At the beginning of 2019, Lucy Dacus announced that she would be releasing a series of one-off tracks to correspond with various holidays throughout the year. She’s already shared a cover of “La Vie En Rose” for Valentine’s Day, and a new song, “My Mother & I” to celebrate Mother’s Day. Now, she has released “Forever Half Mast,” a song that commemorates the Fourth of July, but from a different perspective than just straight-up patriotism.
She also shared a number of thoughts on the sad, slow and meditative new song:
“I started writing this song while we were touring in Europe. I always feel most American when I’m outside of the US, and it is usually a horrible feeling. I’m constantly on the brink of apologizing for unintentionally representing a country that is so destructive. Though in the same breath, I love my home, the people living there, the landscape, plenty of what America has to offer.
There is a daily dissonance one endures as an American wherein much of our joy is counterweighted by shame, where much of our pride lives in tandem with injustice and suffering. ‘Forever Half Mast’ is about confronting this unavoidable culpability as an American citizen and consumer. Instead of allowing this guilt to paralyze us, we should try to let it influence us in positive ways.
Unfortunately, even at my best, I feel disoriented and heavy about being an American most of the time.”
Listen to “Forever Half Mast” below.
