“Rings & Roses” by Dabin ft. Connor Byrne, Monday, March 27, 2023 (repost)
Dabin is a melodic EDM music producer from Toronto who currently lives in Colorado and Conor Bryne is an Irish singer-songwriter known for his YouTube covers. I first heard this song last week when Apple Music played it as "music you may like based on the artists you just played." It's probably the most surefire way for me to discover music these days. Based on the nursery rhyme, "Ring Around the Rosie," "Rings & Roses" explores the career path of someone, a friend or a lover, who is pursuing fame. That person has become too popular for the singer, who warns that in the end "they all fall down." Simple enough.
WAITIN' ON THE DREAM YOU BEEN SOLD. Pursuing a dream takes work and sacrifice. There's something in our youth that makes us believe that anything is possible. But somewhere along the way, the novelist in us, the future basketball player, or the rockstar gives way to the backup plan. Of course, thanks to the Internet and Garage Band, anybody can become a musician. It’s good if you have some musical talent or ability. Dabin Lee, known by his first name Dabin, had that musical background, beginning with playing piano and guitar from a young age. But in 2011, Dabin started producing electronic music. His 2019 album Wild Youth features ten tracks with a different vocal feature on each. These are not big name artists, but the lack of star quality on the album doesn't take anything away from the tracks. If anything, it opens up a new world of indie singers. The tracks are vibey EDM, bright and nostalgic, though some of the tracks on Wild Youth (The Remixes) are a bit more distorted and dirty, presenting more of a barrier to those who don't particularly like club music. And unlike artists like Alan Walker or Marshmello, Dabin incorporates real instruments into his live DJ sets. So, although you won't see Connor Byrne singing with Dabin in concert, you'll see Dabin playing the electric guitar live.
I MISS YOU. I MISS YOU. WHERE ARE YOU NOW? One of the questions this song asks is how much should you give up for a dream? At what point does what you've given up for that dream nullify it? And what level of selfishness in pursuing dreams or goals is unacceptable? A lot of people I knew when I was growing up were held back by an obligation either to family or place. It's a prevalent theme in Southern literature, but I've seen this loyalty to place on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line. It's the question that Tracy Chapman grapples with in "Fast Car": to "leave tonight or live and die this way." The family values that I was raised with were to make sure you can pay the bills. That means working long hours in whatever will give you a steady income. That means moving to wherever you can get the best job and sacrificing so that you and your family can eat. It was for this reason my parents decided to move away from their families. This upbringing got me a college education and gave me a commitment to pay my bills. But I still dream of what I could have done if I just aimed a little higher. Maybe it wouldn't have worked out. Maybe I'd be a starving artist. But maybe I'd be living closer to the family that I miss. Not too close, though.
Lyric video:
Live performance at Red Rocks:
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