As the pandemic has forced people indoors, it has also brought loved ones closer together—sometimes for better and other times for worse. As our contact with the outside world has become limited, we can sometimes end up hurting the ones we love the most the worst. It was these feelings of conflict with the people who matter most that inspired the latest Arts Fishing Club single “With Us All”, which Live For Live Music is proud to premiere today. This comes as the first single off the band’s forthcoming EP, The Show, due out on April 30th.
“There was a random week where three separate friends detailed an extremely similar and sad story about how their respective parents had at one point disowned (mostly for religious reasons) them because of their sexual orientation,” singer and guitarist Christopher Kessenich told Live For Live Music. “My mind was blown and my heart broke more with each conversation. After the last one, I sat down and the lines: ‘Come all you parents open your heads / it’s time you heard your children / cause the times they are changing and they always will / so forget what you know and listen,’ fell out.”
It’s with that not-so-thinly veiled reference to Bob Dylan that “With Us All” gets its raw, understated power. A much-needed 21st-century update to the landmark 1964 folk song about the changing nature of society, Arts Fishing Club is now reminding their parents—who were the very children that Dylan sang about—that “your sons and your daughters are beyond your command,” as Dylan originally sang.
Even with the overt homage to Dylan, Kessenich still aims to forge his own path on “With Us All” and deliver a message of—above all—love and tolerance.
The instinctual lyrical nod to Dylan signified a protest song was coming. Initially, I wrote it with a lot of anger pointing the finger at the bigotry, racism, and religious shame present in our society. However, that version left me uneasy. At some point in my life and to varying degrees, I’d been guilty of almost all of the things I was pointing my fingers at. It felt like I wrote a “holier than thou” song and that sure as hell isn’t true: I’ve made terrible mistakes in my life. The song needed a re-write. I asked myself “how do I draw hard lines against the behaviors I don’t agree with without attacking the humanity of those caught up in the behaviors?” With Us All is my attempt at that. It is an attempt to build society-as-a-whole up through a message of love that demands better while empathizing with the vortex pain can cause.
Watch the new music video for Arts Fishing Club’s latest single, “With Us All”, available exclusively through Live For Live Music. Look for “With Us All” on The Show, out on April 30th. Visit the band’s website for updates on new releases and live shows.
Arts Fishing Club – “With Us All” (Official Music Video)
[Video: Arts Fishing Club]