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.
Revelator
Josh Garrels Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A vast expanse of complete unknown
Sea of glass so clear it shown,
Like gold
Then a voice like thunder clapped,
As a dead man I collapsed
I am the first, I am the last,
Now rise my son
Then behold ten thousand kings,
And every creature worshipping
Every eye was on one thing,
One man
He's like a lion like a lamb,
As though slain he holds the plan
To make war and peace with man,
And reign on earth
Holy, Holy, is the One,
Who was and is, and is to come
In a robe as red as blood,
He comes forth
Ride like lightning in the sky,
Upon the war horse he draws nigh,
The same one we crucified,
Will come again
The song "Revelator" by Josh Garrels is a powerful and thought-provoking song that draws from imagery in the Book of Revelation. The lyrics speak of a dream in which the singer sees a vast and unknown landscape, and then hears a voice that identifies itself as "the first" and "the last." From there, the scene changes to one in which the singer beholds ten thousand kings and every creature worshipping one man who is both "like a lion" and "like a lamb." This man has the power to make war and peace with humanity and will one day reign on earth.
The song is deeply steeped in Christian imagery, specifically that of the Book of Revelation, which describes the end of the world and the return of Jesus Christ. The sea of glass and the ten thousand kings are both references to the Book of Revelation, and the description of the man as both a lion and a lamb is a reference to the Book of Isaiah. Throughout the song, there is a sense of awe and reverence for the power of God and the coming of Christ, and a reminder that Christ will come again to judge the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Had a dream I was alone
I had a dream where I was in a vast expanse and felt utterly alone.
A vast expanse of complete unknown
The space I found myself in was completely unfamiliar and unknown to me.
Sea of glass so clear it shown, Like gold
The surrounding area was so beautiful and bright that it looked like a sea of shining gold.
Then a voice like thunder clapped, As a dead man I collapsed
Suddenly, a loud and overwhelming voice boomed over me, causing me to collapse like a dead man.
I am the first, I am the last, Now rise my son
The voice claimed to be the first and last, perhaps indicating a divine or powerful figure, and ordered me to rise up.
Then behold ten thousand kings, And every creature worshipping
As I looked up, I saw countless kings and every other living creature all around me, all worshipping the same thing.
Every eye was on one thing, One man
Despite the vast number of creatures present, everyone's attention was focused on a single man.
He's like a lion like a lamb, As though slain he holds the plan
This man was described as having qualities of both a lion and a lamb, and despite being seemingly killed, he holds some kind of plan or power.
To make war and peace with man, And reign on earth
The man's plan is to both bring war and peace to humanity and ultimately rule over the earth.
Holy, Holy, is the One, Who was and is, and is to come
A chant broke out, praising the figure who has always been and always will be, indicating an eternal or divine entity.
In a robe as red as blood, He comes forth
The figure then appeared, wearing a red robe that was likened to blood, perhaps indicating a connection to sacrifice or death.
Ride like lightning in the sky, Upon the war horse he draws nigh
The figure then rode off on a war horse, which was described as moving quickly like lightning through the sky.
The same one we crucified, Will come again
It was then revealed that the figure was the same person who was crucified, but will return again in the future.
Contributed by Mateo F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.