This new Joshua Ray Walker album, man…
I was wondering which direction he was going to take it after releasing songs on opposite sides of the spectrum leading up to the release of See You Next Time, and while there is a little bit of each, I think it’s safe to say he veered more toward the emotional side of things.
The song standing out to me of the new ones so far is “Gas Station Roses,” a metaphorical, beautifully sad song that goes deeper than what I heard originally the first few times I listened to it.
In one sense, it’s a great analogy about a relationship being cheap and fragile like the roses sold at a gas station, but it goes way beyond that…
Joshua detailed the double meaning of the new song:
“There’s a double meaning to that song… it’s partly referring to the roses you’d find in a gas station around Valentine’s, but it’s also about how gas stations get away with selling crack pipes by hiding them in those glass tubes with the origami flowers.
I grew up around a lot of kids who had parents with substance-abuse issues, and in high school a lot of my friends got hooked on heroin.
This song in particular is about crack, but the overall story is addiction leading to a loss of innocence.”
Goddamn, that’s a hard hitter… just listen to these lyrics.
“Were like Gas Station Roses
You can wrap us however you like
You can prop us up in pretty poses
We’ll really catch the light
Our buzz fades fast
Once cut not meant to last
Like love ones past
Our stems made out of glass”
This man is just so underrated it hurts…
Joshua Ray Walker has given us another absolutely phenomenal record.
Give it a spin, you won’t regret it.
