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about
Tu Bishvat is my debut release. The song itself is lighthearted, somewhat dreamy, and simple. Listeners have compared it to Benjamin Gibbard, The Weakerthans, Sufjan Stevens, and Iron and Wine. On the surface, it's a folksome, whimsical song about singing happy birthday to trees that anybody could enjoy. However, the title comes from one of my favorite Jewish holidays and the song (although not a religious song) is an expression of Jewish whimsy, beauty, and joy.
While I love this song, it wasn't going to be my debut release. I was going to release something with more gravitas first, but this became very important to me after an experience at an open mic night at the Black Sparrow Music Parlor in Taylor Texas. The comic who went before me, who is not Jewish, had a great deal of his set dedicated to Jew jokes. Foreskins, the Holocaust, money. You don't have to imagine it because you've certainly heard it before. It wasn't novel or interesting or funny. But suddenly this song became very important for me to release into the world. In a world where Jewishness is often reduced to antisemitism, the fight against antisemitism, and the Israel/Palestine conflict, Jewish whimsy, beauty, and joy are important. In a world where Jews are encouraged to assimilate, to keep their Jewishness quiet, it's also subversive.
lyrics
I'm alone in a forest
Surrounded by trees
It's not a metaphor for nothin'
It's just where I happen to be
I wanted to write you a love song
But I can't stop talking about me
So I'm alone in a forest
And I'm singin' about trees
Happy birthday
How many is it this year?
I know it must be gettin' up there
But I'll believe what I hear
I didn't come to count rings, ain't keeping score
Whatever the years
Here's to that many more
I could plant a forest
God knows I could get the seeds
Again, it's not a metaphor
It's just real easy to buy seeds
But I thought it'd be better to get to know
The one that's five minutes from me
So I'm not gonna plant a forest
I'll just sing to these trees
Happy birthday
How many is it this year?
I know it must be gettin' up there
But I'll believe what I hear
I didn't come to count rings, ain't keeping score
Whatever the years
Here's to that many more
I'm just a guy in the forest
And I'm singin' to the trees
credits
released December 9, 2022
Alex Gaw - vocals, acoustic guitar
Wilson Marks - electric guitar
Mike Roberts - upright bass
Ethan Schneider - drums
Sarah Ulloa - background vocals
Austin Sisler - recording and mixing engineer
Max Lorenzen - mastering engineer
Samantha Gaw - cover art
Recorded at The Woodshed in Granger, TX (www.thewoodshedgranger.com) and Eastside Music Studio in Austin, TX (eastsidemusic.com/recording-studio-austin-texas/)
Alex Gaw is a singer songwriter from Austin, TX. His songs about inadequacy, relationships, and the world as he sees it are
brutally honest. Well, except the one about a failed ritual sacrifice at the end of the world—that one's brutally fictional. Okay, and there are a few songs for his kids. Those are brutally silly....more
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