“Long Long Summer” by T.O.L.D. – A Song Feature

     T.O.L.D. masterfully reaches a delicate balance between conveying the emotions accompanying loss and the comfort of willful acknowledgment of the reality. While talking about his single, he said, “’Long Long Summer’ is about that melancholic feeling of the summer ending. It’s a nostalgic ballad of acceptance. Accepting that there’s gonna be another winter soon and there’s lots of things we still don’t know about the world.”

 

     Nostalgia is immediately triggered when “Long Long Summer” begins with what sounds like a rotary telephone dial returning to its rest position, followed by a few seconds of lower resolution guitar. Then, 15 seconds into the single from T.O.L.D., a Robert Smith (The Cure) elegance enters with a clear guitar. The vocals are appealing and the percussion is forceful. Still, the guitars distinguish “Long Long Summer,” which is fitting since the song is from the upcoming EP “As The World Burns I play My Guitar.”

 

     T.O.L.D. recorded two guitar solos into “Long Long Summer.” The first is introduced by the line “Even as the world is burning I'm still playing my guitar.” The Robert Smith guitar-esque follows, but the second solo is more aligned with Slash during “November Rain,” which is another single with multiple guitar solos.

 

     T.O.L.D. is the performance name of Daniel James Smith and is an acronym for The Order of Life and Death. Smith explains that the name was inspired by Gustav Klimt's painting "Death and Life." He is a vocalist, songwriter and record producer who was born in Birmingham, UK. Smith is now based in Los Angeles.

     “Long Long Summer” is the second single from the upcoming “As The World Burns I Play My Guitar” EP. It will be the third EP from T.O.L.D. He provided some insight into its motivation:

   “This whole EP came from sitting on my bed as LA was burning and playing my guitar… Coming up with a riff and feeling a little better… Jamming some drums and forgetting for a second that it might be the end times... Each song is just me being 14 again – sitting on my girlfriend’s bed as she plays xbox. It’s me hearing her Dad upstairs yelling “All he does is play that fucking guitar.’”

 

     “Long Long Summer (As The World Burns I Play My Guitar)” by T.O.L.D.

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Lyrics of “Long Long Summer (As The World Burns I Play My Guitar)” by T.O.L.D.

Boy meet strange

It's time to turn to face the world again

What you don't know could reach the horizon

There's backwards gravity

And there's subtle magic far too strange to be known by a machine

 

I know it's not set in stone

But I really hope you say so

I don't wanna let go

I can never let go

This long long summer was far from a bummer but it's gone now

This long long summer is far from a bummer but it's gone now

This long long summer was far from a bummer but it's gone now

This long long summer is far from a bummer but it's gone now

 

Now the sun extends my shadow

Like I'm seventeen feet tall

And there's fires in the meadow

Ashes falling to the floor

Smile, smile

There's no need for your despair

Even as the world is burning I'm still playing my guitar

 

I know it's not set in stone

But I really hope you say so

I don't wanna it let go

I can never it let go

This long long summer was far from a bummer but it's gone now

This long long summer is far from a bummer but it's gone now

This long long summer was far from a bummer but it's gone now

This long long summer is far from a bummer but it's gone now