Garrels has been a lot of things: son of a hippie commune, skater boy,
suburban drug dealer, music/design student, coffee roaster, urban shepherd, and now nation- and globe-trotting minstrel of hope and healing.
He is also a beacon of light in a marketplace rife with artists who, whether wanting to acquire fame or just their next meals, have sold their souls to the not-so-almighty dollar and forsaken their first loves – the song – in the process. Garrels’ rogue ethic first led him to self-record, -produce, and -distribute a trio of early recordings, Stone Tree (2002), Underquiet (2003), and Over Oceans (2006), each a holy merging of sampled beats; plaintive, soulful vocals; and earnest acoustic strumming over unabashedly lo-fi production.
Despite fielding offers from major labels, Garrels retained a marked distrust for the recording industry (and it is just that) and, with the release of Over Oceans, formed his own little label that could: Small Voice Records. He also formed a humble but subtly mighty union with one Michelle Ramsdale, whose art has accompanied his aural musings on both Over Oceans and the subsequent Jacaranda album (2008).
It was the recording and producing of Jacaranda that proved a turning point for team Garrels. Housed in an old, rural mansion – a friend’s donated respite on an Indiana river in the woods – Josh and Michelle set to fashioning a home for themselves; crafting his best, tightest collection of songs to date; and creating a baby girl (née Heron Selah Garrels) all at once. The album itself became his most critically lauded so far, and the single “Don’t Wait For Me” was used in a scene on CBS drama “The Ghost Whisperer.”
Josh Garrels’ music is always equal parts confidence and vulnerability. That may seem a dichotomy – and then you hear him. Those trademark vibrant trills, lyricism chock-full of an earthy gusto and the search for God both, and the tapping and slapping against his trusty homemade acoustic axe – the sum of it is an amalgam of sound like precious few before or beside him.
“Fight or flight” is simplistic phrasing for the choice we often have in life’s trying situations. In his gritty formative years the former there was Josh Garrels’ strategy, but since his coming of age (and of belief) and his entrance into bona fide adulthood, within and without, his modus operandi has become flight. Flight as in lift-off, ascension. Rising above. Yea, the name of his young daughter is shared with a bird. Flight is a fixture, and wings a metaphor, in both the love story that Josh and Michelle grew and in the visual and musical arts that both have cultivated.
“My hope is to record at least an album a year for many years to come,” Garrels says, “probably continuing to record myself with my own home studio.” To borrow another well-worn axiom: If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. A minimalist website and album sales at live shows eventually thrust Josh Garrels into the arena where he now resides.
Garrels has always sought to inject his ears and his mind with a wide swath of influences. Early on it was Cat Stevens and De La Soul, and then those gave way to honchos of east-coast hip-hop the likes of the Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest. The mellowing – and yet, ironically, the lionizing – of his head, heart, and soul are evident in his budding young-adult affinities for the sounds of Bob Dylan and Digable Planets, Ben Harper and Gustavo Santaolalla.
Despite being his cherished mentors of music, none of these established artists would make Garrels blink were he to meet them. “In a media-saturated pop culture society where ‘stars’ are the royalty to be worshipped or fawned over, I believe the true role of artists is to serve others with their creations, “ Garrels says. “That means to draw people to fullness of life through revelation, longing, breakthroughs, simple beauty, and unpretentious truths. Artists help people see the obvious, the heart of the matter, and from this regained perspective people become more fully human. So much art these days has people focusing on an unattainable fantasy, lusting over what they'll never have unless they take it by force or by way of money or libido. This is all candy, and candy can't make a man healthy.”
Indeed, and “candy” is the last word for describing Josh Garrels, his life and his tunesmithing. He harmonizes and he freestyles, apt to lift a glitch beat or an accordion to the song at hand, whatever it demands. His latest, Lost Animals (2009), features a sonic quilt of singles, Jacaranda B-sides, soundtrack work, and collaborations. Originally intended as an EP, it outgrew those trappings and emerged a full-length weighing in at 10 songs.
As outgrowing goes, native Michigander Garrels and his family shed their initial digs in Indianapolis, that urban epicenter of gorgeous, golden cornfields, and took to North Carolina for a year to grieve with dear ones a death in the clan. Heartfelt time spent in Carolina bowed out gracefully to their nascent residence in Portland, Oregon, specifically the diverse and progressive artists’ haven that is the Mississippi/Alberta district.
For all the beats and world instruments and innovative guitar work, it will always be about the words with Josh Garrels. His stuff is drenched in musings that encompass time-worn theology and pastoral wonderment, that delight in the fauna of this world and a faith in another still to come. “Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.” So said the writer C. S. Lewis, and so echo the visceral yearnings, sometimes verbose yet often as unintelligible as the melodies on some of his best tracks, that make up this well-traveled troubadour’s trunk full of songs.
New Day
Josh Garrels Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's a new day, things are gonna change
It's a new day, things are gonna change
It's a new day, things are gonna change
My mind swells and swells as I look at this world on a new plane
Like a giant universal brain
People are the cells and these streets are the veins
Putting shame to the name, living their life on trains and planes
And automobiles
Now deal with how you feel, don't conceal your
Spirituality because that's your
Individuality in this reality man ...damn
Create the state of your own future rip out the
Suicidal sutures that Are set by this so called superior society man
They trying me and
My one desire to acquire and maintain the inner fire
That inspires my entire mode of thought
I talk the big talk on lessons that aren't bought but
Caught and through the misfit and the
Infinite, ability to spit infinite type huh
Thoughts and phrase
Lost in thought I travel mental mazes
My inner fire straight burns and blazes
I never suffer to another man's praises
Because pride will make your mind flip
When you go on a power trip,
Your grip will slip and you'll live a personal apocalypse
Eclipse of your third eye, right
Scorched by 451 fahrenheit
It burns like masonite and dynamite ya ya ya
What you gonna, what you gonna do
You can only do one or two things
Love or hate [?] hate the (?) not the war
Tell me when you dead who's knocking at your door
If you wanna love me I love you more
One to the two two, threes and four
It's a new day, things are gonna change
It's a new day, things are gonna change
It's a new day, things are gonna change
It's a new day, things are gonna change
Some say that folks of today are rebels
Without a cause but I got a cause and I'm a rebel
Without drugs I'm high as treble
I grew from a pebble to a boulder and now the
The weight of the world is on my shoulders but I'm a soldier in this
Holy war-one day my...
God will knock a devil to the core set the
Score for a new heaven earth and more, hey hey
I represent abstract on cement and (?
) Speech Impediments like a flint arrow head(?
) From the left, from the left, That shot them dead.
They bled, the animal was fed,
I dread the hype, because I'm a unseen prototype
In adidas three stripes strike like a viper with hyper speed
Indeed my sounds freed from the flow victims of vertigo
I can go fast or slow like molasses
I kick it for the masses, rich asses and then the classes
What you gonna do, uh what you gonna do
You can only do one or two things
Love or hate [?] war
Tell me when you dead who's knocking at your door
If you wanna love me I love you more... kick it...
One to the two two threes and fours
It's a new day, things are gonna change
It's a new day, things are gonna change
It's a new day, things are gonna change
It's a new day, things are gonna change
The song "New Day" by Josh Garrels is a powerful call to embrace a new perspective and take action towards personal growth and change. The repetition of the phrase "It's a new day" serves as a mantra, encouraging listeners to leave behind past mistakes and embrace a fresh start. Garrels uses vivid metaphorical language to convey this shift in perspective, comparing the world to a universal brain with people as cells and streets as veins. He warns against conforming to societal expectations and encourages listeners to cultivate their own spirituality and individuality.
Garrels highlights the importance of taking personal responsibility for one's own future and avoiding self-destructive behavior. He acknowledges the struggle of living in a society that often sets up barriers to personal growth, but ultimately urges listeners to overcome these obstacles and follow their own paths. His lyrics touch on themes of rebellion, perseverance, and independence.
Overall, "New Day" is a stirring and inspiring message of hope and empowerment, urging listeners to take action towards a brighter future.
Line by Line Meaning
It's a new day, things are gonna change
The singer is emphasizing that a new day has dawned and things are going to be different from now on.
My mind swells and swells as I look at this world on a new plane
The singer's mind is expanding as they see the world from a fresh perspective.
Like a giant universal brain
The singer compares their mind to a vast, interconnected network of thoughts and ideas.
People are the cells and these streets are the veins
The artist uses a metaphor to describe how people are the building blocks of society, and the streets connect them like veins in a body.
But beware not many slide down the same drain
The artist cautions that not everyone follows the same path in life.
Putting shame to the name, living their life on trains and planes and automobiles
Some people are living their life without purpose or direction, and this is a waste.
Now deal with how you feel, don't conceal your spirituality because that's your individuality in this reality man ...damn
The singer encourages others to be true to themselves and not hide their spiritual beliefs, as this is an important part of their identity in the world.
Create the state of your own future rip out the suicidal sutures that Are set by this so called superior society man
The artist advises others to take control of their own destiny and break free from societal expectations that may be harmful to their well-being.
They trying me and my one desire to acquire and maintain the inner fire that inspires my entire mode of thought
The artist discusses their drive to maintain a passionate, creative mindset and not let outside forces extinguish their inner fire.
I talk the big talk on lessons that aren't bought but caught and through the misfit and the infinite, ability to spit infinite type huh thoughts and phrase
The artist believes that true knowledge and wisdom cannot be bought, but must be experienced and absorbed through personal growth and expression.
Lost in thought I travel mental mazes my inner fire straight burns and blazes
The singer experiences a vivid and intense inner life, driven by their passion and creativity.
I never suffer to another man's praises because pride will make your mind flip
The artist eschews external approval and recognition, as it can lead to ego and arrogance.
When you go on a power trip, your grip will slip and you'll live a personal apocalypse eclipse of your third eye, right scorched by 451 fahrenheit it burns like masonite and dynamite ya ya ya
The singer warns against the dangers of becoming obsessed with personal power or control, which can lead to self-destruction and spiritual blindness.
What you gonna, what you gonna do You can only do one or two things Love or hate [?] hate the (?) not the war Tell me when you dead who's knocking at your door If you wanna love me I love you more One to the two two, threes and four
The singer reflects on the importance of choosing love over hate, and considers the ultimate meaning of life and death.
Some say that folks of today are rebels Without a cause but I got a cause and I'm a rebel Without drugs I'm high as treble
The singer rejects the idea that modern rebels are aimless, and declares their own personal cause and passion.
I grew from a pebble to a boulder and now the The weight of the world is on my shoulders but I'm a soldier in this Holy war-one day my...
The artist has grown into a strong, resilient force and feels a sense of duty to fight for a greater good.
God will knock a devil to the core set the Score for a new heaven earth and more, hey hey
The artist believes that a higher power will ultimately triumph over evil and create a better world.
I represent abstract on cement and (?) Speech Impediments like a flint arrow head(?) From the left, from the left, That shot them dead.
The singer expresses themselves through artistic, abstract means and sees their creative expression as a powerful force.
They bled, the animal was fed, I dread the hype, because I'm a unseen prototype In adidas three stripes strike like a viper with hyper speed Indeed my sounds freed from the flow victims of vertigo I can go fast or slow like molasses I kick it for the masses, rich asses and then the classes
The singer describes their unique artistic style and the way it has given them a powerful voice to influence others.
Writer(s): Josh Garrels
Contributed by Alexander O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.