I am someone who digs into beginnings to find means to an end. Here is what I have found: The most beautiful bow is that which is linked.
For a long time, Oh, Rose was built in a bedroom. Then, extending outward to a living room full of people memorializing the loss of a friend. It was an invitation to what we called song church.
This has been the bedrock of Oh, Rose — this idea of home, the one you were born into and the one you found. Home is consistent and humble and the place that forgives but also remembers.
This song is so hard for me to play. "25, Alive" was the only song on the album I wrote after my mother passed. I will never forget when it was finished, when I took my hand off the fret and my middle finger locked into my palm and I thought I was so fucked. Like, physically, emotionally fucked up. Like I would never play again. Alas.
We filmed the first part of this video in my final days of being 25. I felt it was important to document the age in a place I had spent so much time, a bowling alley in West Olympia. We were the first non-cover band they ever booked. We were there the first night they hosted karaoke. We went every Wednesday. We called it church.
And then time slipped. I couldn’t listen to this song anymore.
Help sometimes comes in slow motion. Or an email. Or finding good, consistent guidance. But mostly from the people who are still here — who are my family and who have not just held me, but heard me and built with me a foundation that is so strong. Stronger than any winds trying to blow me into the Pacific Ocean. It is a hug after every. single. show.
A year and a half passed and I wasn’t as angry. I listened to this song again and began to learn it. I’m 27. I still am learning it.
You can catch Oh, Rose on tour with Yeasayer this month:
6/13: Boston, MA — Paradise Rock Club
6/14: Montreal, QC — Le National
6/15: Toronto, ON — Mod Club
6/17: Detroit, MI — El Club
6/18: Chicago, IL — Metro
6/19: Minneapolis, MN — Fine Line
6/21: Kansas City, MO — Record Bar
6/22: Denver, CO — Gothic
6/23: Salt Lake City, UT — Urban
6/25: Vancouver, BC — Rickshaw Theatre
6/26: Seattle, WA — Neptune
6/27: Portland, OR — Wonder Ballroom
6/28: San Francisco, CA — The Fillmore
