I’ve caught myself giving the people’s eyebrow when I hear people say that they don’t believe in ghosts; although, when I think ghosts I’m not talking about spirits or creatures leaving trails of ectoplasm for bored professors to find. We all leave a little bit of ourselves in the places we feel most at home. Whenever I drive past my grandmother’s old house, I’m immediately 6 years old again, playing with my cousins on her back porch. There’s an abandoned bar in the middle of town called Yesterday’s that I’ve never been inside of, but seeing the sign immediately brings me to the backseat of the car my dad’s old car — beat up red interior and everything. Those places will always be home to the people that I once was and that warm rush of nostalgia is something that I’ll always hold dear. That isn’t the case for everyone though, as proven by the beautifully somber “Sober Dawn” by Jonathan Becker & The North Fields.
The title track of their upcoming album, out May 25th, focuses on the negative emotions that can often be tied to places that you once loved. Versions of yourself that you may not be proud of still roam those halls nightly, and, even seeing them can often cause a flood of guilt and anger that could make a puddle of even the most stoic. Becker uses each verse to paint a somber portrait of middle America and the lyrics feel just as much informed by the sharp tones of Americana as the tones do by the lyrics; the two feel so tied together that it’s hard to imagine one being written before the other. Even still, these verses exist to give way to a chorus full of tangible heartache that sees Becker croon, “When the night comes that’s another day gone/juxtaposed and passed over living in between bars/Finding love in the new ways of avoiding the bad tastes/that you’ll find in the same old places.” It’s the kind of painstakingly beautiful songwriting that can only come from something deeply personal, like a thorn in your side or a nail in the wrist.
When asked about the track, Becker says “The song is about the concept of dawn and how it approaches us with an urgent paradigm shift. Coming out of the night into a new day often seems to wash us over with regrets as the daylight has a way of showing us some truths or details that may have been difficult to see or reflect on.I see this track as a strong example of the cathartic process of the album itself which is expressing past turmoils, addiction, and bad tastes with a need for change.”
Listen below.
Sober Dawn will be self-released on May 25th.
