“Well, I've forced a couple smiles.” Oh, haven’t we all. Harrison comes for the heart strings early on with this ballad that explores the less-than-happy side of life and how we all face struggles from time to time to see the goodness in life and find reasons to be genuinely happy. “But I’ve seen a little sunlight lately.” This one line hit me like a ton of bricks when I initially heard it. One of my favorite quotes is “I always keep a little hope in my back pocket.”, meaning I’ll always hold onto hope, even when it seems there is no reason to or that there’s nothing to hope for. Hope is both a dangerous but also beautiful thing, it’s a choice to remain optimistic in pessimistic times. Harrison is demonstrating the light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel analogy. Perhaps there is, after all, always a reason to hope.
An official description of the song reads -“Long Gone is an energetic ballad that exposes a new sonic sound for Harrison Sands. It explores the world of rediscovering one's sense of self and creating a new, stronger version to progress forward with. It is full of orchestral swells, thunderous piano chords, and playful percussion to guide your journey from beginning to end.” The quiet resolve in this song that is introduced in the beginning is indeed ramped up to this emboldened declaration of “Yeah, I was down for the count, but I got back up and when I’m up, I’m up.” Harrison’s voice is soft yet commanding and I’ve always felt that there is something so powerful in the quiet resolve. Now, that’s not to say that Harrison doesn’t hit some pretty impressive notes because he most certainly does ( i heard ya, dude, ‘twas beautiful). But, the song is a personalized inner anthem that speaks volumes without raising the volume (Ya see what i did there? 😊) The orchestra, the piano, it’s such a beautiful gentle reminder to just. Hold. On. The music and lyrics just build on themselves . As the song progresses, we hear more voices, more instruments, it’s as if to signify that, when you’re making this climb to better, more awaits you. “We’ve been here for too long.” It’s okay to realize that what you’re currently doing is no longer (or was never) serving you and to shift gears, turn around, choose a different path. Life is full of choices, we make several each day. We can choose to change, to better ourselves, our lives. “I was forced to face the self that I hated.” Self-awareness is an important trait to have and to never take for granted. Knowing yourself, your limits, your capabilities, it’s all an integral part of life, of our growth. “I keep holding out for something better.” It may take time, but something better is always on the horizon, always able to be reached, patience is truly a virtue, but one worth having and maintaining. “But that me is long gone, now.”, is where the song leaves us, on a positive, hopeful note that the best is yet to come.
Harrison Sands is an American singer, songwriter, and musician based out of Los Angeles, California. Sands’ online influence has garnered thousands of fans across his many social medias. Harrison credits Frank Ocean, Justin Timberlake, Childish Gambino, the Beach Boys, and Paul McCartney as his main musical inspirations. In addition to being an artist, Harrison is also the co-founder of record label, Universe Goods, Company – described as being “by friends, for friends.” as well as the co-host of the podcast, Nobody Asked with friend and frequent collaborator, Abhi the Nomad. “Long Gone” is said to be the second track of Sands that is heading towards a new direction for his music. Harrison is set to go on tour starting on 9/20 in Austin, Texas. To keep up with all things Sands as well as see him live, check out all of his socials below!
Written By Keiunna Thompson
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