Wednesday, April 22, 2020

“Rise” by Ships Have Sailed – A Song Feature


     “Rise” is a timely release of a power anthem that skillfully bubbles up its strength and resolve during the first minute. That minute includes one ebb and a number of musical flows. The single from Ships Have Sailed begins with a distortion-heavy intro that leads to a piano accompanying melodically calming vocals describing an unsettling perception – “These scars are a badge that you bear, my friend / The pain you feel now turns to strength in the end / But still you feel lost.” The song seamlessly moves into its ebb with an agonized cry, “There's nowhere left to run,” followed by the authoritative anthemic chorus:

You gotta rise up
You’re the spark from the clash
A phoenix from the ashes, oh oh oh...
You gotta rise up
A heart like a champion
Sing it like an anthem, oh oh oh...

     Lyrically, “Rise” is intelligently motivational. But it’s the combination of forceful vocalization and nuanced instrumentation that gives effect to those lyrics.

     Ships Have Sailed explained “Rise:”
  "In the midst of chaos we can oddly find moments of calm and clarity. Our world is going through a lot at the moment and many people are having to make huge adjustments in their lives in order to accommodate a landscape that shifts almost daily. 'Rise' has been finished for a minute, but it hadn't really shown me where it wanted to live. In one of those odd moments of clarity, I just sort of realized that it was here in this situation we are all living through where it belongs...in the middle of this chaos, reminding us all that we can, and will, weather this storm."

      The Los Angeles-based duo is Will Carpenter and Art Andranikyan. Having dedicated 2019 largely to studio work, Ships Have Sailed planned to prioritize touring in 2020, and set out on their first leg (a 10-show run across the southwest with another duo from LA) on March 11 th . Unfortunately, their tour was interrupted by the COVID-19 epidemic, which escalated quickly while they were far from home, and Will and Art were forced to reassess their plans for the year, resulting in their decision to release their upcoming single ‘Rise’ in April.

     “In the midst of all the chaos that was happening around us, I felt oddly calm,” remembers Carpenter “I can remember realizing that our touring plans were likely done at least for six months and quite possibly longer, and knowing we needed to adjust. I’d had this song (‘Rise’) finished for a minute, but it hadn’t really showed me where it belonged yet. I just sort of realized that it was here in this situation we’re all living through where it belongs…in the middle of this chaos, reminding us all that we can, and will, weather this storm.”

     “Rise” by Ships Have Sailed 




Lyrics of “Rise” by Ships Have Sailed
Weather the storm
When it breaks, you awake
And it’s shaking you straight to the core

Settle the score
Find a way to escape
If anything know that...
These scars are a badge that you bear, myfriend
Thepain you feelnow turns tostrength in the end
But still you feel lost...

There’s nowhere left to run...

You gotta rise up
You’re the spark from the clash
A phoenix from the ashes, oh oh oh...
You gotta rise up
A heart like a champion
Sing it like an anthem, oh oh oh...

Stifle the scream when you feel the heat
You gotta believe you’ll never see defeat
You gotta rise up
Oh oh oh, oh

We found our way home
Take a breathe for a moment
But nothing’s the same anymore

The clouds are all gone
There’s a light all around
But still all you can see are...
The flaws like a badge that I wear on my skin
They’ll tell you my stories reveal all my sins...

Will we pay the toll?

Our backs against the wall
We just can’t take the fall...

You gotta rise up
You’re the spark from the clash
A phoenix from the ashes, oh oh oh...
You gotta rise up
A heart like a champion
Sing it like an anthem, oh oh oh...

Stifle the scream when you feel the heat
You gotta believe you’ll never see defeat
You gotta rise up
Oh oh, oh, oh, oh

Hea-hea-heart like a champion
Si-si-sing it like an anthem
A phoenix from the ashes, ashes..

You gotta rise up
You’re the spark from the clash
A phoenix from the ashes, oh oh oh...
You gotta rise up
A heart like a champion
Sing it like an anthem, oh oh oh...

Stifle the scream when you feel the heat
You gotta believe you’ll never see defeat
You gotta rise up
Oh oh, oh, oh, oh
You gotta rise up

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