like hours, and here we are.
I want to live up to my promise of sharing songs from the unreleased violent joy LP. I say this with the least amount of melodrama, but it’s been difficult to unearth it for many reasons, the most poignant being my realization that holy shit this a very sad record.
It didn’t feel sad when I made it. The song I share today was largely recorded at home, but for the majority of the record I’d fly to New York to work on it in 2-week spurts over the course of a few years, and those little windows of hibernation in that windowless studio were the only moments of peace and respite from an otherwise tumultuous and draining chapter of life. It is strange to listen back now, because I have a lot of empathy for the distraught person who worked on those songs, but also thankful that the record exists because picturing the alternative reality of having gone through those years without an outlet to put all those feelings is nothing short of frightening.
I’m grateful I made this record and hope I never have to make another record like it again.
I’m going to do my best to honor each of these songs by providing lyrics and maybe some context for those interested. I tend to avoid doing that, but it may be helpful here. It’s a delicate tightrope. I will tread lightly…
“Hallowed Be” was written at the height of 2020. It was the culmination of chaos of many kinds. The song is about going home, something I was not able to do that year. I’d always felt the scars and skeletons underneath the surface of the place that birthed me, but that year placed a spotlight on them. The song is a kaleidoscope of long-distance phone calls, headlines, protests, and love lost.
Enjoy.
Hallowed Be
You say I have no seasons
and I lose track of days
But there’s fires in November
and it rained twice in May
Now I lose 10 or 12 years
landing at JFK.
I turn into an idea
repenting mistakes
See me to the front lines
see me lose shape
vanish into small talk
taking up space
see me to the terminal
to the runway
to the plane
see me
losing my faith.
I heard they’re marching on the parkway
both east and west bound
Could you hear them from the basement
or was the TV too loud?
When I come for Christmas
will the church bells resound?
Tell me who is it that they ring for
is it the lost or the found?
When we clear the overpass, I always take my name in veinHallowed Be (unreleased violent joy)
Written/Produced/Recorded at my home studio Mixed & mastered by Warren Trunz