Jeremy has a tendency to get his legs involved as well: In 2002, he biked across the entire continent, from Seattle to Halifax, Nova Scotia—and that’s a loooooong way, folks—to promote his first album, Back Porch Spirituals, recorded in a friend’s basement. That trek took six months and included 30 official shows, plus a number of impromptu performances, and it laid the foundation for what is now a sizable fan base in Fisher’s native Canada. He also has a history of busking in the more conventional manner—whatever it takes to get his music heard. We’re talkin’ grass-roots, interactive DIY to the max with this talented and dedicated—or maybe driven is a better word—young artist.
Fisher’s new album, Goodbye Blue Monday (released in the U.S. September 18 on Wind-up Records), is a timeless burst of acoustic rock & roll that’s brainy and hook-filled, playful and provocative, all at the same time. Take “Cigarette,” which employs the cancer stick as a metaphor for addictive relationships—the enticement, the yearning, the withdrawal and the damage. Or “Scar That Never Heals,” which examines the anatomy of heartbreak. At the same time, both are thoroughly infectious tracks with choruses that are, well, addictive. That’s Fisher’s M.O.
The album’s extremes are represented by the buoyant “High School” (a recut version of the single from Fisher’s second album, Let It Shine, which picked up substantial airplay in Canada) on the one hand, and the politically charged “American Girls” and “Lay Down (Ballad of Rigoberto Alpizar)” on the other. This is the sort of record that sounds like you’ve been playing it forever even as it explores themes that are altogether unprecedented—and that is no mean feat. Says Hawksley Workman (Tegan & Sara), who produced, played and sang backing vocals on the album, “Jeremy’s a brilliant and direct songwriter with a bright soul.”
As a curly-haired singer with an acoustic guitar, Fisher gets the requisite comparisons to Bob Dylan, while his boyish tenor, dexterous fingerpicking and electrifying hooks eerily recall Paul Simon. “It was a little weird to hear that sort of stuff at first,” he says, “but I’m really flattered that people see those resemblances, and I’m sure that some of the records Simon and Dylan listened to are in my collection—Delta blues singers like Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt and Big Bill Broonzy, Alan Lomax’s field recordings, Depression-era stuff. For some reason, I identified with all that old stuff when I was going through this renaissance in my songwriting—it’s what inspired me to continue making music.”
With one foot in roots idioms and the other in rock, Fisher has an unusually broad palate to work with. He spent by far the greater part of his career playing solo, and there’s a disarming spontaneity to his performances. “I’ve probably done 80 percent of my shows solo,” he says, “and I built my thing on top of that. When I was busking, I shed all the things I’d been doing that didn’t work—it developed my songwriting and my performing, and it built my confidence. I feel like I really came into my own performing on the street, and for a while that’s all I wanted to do. So it’s been a hard road trying to find the right band, and the newest incarnation of my band is starting to feel the closest to how comfortable I am as a solo performer.”
As committed as he is to having fun, Fisher is totally serious about his mission. “Music can do a lot of things,” he says, “but the greatest thing music can do is to make listening to a record the best three-and-a-half minutes of your day, or the best night of your week when you go to a show. It’s an escape from the hum-drum; it’s a drug that’s actually good for you. What I’m really trying to do is relate to people on a human level, and in my songs I tend to gravitate toward the human element of a story. For example, ‘Lay Down (Ballad of Rigoberto Alpizar)’ is about a guy who got murdered by an air marshal in the Miami Airport, but the viewpoint I use is the fictitious voice of the guy who shot him. So what I’m trying to do is communicate with people, and music is the best way I know how to do that. Music is such a mysterious thing, because it’s pretty much invisible, but a song can convey an amazing amount of emotion.”
That’s certainly the case with “American Girls,” which boasts another audaciously unsettling premise. “I wrote the chorus and lyrics immediately after reading the verdict on Private Lynndie England, who was the Abu Ghraib soldier who took all the photos with the Iraqi prisoners,” Fisher points out. It was so controversial and got so much attention, and she ended up being the scapegoat, but the verdict got buried in the back of the newspapers because it wasn’t sensational enough, and I didn’t want to let it go by without being documented. That song and ‘The Ballad of Rigoberto Alpizar’ are both about events that are monumental but not nearly as important as the fact that a certain superstar wasn’t wearing underwear when she got out of a limo. This is a very weird culture we live in.”
As for the making of that little video with the big impact, well, there was a serious purpose behind that too. “I wanted there to be something out there that was from me—that wasn’t based on marketing—using what I had in my apartment as creatively as possible,” he says. “Just to be out there and relate to people in that way, and say, ‘Here’s something from me that I made for you. I can’t answer every email, but I want you to know that we’re communicating.’ It’s very important to me to be authentic in everything I do and find a creative way to get it all done. I remember being 12 years old and sending fan letters to pro skateboarders, hoping they’d get to read it and hoping they might write back. So I know what it feels like.”
A lot of time and effort went into that $60 clip. “The cigarette was made out of modeling clay,” Fisher explains, “and every frame was an individual picture I took, so it was a very long process, especially posing the cigarette with live people and getting them to do certain things at the same time. It’s pretty involved. Like, you sit there for an hour moving this little cigarette around, and then you push the spacebar and you have 10 seconds of footage, but somehow it’s rewarding. It’s funny, because I’m not all that patient a person.” He pauses for a beat. “But I’m dedicated.”
No two ways about that. For Jeremy Fisher, it’s all about attending to the details, telling the truth, being real and giving people the best three-and-a-half minutes of their day.
Fall For Anything
Jeremy Fisher Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Is the hole you dig deep enough at all
The graveyard is full, my grandma used to say
If you don't stand for something, you will fall… for anything
Is time worth saving, in paper dollar bills,
Cuz we always just done it, don't mean we always will,
Is it worth singing along if you have a song to sing,
Can one single person make a change if they try,
It's true all the martyrs that ever lived already died,
Is a road so long, gonna have to drive,
If you don't stand for something, you will… too far behind.
Is there meaning in all these words that we say,
Is there reason for living, life anyway,
Is confusion a state, like Iowa or Main,
If you don't stand for something you will fall… for anything
Are the waters so rough, cuz we try to scrub ‘em clean,
Do the mean things we do, do we do the things we mean,
When a child is born is it cuz she has sin
If she tries to stand for something, she'd take the fall… for everything
When the day has come, your shadow lost its light,
Will you see in the darkness, who was wrong and who was right,
Will the devil pay your tab, take you home with him,
Cuz you either stand for something, or you fall… for anything
In "Fall for Anything" by Jeremy Fisher, we see a reflection on the importance of standing up for something in the face of a world that can make us feel small and insignificant. The opening lines pose the question of whether the world is so vast that it can make us feel like we don't matter and whether the actions we take are sufficient in the grand scheme of things. Similarly, the line "Is time worth saving, in paper dollar bills" questions whether our actions and motivations are genuine or whether we're simply going through the motions because it's what's expected of us.
The chorus of the song, "If you don't stand for something, you will fall...for anything", serves as a warning against complacency and the danger of not having convictions. The lyrics then continue to question whether one person can make a difference and whether the pursuit of a meaningful life is worthwhile. The song's message is to encourage people to stand up for something in their lives, even if it's challenging, and to avoid the temptation of being a passive observer.
Overall, "Fall for Anything" is a thought-provoking song that encourages the listener to critically examine their beliefs and motivations. The message is that we have agency in our lives, and we can make a difference if we choose to stand up for something.
Line by Line Meaning
Is the world so big, it makes you feel small,
Are the challenges that come with life sometimes overwhelming and make you feel powerless?
Is the hole you dig deep enough at all
Are you making any significant progress or just wasting time and energy?
The graveyard is full, my grandma used to say
My grandma used to warn about the high price of lack of purpose in life.
If you don't stand for something, you will fall… for anything
Without a strong sense of purpose, you may end up being swayed by any idea, no matter how misguided or harmful it might be.
Is time worth saving, in paper dollar bills,
Is the pursuit of wealth and material possessions a worthwhile endeavor?
Cuz we always just done it, don't mean we always will,
Just because we've always done things one way doesn't necessarily mean we should continue to do so.
Is it worth singing along if you have a song to sing,
Is it worth neglecting your individuality to blend in with the crowd and avoid standing out?
If you don't stand for something, you will fall… for anything
Failing to define and prioritize your values may allow you to be influenced by the wrong ideas.
Can one single person make a change if they try,
Is it possible for an individual to make a significant positive impact on the world?
It's true all the martyrs that ever lived already died,
People who stood up for their beliefs and paid the ultimate price have existed throughout history.
Is a road so long, gonna have to drive,
Is the journey towards achieving your goals long and difficult?
If you don't stand for something, you will… too far behind.
Without a clear sense of purpose, it may be challenging to make progress or find fulfillment in life.
Is there meaning in all these words that we say,
Do the things that people say and do truly hold significance?
Is there reason for living, life anyway,
Is there any real meaning to life?
Is confusion a state, like Iowa or Maine,
Is confusion a pervasive state of mind that is hard to escape?
If you don't stand for something you will fall… for anything
Lacking direction and conviction may leave you vulnerable to misguided influences.
Are the waters so rough, cuz we try to scrub ‘em clean,
Are some of the problems we face a result of our attempts to fix things or make them better?
Do the mean things we do, do we do the things we mean,
Do we always act in accordance with our true intentions?
When a child is born is it cuz she has sin
Are people inherently immoral, with a tendency towards wrongdoing?
If she tries to stand for something, she'd take the fall… for everything
Pushing back against the status quo or nonconformity may bring about difficult consequences.
When the day has come, your shadow lost its light,
As the end of life approaches, do we become less relevant or influential?
Will you see in the darkness, who was wrong and who was right,
Will it become clearer which decisions throughout life were right and which were wrong as death nears?
Will the devil pay your tab, take you home with him,
Will you pay a terrible price for living life without purpose or morals?
Cuz you either stand for something, or you fall… for anything
Deciding what is truly important to you and standing strong in those beliefs is crucial to leading a fulfilling life.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
D Forbes
Dylan...who wouldn't want to be compared to one of the greatest song writers of all time.
Elise Pérez
Man, probably my absolute favorite song of his! And I love a lot of his stuff! Just so beautiful. <3Jeremy Fisher
Annie Farris
I love this song so much <3
Un Microshow
I think he's great i've been following for like 10 years and always thought he had some sort of a dylan style in this song... some would say this doesn't soud good or blah blah blah but in other years this was pure gold it has no tech or autotune (and trust me i like that shit too) but not everything in life must sound like a big expensive band which he also has those kind of songs this is just him and his guitar I love it...
Allie Pearce
I didn't like this song when I first heard it, but I love it now!
Deuce Allan
me too
DanPat121
In all fairness, I think the reason so many people compare him to Dylan is because he DOES sound like him at times (and looks a bit like him as well). It depends on the song though. On "Jolene" he sounds like Simon & Garfunkel with the double-tracked vocals. On "Scar That Never Heals" he sounds like Simon & Garfunkel backed by the Violent Femmes. The guy's a chameleon, really.
Adam Fyfe
Amazing. like the new bob dylan, love Canadian musicians though, keep it up dude
Ben Schillaci
I don't understand what everybody is talking about, he sounds like Jeremy Fisher to me... =)
mossman8787
I liked this song better on the "let it shine album"... It was slowed down too much on blue monday, great song none the less.