The Louisville band Ellery's Tasha Golden had this song "Long Ago" land in her lap that made her reflect on this year of 2020. In her words:
This song showed up out of nowhere. In August.
I (Tasha) sat down at the piano and it came out in a rush: words, melody, a little piano hook.
I hadn't sung in weeks. Singing had begun to feel like it was for other worlds than this one.
And suddenly "Long Ago" was permanently stuck in my head.🤷🏻♀️
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The thing about this song is how very *2020* it became.
Once I decided to record it, nothing went right.
This year took its toll on my creative imagination, and I couldn't feel this song out. (Did it need more shine? Less hope? A choir?)
We tried recording a few times. Meh. Tried collaborating with more musicians. Nothing landed.
So I tried to give up. But the song was all hello and dark hum.
Despite myself, I wanted to sing along.
Then it was November: an election, a worsening pandemic, a holiday. I stared at piano keys. Decades passed.
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In the last days of November, as a Hail Mary, we sent a sparse demo to producer & musician Dustin Ransom (dustinransom.com). He heard something we couldn't, and brought the song to life.
👉Y'all I mean that he played every instrument on this song. And produced and mixed it. In about a week. (IKR)
I was writing up research, giving lectures, talking public mental health in a crushing year. All I had in me were the vocal lines I'd been singing for months. We recorded them in our attic, and sent them off.
The rest is surrender, interdependence, gratitude.
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For months now, this tune's been a gentle reminder: "It's ok to wish it were otherwise. It's ok to say it out loud." Or sing it.
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So. It's a dark time. We wish it were otherwise.
If you still want a jingle bell song, I made one. (With a lot of help.)
We hope you sing along.
Long Ago (in 2019) by Ellery Animation + Video by Daniel Lobb (www.daniellobb.com)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNr8HKZ5Brk&feature=emb_logo
