It’s officially one month until Hardy releases his rock and country album, the mockingbird & THE CROW, and I’ll speak for all his fans when I say the excitement is mounting.
I have increasingly found myself scrolling through the unreleased song titles wondering what kind of songwriting and duality we are going to see with this neat crossover album. And this past weekend, Hardy offered one singular glimpse into a new album track titled “Screen” ahead of his performance at the Blind Horse Saloon in Greenville, South Carolina.
Caught live and up close, Hardy played an acoustic, solo guitar version of the song during vocal warmups, and if this snippet proves anything it’s that Hardy has dedicated some of his best songwriting to this new project.
Written by Michael Hardy, Jessie Jo Dillon, Matt Dragstrem, and Hunter Phelps, “Screen” is a track focused on how we have lost each other by choosing technology over natural human interaction and experiences… a deep lineup of lyrics. The slow tempo of the song is paired with lyrics that expose all of the “screens” we find ourselves constantly hidden behind.
Here’s a sneak peek at a few of the lyrics from the opening verse and chorus:
“Screen,
Someone somewhere bought a brand new rifle,
Pointed it at a man holding a Bible,
So sad you won’t believe it,
I swear to God I seen it,
Right there on the TV screen.
See the world,
Take it in,
Catch a sunrise,
With your own eyes.
I wanna drive, wanna run ‘til the wires run out,
I need to heal, need to feel like I’m alive right now,
Pull the plug, just shatter the glass, make it stop
These days ‘under a rock’ doesn’t sound half bad
Put me alone, singing ‘long to a redbird song,
I wanna live like they did in the great unknown,
If ya need me I’ll be watching the storm somewhere,
From a chair, Just staring through a back porch screen…”
The song’s serious tone, sound and non-linear progression paired with its deeper real world meaning gives it similarities to tracks like “Give Heaven Some Hell” off his 2020 The Rock album.
It also gives fans something to get even more roused about until the entire album drops in January.
@clayguffey HARDY performing “Screen” before his performance at the Blind Horse Saloon this evening. @hardy @BlindHorseSaloon #hardy #screen #blindhorsesaloon #greenvillesc #walltowalltour ♬ original sound – Clay Guffey
