"High Line" by Tyson Motsenbocker ft. Zealyn, Sunday, September 4, 2022 (Partial Repost)

Tyson Motsenbocker released his second full-length record, Someday I'll Make It All Up to You, on Valentine's Day of 2020. Like with most early 2020 releases, the plan was to release the record and tour  in the spring. That tour started but was quickly canceled due to the beginning of the pandemic. While the anxieties and existential questions raised by the pandemic are not intentional themes, Someday  was definitely a record that could resonate with listeners who feel the world is slipping away from them. 

A NEW DAY'S COMING. Working with producer Tyler Chester, Tyson Motsenbocker involves more production on his Someday I'll Make It All Up to You than his previous efforts. Chester is a musician known for his production on Switchfoot's 2019 record Native Tongues. While Motsenbocker claims Switchfoot's Jon Foreman as his mentor, and given that both Switchfoot's hometown and Motsenbocker's second home town is San Diego and their prior tours and collaborations, the singer-songwriter has a broader scope than a California sound. An eastern Washington native, Motsenbocker writes about the change of seasons and different cities throughout the record, making the album feel like every town in America is Motsenbocker's hometown. The album feels equally west and east coast, with the album opening in New York City, which according to an interview with Long Distance Listening Podcast, the singer-songwriter hadn't been to New York until he was an established artist, only touring on the west coast at first. 

High Line Park in Manhattan. Source.

NEW YORK SMILING LIKE A MONSTER IN A CAGE.  The opening track to Tyson Motsenbocker's Someday I'll Make It All Up to You, "High Line," is the singer's thoughts as he takes the subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan to walk on the High Line train overpass. As the singer is alone with his thoughts, he thinks about urban alienation, loss, the future, and realities he wants to deny, yet he can no longer deny. The calm acoustic guitar and warmth that the strings and piano bring the the melody as well as Zealyn, the female backing vocalist make this a track that works for every season, though admittedly, even in a somewhat cooler, northern city, like New York, nobody wants to be taking this kind of journey in the middle of the afternoon, despite the air conditioning on the subway. The High Line Park in Manhattan opened in 2009 after repurposing a closed rail line. Since then, the elevated walkway has become a landmark. It's a place for tourists to see the city, for dates, for meeting up. The concept of an elevated park walkway has been copied in cities around the world, including Seoullo 7017 in Seoul, South Korea. While I don't have any memories involving the High Line, I certainly have a few with Seoullo 7017. I don't think it makes as quiet a catchy song, though. 

Studio version: 

Acoustic version:

Read “High Line” by Tyson Motsenbocker on Genius