"Silver Horizon" by Trey Pearson, Monday, January 30, 2023 (partial repost)

Everyday Sunday was a Christian Rock band from Ohio that grew in popularity thanks to RadioU and TVU, which aired their played their independent music alongside other major Christian rock acts. The band signed to Flicker Records in 2002 before the label folded and then signed to Peter Furler's Inpop Records before going independent in 2013. The band was mostly forgotten with the countless Christian Rock bands of the early '00s, until lead singer Trey Pearson made headlines in May 2016. Pearson had recently divorced his wife of seven and half years. The couple had two children and the divorce was amicable, but Pearson came out to his wife and his family as gay.

I MADE IT TO THE OTHER SIDE/ AND I SAW YOU. In May 2016, Trey Pearson came out publicly--career suicide for almost everyone hoping to stay in the Christian music industry. But with a changing music climate in which independent artists have a larger platform and with a broader LGBTQ community and allies both in and out of the church and in and out of the ex-vengelical movement, Pearson makes music authentic to himself, with or without the Everyday Sunday folks. Following his coming out, Pearson released an EP titled Love Is Love. The EP produced three singles, including the song "Silver Horizon," for which he filmed a video. Musically, Pearson strays from the post-grunge Christian Rock sounds of Everyday Sunday in favor of '80s-inspired synth-based music. Thematically, Pearson draws on his coming out experience as well as his faith on Love Is Love. Faith is still important to Trey, which can be seen in the lyrics of Love Is Love and in the single "Silver Horizon." Without the context of Pearson's life story, the song is vague and could be about a number of struggles, and the person whom Trey finds could be God or a partner. However, the music video interprets the song. 

TRYING TO BREAK THAT CHAIN/ PULLING ALL THAT WEIGHT/ WELL, IT JUST MAKES YOU STRONGER. At the beginning of the video for "Silver Horizon," Trey Pearson walks into a large, traditional-looking church to watch a young man lip-syncing to "Silver Horizon." As the song goes on, the young man starts dancing more confidently, and the camera focuses on another young man smiling at him. The video flashes back to Pearson singing the song in his room. The climax of the video is when the boy in the congregation runs to the front of the sanctuary to kiss the singer. The congregation is shocked, but then erupts into applause, including the pastor. Pearson watches proudly from the back of the church. Of course, not all of the LGBTQ community will embrace this message. It was, after all, oppressive Evangelical Christian rock scene that kept Pearson in the closet, had him deny his sexuality, and marry a woman he could not truly love. But as churches become more and more divided on LGBTQ affirmation, Trey Pearson's video shows that churches can be places where gay people belong. The video for "Silver Horizon" credits Martin Rodahl and 13 Reasons Why author Jay Asher as the executive producers. Last year, Pearson revealed that he was working with Asher on a film project telling his story that viewers should see very soon. While things may seem dark, the horizon is silver. 

Read the lyrics on Genius.