There’s a tendency among many adults to look back at childhood with rose-colored glasses. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that; all in all, it’s a nice mindset to live in. If you’re searching for a personal philosophy to guide your life, you can certainly do worse than “stay gold.” On his new single and video, guitarist and producer Ray Harrison, aka The Living, examines how adulthood is often thwarted by the expectations we built up as children. “You promised me heaven but it’s hell right now,” he sings over aqueous guitars and muted production courtesy of Harrison and co-producer Oliver Blue (Wiley from Atlanta, Jarrod Milton). The overriding vibe is somber and dazed like the steady fog of ongoing depression.
“‘Kids’ was really a song made out of a yearning for our childhood again,” Harrison explains. “The lyrics are centered around the innocence we may lose as adults and the yearning to get back to that place we lived in our heads as kids where things were carefree. Kids jumping in a moon bounce while you are paying bills may just motivate you to get up and just…get out.”
Directed by Evan Bailey, the video shows The Living coming out of an uneasy slumber in his studio. As he shuffles about listlessly, kids go about their day, playing video games and jumping around in a bounce house. Only when he gets on his bike and heads out into the world does The Living come out of his stupor, a slow awakening to the possibilities the day has to offer.
Watch/listen above.
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