by Chris Vasseur
This one hits hard. Anytime loss is addressed it’s a good thing. Every time mental health is brought up and sung about, it's also a very good thing. Even if it gets dark, It’s healing.
The latest single from the Matt Stinn lead GreenWing is a statement. Lyrics aren’t usually the first thing to jump out at me in a song, even though I’m a writer myself. But as someone who has walked that line, it really resonated. These lyrics could have been pulled from my own head when I was in a different place four years ago.
The constant weight of anxieties with family, friends, personal struggles and the falling of society all around us makes it hard for a neurodivergent person like me (and apparently at least a portion of the greenwing writing team….at least for a time) to not only succeed, but just to process the world around. These lyrics really resonate…
I don’t want to die
But I long to be free
Come to the dark with me
Heavy stuff. But also there is light in there. It seems to me that the narrator is just looking for a reprieve from the constant brain activity that comes with the territory. Maybe asking for a bit of help, a shoulder to cry on.
The music backs up the track masterfully with Stinn acting as producer once again, Recorded and produced by Stinn at his own studio Rainy Day Recordings with the mastering done by Trevor Case.
Stinn says of the creative process, “Dark was one of those songs that you start writing and it just sort of flops out onto the floor. Maybe not fully finished, but the general skeleton and lyrical framework came very quickly. Part of that was because we were simply excited to be working on new music but it was also because 2022 had been a year of tremendous losses and there seemed to be a very deep well to pull from. I Think Anthony summed it up best when he said "this is a song about “feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders and pushing through with a hopeful desperation”.”
Wonderfully put. And there is always a path through the darkness…always.
All this being said, it’s still GreenWing so it has an energy and a positivity about it. If you’ve seen this band live, you know they bring both these elements in spades and are one of the most fun live acts around.
Which is probably why they are getting heavy play across western Canada on college radio stations and playing shows constantly. The first single follow up to their debut is a good indication that these guys have a master plan. I love that they are open to talking about and including mental health in their music, it’s important and it also speaks volumes about their integrity. I sincerely hope they continue down this path of trashy but positive, dark but light, good, old, rock and roll.