There’s nothing harder than watching the people you love the most go through a rough time. It’s even worse when it feels like there’s nothing you can do to help them. Joshua Golden shares his story through “The Moon is a Spaceship” and reminds listeners they are not alone. Mental illness is no joke. It can have a severe impact on a person’s life as well as the people around them. In this song, Joshua sings about his brother John’s experience with mental health and how that impacted their family.
The song opens up with the lyrics “I came home to my brother washing his clothes in the mud/Haven’t spoken to him in a while, haven’t seen him in a month/It’s clear he lost some weight, and there’s scratches on his face”. It seems that there’s a stark contrast with John’s behavior from the last time Joshua saw him. He sings “That’s my family, my big brother/That’s my hero, that’s my blood/All I wanted as a kid was to be him when I grew up”, which are some of the most powerful lyrics in the song. It’s clear how much Joshua has always admired his brother and that they will always share an unbreakable connection. He will do anything to support his brother, but there is a bit of helplessness there. He might feel like there’s not enough he can do to support him. A hero can represent many things. Heroes are seen as the most strong and powerful people, but now, Joshua's hero is struggling. Joshua will always have the memories they shared growing up, but now there’s a shift in perspective. The brother he once knew is not the same, but now that they are older, he understands that John is human too with complex struggles that are beyond anyone’s control. There’s fear attached to these lyrics, and you can tell he would do anything to make it better. “Crying up to God, 'What the hell’s happening'” combines all the emotions Joshua feels. Calling out to God, or any higher power, is asking for a sign that will either comfort them or help them understand the situation. If you believe in any higher powers, they are supposed to help guide their followers. It’s symbolizing that he's reached a point where he feel powerless and in a true state of vulnerability. These lyrics reveal how deeply affected Joshua is by this situation.
“The Moon is a Spaceship” is a beautiful yet complex track that follows the emotional journey of love and loss in familial relationships. There’s a lot of symbolism represented throughout the lyrics, that although could be connected to personal experiences, I saw as a double meaning. For example, throughout the song Joshua sings that his brother believes he’s in space and is ready to fly. Space can represent a dark unknown place that his brother is entering where there’s no answers as to how things will work out in the long run. Depending how you look at it, flying can represent a negative or positive experience. Maybe when it’s time for John to fly, he will be free from the shackles of his suffering. “The casino in the sky” could reflect on personal struggles or represent that there are no answers. With gambling in a casino, it’s all up to chance. The casino could represent his brother’s mental health struggles. As Joshua is singing, you can hear the raw emotion in his voice, and you can tell how much he truly cares for his brother. This is a pop track but is layered on top of acoustic instrumentation. I’m not sure if this was an intentional production choice or not, but I love that Joshua’s vocals are at the forefront of the song because it allowed me as a listener to focus on the lyrics.
Joshua Golden is a pop singer and songwriter from St. Louis, Missouri. His songs are deeply personal, and he creates music from the heart. His songwriting is intimate and encompasses the polarizing emotions of the human experience. It’s safe to say the world agrees, because he has over 618,408 monthly listeners on Spotify as a verified artist. His music is very popular and his collaboration on “Another Life” by Surf Mesa ft. FLETCHER (and Joshua) has over 42,182,882 streams on the platform. He has gained a significant following across social media platforms like Instagram, Tik Tok, and YouTube with 1.2 million followers combined. He’s recently been signed to APG publishing, and has collaborated with huge artists such as Selena Gomez, Jennifer Lopez, Jason Derulo, 24kGoldn, and Charlie Puth to name a few. It’s clear that Joshua is a star. Check out “The Moon is a Spaceship” and give it a listen!
Written By Alexa LaMalfa
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