Sounds | Grace Pettis, Landon
- John Van de Mergel
- 25 jul 2021
- 2 minuten om te lezen
Mooie, pretentieloze folky americana waar je je gewoon goed bij voelt. Pettis zingt laidback, de Indigo Girls verzorgen de schitterende harmonies en acteur Landon Beatty draaft in de video op als ... Landon natuurlijk. Het verhaal achter het nummer lees je hieronder. Working Woman is verschenen op 7 mei via Mpress Records.
Luister ook naar: de akoestische versie uit 2020
lees
Alt-country/folk artist Grace Pettis packs her music with as much purpose as poetry, and there is no better example of this than her succinct, biographical ballad āLandonā ā a heartfelt apology from Pettis to her gay best friend from high school. The inseparable pair grew up together in small town Alabama, enjoying a friendship which involved football, church, and dreaming beyond Bible belt life, all while taking the matter of faith very seriously. So when Landon came out as gay to Pettis, she couldnāt reconcile who he was with what she believed in.
āLoved you more than a boyfriend, more than a brother,ā sings Pettis soulfully on her track āLandon,ā named in honor of her friend. āThen I called you a sinner / Aināt no sin bigger,ā continue the lyrics which ask for his forgiveness of her past bias. āAnd there aināt one damn thing wrong with you,ā she concludes.
āLandon needed somebody to be on his side,ā recalls Pettis. āHe trusted me. And I let him down. Years of soul-searching, prayer, and information gathering led me to a very different place. I knew that I had wronged Landon in a way that I could only explain in a song.ā With her uniquely deft lyrics Pettis addresses the origin of intolerance and enlists the power of music to heal. The first year she sang āLandonā live she couldnāt get through it without crying, but the process has been cathartic. The friends have patched things up and both agree the song is a meaningful way to help others learn acceptance.
āLandon and I are close again now, thanks in part to the song,ā shares Pettis. āAnd we both love that it sheds a little light in the world for the next generation of gay kids growing up in the South, and for their best friends and families and all the people that love them.ā
Lending gravitas to the message of the tune are guest vocals by the Indigo Girls. āTo have the Indigo Girls adding their voices to Landonās and my story now is overwhelming and deeply meaningful to me,ā says Pettis. āIt all just feels right, in a karmic and cosmic way. The whole thing brings me a lot of peace and joy.ā
(QueerForty.com)
