There isn’t much folks see eye to eye on these days, but I’m willing to bet most would agree that 2020 has been a strange year. A slow pressure has been building month after month, fueled by numerous events which have played out in concert. All the while life has slowed. It is said that we are now in the midst of a national mental health crisis. I believe it.
The phrase “may you live in interesting times” may sound like well wishing, but it is typically delivered ironically. In recent months we’ve had the opportunity to learn first hand why it is no blessing at all to live in “interesting” times. The Chinese expression "better to be a dog in times of tranquility than a human in times of chaos” hits the sentiment squarely on the nose.
As has been the case for many musicians I know, the abundance of free time I’ve had in recent months has not been matched by an abundance of creative output. Early 2020 found me pacing the hardwood floors in my kitchen with guitar in hand, as I tend to do. Winter has always been a creative season for me, and I had begun writing a song called This Old Heart and was considering how to finish it … and then the world changed. “Not with a bang, but with a whimper.”
“Now it’s been a long night, for a long, long time”
When the pandemic arrived I found that my creative energy had disappeared. Whatever inspiration had been driving this new composition was long gone. In truth, it was difficult at times to remember the person I was or what “normal” life used to feel like. I imagine this is something many of you can resonate with. When a few months had passed, This Old Heart began to call to me again. I’m not sure what it was that drew me back to the song, but I put pen to paper and found that the tune was completed quickly.
In finishing the song I took a new direction, one more in keeping with the events unfolding both inside of me and outside my door. The song is unique in this way, having been conceived in the world as it used to be, and delivered into this strange new world we are learning to navigate together.
“I’ve seen some rough road, a heavy load
Beating back a jungle of the seeds that I let grow”
I’m aware that my music has not always been the most happy and hopeful, and without a doubt my last release, The Lonesome Side of Town, struck a distinctively sorrowful and melancholic tone. I own that. That was its purpose after all. But I found myself given to reflection upon reading a review of the record which stated, “One thing is clear. This is a sad, sad man.”
The comment caused me to step back and consider my place carefully. I’ve willingly owned the come cry with me moniker, believing that songs of pain have an ability to get down low and meet people where they are at, in the places they are hurting. I know this from personal experience, having been drawn to painful songs as a listener, and I’m fairly sure I have a few left in me. Still, I wondered what it would be like to write from a different space, and whether finding a different musical voice might help me find such perspective within my own life?
The jury is still out on that score, but I am hopeful. If you’d like to give This Old Heart a listen you can find it here, and digital copies are available for purchase on Bandcamp.
Americana Singer Songwriter Ed Dupas’ lived-in melodies unwind with reflective lyrics that speak to the current state of the human condition. Soothing where possible, agitating where necessary, and calling for change where appropriate. Ed Dupas creates and shares well worn wide awake music.
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