BEST NEW TRACKS: DANIEL WILSON - THE FLIGHT

“I know my life is a sad song,” is one of those things I’ve often thought but never quite had the courage or conviction to say aloud. Yipsi native Daniel Wilson on the other hand is willing to go on the record with that shit for all eternity. Or at least until the grid collapses (same difference?).

“The Flight” is an unsubtle emotive ballad that cuts deeper with each listen, as layers of the pain therein are revealed. Wilson pushes his vocals to their absolute breaking point, if not ever so past the red line, to expose his own sorrow. The song is pretty and sad in its own right, but it’s Wilson’s impeccable and unique voice, as well as the precious with which he wields his craft, that make it so memorable.  

If you can listen to this song and not be affected by it, there’s an extraordinarily high chance you have no soul. Sorry you had to find out like this.  

DANIEL WILSON - THE FLIGHT

Soon as you so much as utter the words “You can’t go home again” every mouth-breather within a two mile radius trips over themselves sprinting to “Well, actually...” your sorry ass. People who mistake pedantry for wisdom are the absolute worst. Besides bruh, the entire point behind that saying is that you can’t recover the past. It has nothing to do with physical movement.

So yes, Mr. Wilson can go back to his native Michigan town, but everything is so different now that it's akin to traveling to a brand new place. Furthermore, the flight in this song also acts as a metaphor for a failed love-affair. Often artists invoke soaring to talk of new love or the feeling of such, but as this song proves a flight is a perfect metaphor for a previous relationship. Don’t take my word for it, just re-listen to the song and pay attention to the lyrics. Though I understand if you get distracted by dude’s incredible voice.

What I am trying to say is Daniel Wilson is a very talented individual. His off-kilter brand of pop is distinct, refreshing, and extremely my shit. Check out his SoundCloud for more tremendous offerings.

Excited to watch this dude find the bigger audience he deserves. Although that’ll likely make it even harder for him to return to Ypsilanti.

We’ll leave you with the lyrics to Daniel Wilson “The Flight”:

Sister, brother, tumbleweed summer--have I come back to soon?
I know you were expecting souvenirs and candy, but I just bought a room.
Father, mother, summertime bummer--yes, my flight got delayed.
But I'm hardly missing, just reminiscing ‘bout the one that got away.

I know my life is a sad song. And yes I do know why.
I stayed up cryin all along. But I don't wanna cry.

I wish I coulda stayed on that flight forever, where I could do you no harm. I wish we coulda stayed in the sky together, before it all went wrong.
I wish we had faith in the way we landed. The way we weathered the storm.
What a bumpy ride but at least we tried to keep each other warm.

Birthday parties, exes named Bobby--I was born to choose. Between laughing and smiling while feeling lousy, or to just sing the blues.
I'm not steady, fuck all your weddings now that I'm back in town.
There's no sense pretending my hearts for lending when the plane touched the ground.

Calvin Paradise is not any one thing. The half-hearted vagabond and forgetful luddite currently resides in Los Angeles and how he spends his time is none of your damned business.