“It was 2020…”
2020 was a helluva year for me. I guess it goes without saying, it was a helluva year for a lot of us. The worst part was not seeing my parents as much, as COVID put an end to our weekly Sunday visits together. Aside from that however, 2020 was great! The lockdown year had the effect of forcing me back to my proverbial bunker, to woodshed, to develop and reconsider existing material, and finally, to release Stargazer once and for all. I’m very proud of that album, especially the writing represents to me a big step forward… but once again, like all of my projects, it got stuck in development and the search for perfection. I only blame myself for this, now that I’ve been through this process a few times, as I strive not for perfection really but for a version of the original vision that is intact enough that I can live with it. So Stargazer came out that summer, I had a very fun show called Out of Phase on a pirate radio station my friends setup, and towards the end of the year, probably the best times of my life with the nameless girl.
This song, 2020 (both parts 1 and 2 actually) were written well before the sort of Apocalyptic scenario described in the lyrics started to reveal itself in the post-pandemic Western culture. In my mind, COVID was the great leveller, put everyone in the globe (minus the 1 percent) in effectively the same caste (while all the while, I acknowledge the privileges I personally enjoy over others. Although 2020 at this stage was just a poem, I see it as predictive of the kind of year it was, in solely my experience, the song wound up being a boiling pot where love and sex and revolutionary politics could save all the world’s problems. Pretentious? You betcha!
…
As you can see, I did not complete these notes in time for the release, but I promise it is a work in progress… just have a few other pertinent issues to address before I can get to the rest of my thoughts to you! Please check back again, LOVE JEFF :)
lyrics
It was 2020
And the plan is clear to me
A vision of a heaven that seems real to me
I don’t need to prove you wrong
I don’t even need to prove I’m right
I just want to see what I’ll realize in hindsight
Open the doors to the future
Feel the feel and come inside, baby
Slow dance to the future
Lover, let me feel my love inside
The echoes of silence
It gets inside my head
Once you check the situation
You wanna scream instead
Become one with the water
Tryin’ to shed this skin I’m in
Watched it raining on the river
For an entire year
Primordial lovers
They been fighting since way back in time
Primordial lovers
They are the left and the right
They are partners in crime
[CH] See the year here before us
The symmetry between the lines
And it’s the year of the reckoning
The ones and zeroes realign
It was the year 2020
And you saw everything clearly
From the depths of despair
All the words come a-flowin’
Like a champagne babbling stream
When once it seemed best to forget
What you thought you’d seen
Rebirth in the summer
Stretched out on a hill
If you’re wondering if I’ll join ya
Well then, you know I will
[CH2] Spent all my strength to feel nothing
Such a waste of space
In changing tides
It’s such a beautiful vision
To rid the Gods
From my skies
And do it a little bit slower
You know it’s still 50/50
We don’t know how this ends
credits
from The Monster,
released December 8, 2023
Song written by Jeff Gay.
Drums: Connor Booth. Drums recorded at The Golden Palm in North End Halifax with Palmer Jamieson.
Everything else (guitars, bass, keys, lead vox, etc.): Jeff Gay. Backing vocals: Emilee Sorrey, recorded at Ocean Floor. Additional recording by Jeff Gay and Charles Austin at Ocean Floor Recording.
Mixed by Jeff Gay and Charles Austin w/ Ronok Sarkar.
Mastered by Francisco Lopes.
TOSSING RECORDS is filled with beans and joy to announce the newest Jeff Gay album, THE MONSTER. Coming to you: Dec 8, 2023.
First single from the Monster: Moonflower, Dec 1. In addition to Jgay and Dirtmouth titles, TOSSING RECORDS will release the entire Jeff Gay catalogue on Bandcamp, so make sure you follow for digital transfers of dusty DATs and demos/unreleased tracks...more
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