Washington, DC based astro-surfer, Dayvd Beach, is back from riding the wave of his first single, 'Was', with a two song release that expands the sonic pallet of this audio outlaw. 'Trains That Don't Stop / I Ain't Playin'' takes the listener on a journey from urban center terminals to backwoods pit stops with lyrics that give plenty to think about on the way. Electric guitar daggers, lamenting trombones, silly six strings, and fainting pianos light the road of Beach's edifying lines.
Direct From the Desk of Dayvd Beach :
'Trains That Don't Stop'
Written all throughout during 2020, inspired by a random bot message from my ps4 in 2019 with the chorus quote, "lives with no meaning go straight past you, like trains that don’t stop at your station." That came from a book which I then later read called "Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Záfon. I ended up borrowing that line because it was such a cool image, without permission (if he ever hears this he can tell us to take it down and/or I hope he likes the song, or if he wants us to pay some royalties all good). Some of the other lines in the song are inspired by the story but aren’t direct lifts of the text.
The song is about living in a state of fear and paranoia which is certainly the way it felt in 2020 with the lockdowns and George Floyd protests. Life in DC was intense. The song is about how living in a state of paranoia can cause some bad things to happen like violence, depression and self-loathing, use of addictive substances, suicides, etc. It’s like how you wonder if you’re part of the problem because of privilege or if you or someone you know will be the target of Covid or the police. You were always glancing over your shoulder back then like something could pop out at any moment. I went for a few night walks in DC during the Covid lockdowns and the George Floyd summer, it was empty but I still felt like anything could happen so I wouldn’t be out for long. Also, when in that reduced state, life and the other people in it pass you by. Days weeks and months flew by. And it’s hard to connect in a meaningful way. We feel too beaten down and you may even hate yourself or where you came from. Or just be depressed, literally anything.
'Trains That Don't Stop' considers what happens to a character who hates who they are, someone who wants to disappear and become no one. This song is about how life without any purpose or mission becomes eventually full of despair and suffering. I see it as an attempt to get folks to ascribe meaning and purpose to all aspects in life despite, fear, self-loathing over identify, paranoia, desire for revenge, anything. Through looking at a tragic character, listeners will hopefully not let other people and their own lives go by like "trains that don’t stop at your station."
What it means may be different depending on who you are. The train may not be a train you’re meant to get on or it could be someone you don’t need to know any more, or that direction in life was not where you were meant to go, or not what you were supposed to do. It’s an opportunity for clarity and change. You can’t change where you come from, or who you come from, but you can always get on or off and change direction. Life doesn’t always gotta be so dark. All I’m saying is you gotta try to find your own meaning and purpose in the crazy world or it could just pass you by.
Lamenting trombone solo soothes the listener in the tragic beauty of those dark scary nights.
'I Ain't Playin''
Written in December 2020, during the chaotic lead up to January 6, 2021. Some people in the American public were getting convinced of all sorts of ridiculousness by the leaders of our country, pretty much gaslighting the rest of us. This folk inspired protest song rejects the notion that we will have the wool pulled over our eyes or that we will be pawns in their games.
'I Ain’t Playin'' empowers people to think for themselves and not get caught in the noise. Heavy delay over swirling guitar solos represent the echo chamber of misinformation of the time.
credits
released March 11, 2022
All instruments by Dayvd Beach
Drums and Percussion by Mylie Durham IV
Trombone by Benjamin Ford
Produced by Dayvd Beach and Mylie Durham IV
Art Direction by Mylie Durham IV
