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.
Scar That Never Heals
Jeremy Fisher Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Carryin' my heart like the beat
So fast I can't keep up
My prayers sing the melody
She runs guns everyone wants guns
She runs guns everyone wants there she goes
She runs guns everyone wants guns
Why you wanna save me?
Lord my soul is taken
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
She cried, I cried so hard
Left her for the L.R.A.
Fly by like a million hornets
These bullets know my name
She runs guns everyone wants guns
She runs guns everyone wants there she goes
She runs guns everyone wants guns
She runs guns everyone wants there she goes
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
I done too much damage
Got nothing left to feel
My self is broke and bandaged
Her love is a scar that never heals
Why you wanna save me?
Lord my soul is shaken
Why you wanna save me?
Lord my soul is taken
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
I'm so lonely?
The lyrics of "Scar That Never Heals" by Jeremy Fisher talks about a woman who is carrying the singer's heart like the beat of a polyrhythm. The singer feels like he can't keep up with her pace and his prayers sing the melody of their relationship. The woman runs guns, and everyone wants guns, which can mean that she's in a danger zone or she's involved in the underground world of illegal gun trafficking. The singer questions why she wants to save him when, in fact, his soul is already taken.
The second verse talks about the woman crying, and the singer crying too hard that he left her for the Lord's Resistance Army. He's running away from his problems, and the bullets from his past are chasing him. The chorus repeats with the mention of the woman running guns and everyone wanting guns. The lyrics also indicate that the singer has caused too much damage and has nothing left to feel. He's broken and bandaged, and the only thing that's keeping him together is the love of the woman who's now a scar that never heals.
Overall, "Scar That Never Heals" is a song about a relationship that's intense, chaotic and dangerous where the woman is running away from something unknown, and the man is running away from his past. They both find solace in each other, but their love is also toxic, and it's causing more harm than good. The lyrics are powerful and vivid, and they paint a picture of a relationship that's doomed from the start.
Line by Line Meaning
She's my polyrhythm
She is the driving force behind my heartbeat and melody
Carryin' my heart like the beat
She carries my heart like a drumbeat
So fast I can't keep up
Our love is moving quickly and I'm struggling to keep up
My prayers sing the melody
I pray for our love to stay in harmony
She runs guns everyone wants guns
She is involved in dangerous activities that many people desire to be a part of
She runs guns everyone wants there she goes
She is always on the move, being pursued by those who want what she has
Why you wanna save me?
I am not sure why you want to help me when I am in such a dark place
Lord my soul is taken
I feel like I've lost control of my life and my soul is no longer mine
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
Instrumental sound
She cried, I cried so hard
We were both in tears, overwhelmed by the situation
Left her for the L.R.A.
I had to leave her behind for a dangerous mission (Lord's Resistance Army)
Fly by like a million hornets
The sound of bullets flying by is similar to a swarm of hornets
These bullets know my name
I am a target and it seems like the bullets are coming for me specifically
I done too much damage
I have caused harm and pain in the past
Got nothing left to feel
I am emotionally drained and numb
My self is broke and bandaged
I am broken and trying to heal
Her love is a scar that never heals
Her love has left a permanent mark on me
I'm so lonely?
I am feeling lonely and helpless
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JEREMY BINNS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kshipra Bhandari
She's my polyrhythm
Carryin my heart like the beat
So fast I can't keep up
My prayers sing the melody
She runs guns everyone wants guns
She runs guns everyone wants there she goes
She runs guns everyone wants guns
She runs guns everyone wants there she goes
Why you wanna save me?
Lord my soul is taken
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
She cried, I cried so hard
Left her for the LRA
Fly by like a million hornets
These bullets know my name
She runs guns everyone wants guns
She runs guns everyone wants there she goes
She runs guns everyone wants guns
She runs guns everyone wants there she goes
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
I done too much damage
Got nothing left to feel
My self is broke and bandaged
Her love is a scar that never heals
Why you wanna save me?
Lord my soul is shaken
Why you wanna save me?
Lord my soul is taken
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
I'm so lonely?
Merri Mentis
I wish I could thank him personally for this masterpiece! I've heard it so many times and it means so much to me! I love this music - he really deserves more attention.
Kshipra Bhandari
She's my polyrhythm
Carryin my heart like the beat
So fast I can't keep up
My prayers sing the melody
She runs guns everyone wants guns
She runs guns everyone wants there she goes
She runs guns everyone wants guns
She runs guns everyone wants there she goes
Why you wanna save me?
Lord my soul is taken
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
She cried, I cried so hard
Left her for the LRA
Fly by like a million hornets
These bullets know my name
She runs guns everyone wants guns
She runs guns everyone wants there she goes
She runs guns everyone wants guns
She runs guns everyone wants there she goes
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
I done too much damage
Got nothing left to feel
My self is broke and bandaged
Her love is a scar that never heals
Why you wanna save me?
Lord my soul is shaken
Why you wanna save me?
Lord my soul is taken
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
I'm so lonely?
Jessy Gordy
This is one of the best music videos I've seen in a while. I really enjoy the song too. I'm glad I found it. I especially liked the little dance numbers. (: They were cool, especially since they were like a frame by frame kind of thing. It made it even better.
ajgray39
I saw him open for The Proclaimers in 2008. Amazing artist!
The Rarest
This song is amazing! I met him in LA a few days ago when he opened for Lights. Really nice guy!
maestro h
Songs like this stagger my understanding of the music industry.
The Rarest
Not only is he a great musician, but he's really nice too. Had a chance to talk to him after a show when he opened for Lights
Raymond Sherman
You have so much talent! You should be huge!!
Elana Bell
i just went to a lights concert, and he opened up for her. he was amazing live!
goodintheory
jeremy fisher + stop motion = epic brilliance