Jensen Reed figured out his future in one of those split-second moments tha… Read Full Bio ↴Jensen Reed figured out his future in one of those split-second moments that sounds like it fell out of a movie script. He was in high school when a friend from Spanish class said he needed a duet partner for a school talent show. Reed volunteered. They covered the Beastie Boys’ “Pass the Mic.” The crowd went nuts.

“Once I hit that stage, there was no going back,” Reed says. “I knew it was what I wanted to do."

He’s been honing his skills ever since, first in North Carolina and now in Los Angeles, where he put together his debut album, “Forget About the Cameras,” a hip-hop/pop fusion of organically grown, energetic beats and smooth, smart rhymes that marks the arrival of a distinctive, versatile voice.

Though he hasn’t been in L.A. long, Reed’s already opened for Dilated Peoples and Little Brother, landed a publishing deal and had song placements in the lauded series “Friday Night Lights,” the Oscar-nominated film “The Messenger” and several MTV shows. He’s hung out at Sundance with revered music-video and film director Mark Pellington, who’s worked with Pearl Jam, U2 and the Foo Fighters and uses one of Reed’s songs in his latest film, “I Melt With You.” Pellington protégé Matt Roe is helming videos for three tracks from Reed’s disc, starting with the dynamic “After The War (featuring superbeautiful).” And lately, Reed’s been hitting the mic as a budding voiceover artist, carving yet another avenue for his prodigious talents.

Reed’s strong work ethic and the confidence he built as a young athlete (his father was a Big 10 college football coach; Reed has worked as a tennis pro since high school) spills over to his lyrics. They have an edge, and he says what he thinks, but without offensive verbal assaults or references to guns, violence and abusive sex. He admits a humorous song like “Grading on a Curve,” might raise some eyebrows, but his humor resonates with guys and girls alike and his lyrics make it clear it’s all in good fun. Unless, of course, the subject is the nemesis of every Tarheels fan: Duke. A couple of years ago Reed, a University of North Carolina graduate and diehard Tarheels booster, spoofed Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” with a hilarious Duke basketball smackdown video that went viral on YouTube, earning half a million hits. That got him an all-expenses-paid visit back home, courtesy of a Chapel Hill club owner who hired him to perform a couple of shows.

“I got to see the Tarheels win the national championship in Chapel Hill with all my buddies, all because of this song,” he says.

Not bad for a parody. But he hopes the rep he’s gaining for his serious work will take him even farther.

Influenced early on by the Beastie Boys, he also fell in love with Doors, the Beatles, Led Zep, the Stones and other Mt. Rushmore rockers. In college he began building an audience, and with his former band, Plan B, ignited Raleigh-Durham crowds as large as 5,000. But when their momentum seemed to stall, Reed says, “I had an epiphany. I was like, ‘I gotta make a move.’”

He packed up and headed to Los Angeles in 2007, six-song EP in hand, and started making connections.

Just to hedge his bets and stay afloat while building his music career, he kept his day job as a tennis pro and picked up a real estate license. His real estate and coaching work put him in contact with many of L.A.’s biggest power-brokers, some of whom became serious fans and began opening doors.

“At first it was somewhat intimidating,” he admits of the competitive L.A. scene. “But then I rocked a couple of shows and it gave me a lot of confidence.”

For Reed, that’s a nice perk. But as he declares in “Believe,” the first track on his album, Grounded by the only thing that I can call my own/The music of my life is right here in this song.

In the end, you gotta believe in yourself. The rest falls into place. For Jensen Reed, the stars are aligning right now.

Going Under
Jensen Reed Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Verse 1

Imagine if we had just a little more time
I ask myself, would you be mine?
I had you right there, right in front me
I had your love, had your smile
Now I’m out here lost at sea
Trying to be free

Chorus

Keep from going under
I’m sinking slow
Keep from going under
Why did I let you go?

Verse 2

Since you left me, there’s been plenty of girls (boys)
But none of them took my heart
Or ruled my world
As crazy as it sounds, I’m not over you
I’ve got my head above water
Trying to figure out what to do
To be next to you

Chorus

Overall Meaning

Jensen Reed’s “Going Under” is a lament about a lost love and the regret that comes with it. The lyrics of the song are powerful in their emotional vulnerability and the reflection upon the singer's past. The song begins with the singer contemplating about what would have happened had they had more time to be together, asking themselves if the love interest would have been theirs. The use of the sailing metaphor of being lost at sea and trying to be free is a poignant image of the singer's realization that they are alone and cannot hold on to the lost love.

In the chorus, the singer pleads to keep from going under while sinking slow, questioning why they let go of the love they had. The heartbreak of the relationship's end is evident through the chorus, and it becomes clear that the singer has not been able to move on. The second verse speaks to the aftermath of the relationship's end, with the singer trying to fill the void with other people but failing to find anyone who can capture their heart the way the love interest did. The admission of not being over the lost love is contradictory to the previous verse's desire to be free. However, the singer's head is above water, trying to figure out their next move to be close to their love.

Overall, the song is an emotional exploration of the pain of losing someone and the regret that comes with it. The lyrics are relatable and emotional, and the use of metaphors adds depth and complexity to the song.

Line by Line Meaning

Imagine if we had just a little more time
Reflecting on what could have been different with more time together

I ask myself, would you be mine?
Contemplating whether the relationship could have worked out

I had you right there, right in front me
Recalling the moments when they were together and in love

I had your love, had your smile
Remembering the feelings of love and happiness with their significant other

Now I’m out here lost at sea Trying to be free
Feeling lost and searching for freedom after the relationship ended

Keep from going under I’m sinking slow Keep from going under Why did I let you go?
Asking why the relationship ended and needing to keep oneself from being completely consumed by sadness and regret

Since you left me, there’s been plenty of girls (boys) But none of them took my heart Or ruled my world
Acknowledging that no one has been able to compare to the former significant other

As crazy as it sounds, I’m not over you I’ve got my head above water Trying to figure out what to do To be next to you
Realizing that despite the time that has passed, they are still in love and struggling to find a way to be reunited

Contributed by Reagan I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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