My Gen X Playlist: The Returner – Allison Russell

I’m on Episode 6 of my second time around with Ripple. Here is another quote and song.

Faith is bigger than salvation and damnation. It’s about the love and joy that we find in each other. Faith is community. Lifting each other up, that’s what it’s all about. It doesn’t matter what you do or don’t believe about a higher power. Just keep your faith in your fellow man.

I’ve had this on again off again relationship with faith. I believe in a higher power, sometimes I pray or talk to God. When I went to church, I definitely enjoyed the worship music, especially when accompanied by an electric guitar. But recently, I’m a little discouraged by religion. Not so much with God, he hasn’t really let me down. Instead, I can’t reconcile the church’s embrace of Donald Trump. It feels like hypocrisy to me and I can’t stomach the blind eye they afford him. It’s totally turned me off to attending church.

In Episode 6, a disillusioned man was sharing with a pastor and the quote above was the pastor’s response. His words resonated with me and may have cracked opened a door. Maybe this sliver of light is a first step. I know it’s not much, but I think it may be all I am able to give for now. At the very least, it’s food for thought as I begin this new year.

In Episode 6, Allison Russell’s The Returner caught my ear. I’ve never heard of her or her music before until this episode. The first lines drew me in.

Now I let go everything that I’ve known
Let it go on, let it roll out with the tide.

It starts out slow, then picks up to a nice groove. I was listening to it at a coffee house gently bobbing to the beat, but in my head my arms were swaying in the air. And just to let you know, I’m not a swaying arms in the air kind of guy. But it is such a good tune.

“. . . The Returner is about reclaiming the present despite one’s troubles. “It’s about being re-embodied,” Russell says. “It’s about embracing this human experience that we are all living right now, in the here and now, and understanding that our joy and celebration is also a powerful force . . . “

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I liked the feel of this song, just like I liked the feel of the pastor’s quote. Sometimes it’s all about the feel. I’ll happily take that from this episode and also give thanks for discovering a new artist.

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

Now I let go everything that I've known
Let it go on, let it roll out with the tide
I can't think of a thing that hasn't been shot through with pain
Like a nightingale's song in the dead of the night

Goodbye, so long, farewell all I've been, ooo, oblivion
Throw me in the ocean, ooo, see if I can swim
I'm wild again, I'm a starchild again
I come ten million miles, ooo, I'm burning

I'm a summer dream, I'm a real light beam, I'm worthy
Of all the goodness and the love that the world's gonna give to me
I'ma give it back ten times, people, are you ready?
If you think you're alone, hold on, I'm coming

Now I unfold every lie I was told
Watch 'em wither, watch 'em scatter with with wind
I can't think of a thing that hasn't been born of a dream
Like a Love Supreme, like a Circle Unbroken

Goodbye, so long, farewell all I've been, ooo, oblivion
Throw me in the ocean, ooo, Mama, watch me swim
I'm wild again, I'm a starchild again
I come ten million miles, ooo, I'm burning

I'm a summer dream, I'm a real light beam, I'm worthy
Of all the goodness and the love that the world's gonna give to me
I'ma give it back ten times, people, are you ready?
If you think you're alone, hold on, I'm coming

Don't you know, don't you know, don't you know
You are never alone