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.
Left Behind
Jeremy Fisher Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But the leaves are burnin' red
There's one still hanging on my tree
That just won't give into the wind
I had faith in one thing
That was gravity
But you took my feet from the ground so high
[Chorus]
You're always dreamin' so far ahead
I feel a little left behind
We will never find each other my love
In the same place at the same time
You never saw yourself as an artist
I never saw a portrait like your smile
We never saw each other first time we looked
But good things take a while
And you wish to have it figured out
Every detail of your life
Well it's kind of a drag to think about
You not figuring into mine
[Chorus]
So I'm putting this love for you out there
And it will not be bound by time
I'll be in your hands as a deck of cards
And on your lips like cheap red wine
The song "Left Behind" by Jeremy Fisher is an introspective piece about the complexities of a relationship. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of a chilly October day, with the leaves turning red and falling from the trees. The imagery sets the tone for the song, as it suggests a sense of both beauty and melancholy. The first verse establishes a sense of uncertainty and vulnerability as a lone leaf remains hanging on a tree, defying the winds- which can be interpreted as a metaphor for the singer's own resilience in a failing relationship.
The chorus highlights the central theme of the song, which is feeling left behind in a relationship. The phrase 'dreaming so far ahead' implies that one partner is always determined to move forward and achieve their goals without including the other half. The repetition of feeling 'left behind' underscores the disappointment and fear of losing the person they love to future ambitions. The lyrics, "We will never find each other my love/ In the same place at the same time" suggest an inevitable breakup that is caused by their differences.
The second verse portrays a romantic moment, with the singer admiring their partner's smile. However, this idyllic moment is revealed to be fleeting since they never saw each other at their first meeting. The third verse hints at the frustration felt by the singer due to their inability to fit into their partner's meticulously planned life. Despite the challenges, the singer confesses their love and puts it out there, hoping that their relationship will not be bound by time, and that they will remain a part of their lover's visions for the future.
Line by Line Meaning
It's cold when it's October here
Even though it's October, the weather is very cold, which is unusual.
But the leaves are burnin' red
Despite the cold, the leaves on the trees are turning into beautiful, warm colors of red.
There's one still hanging on my tree
There's one last leaf still attached to my tree despite the wind trying to blow it away.
That just won't give into the wind
The leaf is holding on tightly, refusing to let go and be taken by the wind.
I had faith in one thing
There was one thing I believed in 100%.
That was gravity
That thing I believed in was the force of gravity that keeps us grounded on Earth.
But you took my feet from the ground so high
You had such a profound effect on me that I felt like I was flying high and not grounded anymore.
I don't know what that word even means
Your impact on me was so great that I'm not even sure what 'grounded' means anymore.
You're always dreamin' so far ahead
You constantly have goals and aspirations that are far-reaching and ambitious.
I feel a little left behind
Sometimes I feel like I can't keep up with you or your goals.
We will never find each other my love
Sometimes it feels like we will always miss each other or be out of sync.
In the same place at the same time
We never seem to be able to coordinate or be together at the same time and place.
You never saw yourself as an artist
You never believed you had the talent or the eye for art.
I never saw a portrait like your smile
But to me, your smile is a work of art unlike any other.
We never saw each other first time we looked
The first time we saw each other, we didn't notice anything special or unique.
But good things take a while
But sometimes, the best things in life take the longest to reveal themselves.
And you wish to have it figured out
You always want to have everything planned and sorted out in advance.
Every detail of your life
You strive to know every single detail of how your life will progress.
Well it's kind of a drag to think about
To me, it's a bit tiresome or overwhelming to try to plan everything out in advance.
You not figuring into mine
But it's even more exhausting to try to plan things with you when your path and mine don't always align.
So I'm putting this love for you out there
So I'm expressing my love for you openly and freely.
And it will not be bound by time
My love for you will not be limited or defined by time constraints or schedules.
I'll be in your hands as a deck of cards
I'll always be there for you, ready to be shuffled and dealt with in any situation.
And on your lips like cheap red wine
And my memory or presence will linger on your lips like the taste of cheap red wine.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: JOSE GONZALEZ, HENRY BINNS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Sylvia Salas
awesome track.
Thomas Ludwick
Still listening in 2020 and beyond