So there I was, February of this year, driving through the Midwest, making tracks for Wisconsin. I couldn’t have known, but this would be my last tour before everything, well, changed. It was about halfway through Michigan that signs for Climax started popping up. Got me thinking about endings big and small but also beginnings, too, and the beautiful carrying on of the human spirit amidst daily macro and micro reminders of our fleeting, ephemeral, ultimately finite experience on this planet.
Back on the road, Climax came and went. I’m not entirely sure how my creative process works, but by the time I pulled off at Kenosha for gas, I was singing this song, word for word as you’ll hear it today, into my phone. Needless to say, inspiration hit. I’ll let the music speak for itself and just add that I’m grateful to the same team who made "Together, Apart" sound so sweet for adding their talents here. These songs were recorded at the same time, a beautiful sense of collectivity emerging amidst our collectively isolated days.
Thanks to you, all of you, for not only listening, but just for, well, being there. “It comes and goes,” for sure, but today, right now, I’m so happy to be here, to be alive.
lyrics
Climax, Michigan, no coat at the gas station
The world is so much hotter than when we were kids
But it was always end times, it was always going to end
And from the start there was absolutely nothing we could do
I’m driving through, listening to music and thinking about you
It comes and goes and no one knows, just how long
Onto Indiana, into Illinois
I came here to Chicago as a boy
My grampa was alive then, so was Walter Payton
Now Walter’s gone, and grampa he died, too, hey what can you do
I’m driving through, listening to music and thinking about you
It comes and goes and no one knows, just how long
Yeah just how long, we’ll go on
And it goes so fast
So one more mile to Climax, Climax, Michigan
Folks live here, I guess folks live most anywhere
In our biggest cities, in the smallest towns
So many ways to be alone together, hey what can you do
I’m driving through, listening to music and thinking about you
It comes and goes and no one knows just how long
It comes and goes and no one knows
And I know the hardest part is saying goodbye
Yeah I know the hardest part is saying goodbye
supported by 8 fans who also own “Climax, Michigan”
Makes me nostalgic for three things: something I never had. Something I could have shared with my dad before he dove off and away. Lastly, something I can have. Future nostalgia. brancedar
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