“This is the record I’ve been wanted to make for years”, says Rosolino. “It’s a record that says something as a whole - an album in the old school sense - something that can be listened to from start to finish and takes you along for the ride, not just a bunch of non-related, radio-friendly songs.” Produced and mixed by Nashville local Mitch Dane (Jars of Clay) and mastered by Jacquire King (Tom Waits, No Doubt), “Wonderlust” marks the newest chapter in the rise of an authentic, wonderfully-gifted singer-songwriter.
Justin started playing guitar when he was six years old, which in a family like his, seemed the natural thing to do. His father sang and played guitar in the New York R&B circuit – places like the Apollo and the Cotton Club – and Justin began sitting in with the band by the time he was twelve.
His growth as a musician continued through his teens, and in 1991 he left New York for Charlottesville, Virginia, where he put down his electric guitar to front Southern Exposure, an acoustic duo that soon became a local mainstay. Within their first two years of performing, the folk/rock pair were jamming sell-out crowds into local venues and playing with prominent regional acts like SGGL and Jackopierce. They were later voted in as one of the top ten bands in the area, sharing the honor with groups like the Dave Matthews Band. It was at the University of Virginia that Justin began broadening his musical horizons, venturing beyond his folk/rock roots and joining an R&B/funk band, a gospel choir and nationally renowned collegiate chorus. Naturally, this expanded his understanding of music and his approach to the acoustic guitar, and he began digging into the more experimental styles of Michael Hedges, Paul Simon and Jimmy Page.
Moving south in early 1997, Justin quickly established himself in the Atlanta acoustic scene. Before he’d even found a place to live he’d already won his first songwriting/performance competition at the nationally-renowned venue Eddie’s Attic. Since then he’s performed in over 30 states as well as overseas, selling over 4,500 recordings along the way. Highlights have included performances with the likes of India.Arie, David Wilcox, Ellis Paul and Angie Aparo. Justin has also written TV commercial music for Ford, grown as an accomplished session guitarist in Nashville and Atlanta, gotten airplay on indie radio from Canada to the Czech Republic and everywhere in between, and even got to perform for President George W. Bush in the Spring of ’03.
“Wonderlust” is a must have for all music fans who are looking for something a little deeper. Take the reflective lyrics found in folk, add the passionate energy of rock and the textural depth of artful pop, and you’ve got the basic recipe for Justin’s music. At times reminiscent of Jeff Buckley, Elliott Smith and Lenny Kravitz, “Wonderlust” travels through the whole range of human emotions.
www.justinrosolino.com
Believe
Justin Rosolino Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As cold as earth and way up high
Where no one would ever dare to climb
And maybe there might come a day
When I'd be beautiful from far away
Hidden in the half-light of the morning grey
But it's not that there's some secret place in me
[Chorus]
No, she
She doesn't believe
She doesn't believe in me
I wish I were a storybook
And like a lonely child, every night
You'd look deep into me and fall in love with what you see
And the more that you believed in me
The deeper and more real I would be
Deeper even than reality
But it's not that there's some secret place inside
That I just wouldn't let her find
[Chorus]
No, she
She doesn't believe
Doesn't believe in me
But if I only held her differently
And if I touched her more convincingly
Maybe it's not even any of those little things
Maybe it was just
Maybe it was just me
[Chorus]
No, she
She doesn't believe
No, she
She doesn't believe
No, she
She doesn't believe in me
The lyrics of Justin Rosolino's song "Believe" convey the feeling of inadequacy and unbelief in oneself. The first two stanzas use powerful metaphors to describe the singer's desire to be unreachable and unapproachable, like a mountainside. He wants to be so far away that he wouldn't be visible to anyone, even in the grey light of morning. The singer explains that it's not that there's a secret place inside him that he doesn't want to reveal, but rather, it's something more significant that he can't put his finger on.
The chorus repeats the same phrase three times, "No, she, she doesn't believe, she doesn't believe in me." The singer is either talking about his lover, friend, or some other person who he perceives to not believe in him. The second stanza, using the metaphor of a storybook, describes the singer's desire to be loved by someone who believed in him. He wishes he could be deep and real, but again, it's not because there's some hidden thing inside him, but something more insurmountable.
The third stanza offers a way out. Perhaps if he held her differently, or touched her more convincingly, she would believe in him. But then he doubts himself even further; maybe it wasn't about the little things, but it was about him. The last chorus emphasizes the point that the singer doesn't believe in himself, and that's why the other person doesn't believe in him either.
Overall, the lyrics of the song convey the pain and frustration of not being able to believe in oneself and feeling like others don't believe in you either. The use of powerful metaphors and vivid imagery effectively conveys the singer's emotions and desires.
Line by Line Meaning
I wish I were a mountainside
I wish I could be a lonely and high peak, separated from the world.
As cold as earth and way up high
I want to be cold and far up from the world as the earth's highest peaks.
Where no one would ever dare to climb
No one would ever dare approach the heights of my loneliness.
And maybe there might come a day
I hope that someday I might be able to become something so wonderfully distant.
When I'd be beautiful from far away
And from afar, those who would look at me would find me something beautiful.
Hidden in the half-light of the morning grey
Hiding in the half-light of the morning grey, evading gazes of the people.
But it's not that there's some secret place in me
However, it is not that I have something to hide inside of me.
That I just wouldn't let her see
Something that I personally cannot show her properly, even if I wanted to.
No, she
The artist is starting off with his sentence by denying the presence of his girlfriend.
She doesn't believe
His girlfriend does not believe in him and his ability to show affection.
She doesn't believe in me
His girlfriend does not believe in him and his ability to show affection towards her.
I wish I were a storybook
The artist wishes they could be a book that his girlfriend can read, believe, and understand.
And like a lonely child, every night
He wants her to be like a lonely child, hoping to escape into a world they can understand.
You'd look deep into me and fall in love with what you see
And every night when his girlfriend would read more, she'd learn more about him and fall in love with him more.
And the more that you believed in me
The more that his girlfriend began to fall in love with him, the more she would believe in him.
The deeper and more real I would be
The deeper and more real the connection between them would become.
Deeper even than reality
The connection would be deeper than simple reality.
But it's not that there's some secret place inside
However again, there is no secret space within him that he wouldn’t let her find.
That I just wouldn't let her find
He hasn't been hiding anyone or anything from her at all.
But if I only held her differently
He feels that he could help her believe in him, if he only physically appears different.
And if I touched her more convincingly
Perhaps, he would be more convincing if he acted and touched her differently.
Maybe it's not even any of those little things
But maybe, it's none of those little things he's been thinking of changing.
Maybe it was just
Maybe the issue was with him all along.
Maybe it was just me
Maybe he is the problem and he needs to change or the relationship will continue to suffer.
No, she
The singer is back to speaking about his girlfriend.
She doesn't believe
She still does not believe in him.
No, she
Once again, the singer refers back to his girlfriend.
She doesn't believe in me
His girlfriend does not believe in him or his ability to show love towards her.
Contributed by Julian P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.