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Silver and Gold

Arend Lee Jessurun

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Silver and Gold

Arend Lee Jessurun

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A couple Christmases ago, I was watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with friends, and one of them pointed out, "That's such a sweet sentiment," regarding the ending lyric: "Silver and gold / mean so much more when I see / silver and gold decorations / on every Christmas tree." I thought to myself, "Hey, a Christmas song that can speak to

A couple Christmases ago, I was watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with friends, and one of them pointed out, "That's such a sweet sentiment," regarding the ending lyric: "Silver and gold / mean so much more when I see / silver and gold decorations / on every Christmas tree." I thought to myself, "Hey, a Christmas song that can speak to income inequality? Sign me up." I hope it can offer some solidarity and beauty to you too, if you're feeling the weight of economic pressures.

The single artwork is a collage of images sourced from the public domain. Some of the images include pages from literature on the Rocky Mountain gold mine area, a scientific illustration of a Christmas rose (so named from legend that it sprouted from the tears of a poor girl who had nothing to offer the Christ child), and photos of holiday shoppers and wish lists.

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Albums

Demo​-​Listen Derby 2020, Vol. 3

Arend Lee Jessurun

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The final installment of DLD2020. What began as a biweekly demo series on Patreon has evolved into a three-volume EP-set. This project is an exercise in anti-perfectionism, following after self-recording heroes such as Richard Swift and Sufjan Stevens. Each song is one take, recorded on one mic and mixed and mastered in my home studio.
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    There's not Much Time Left for Wearing Boots (Demo) 0:50
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    The Show is Over (Demo) 2:55
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    Hello Felix Culpa (Demo) 3:50
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    Before it Drifts Away (Demo) 3:10
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Demo-Listen Derby 2020, Vol. 1

Arend Lee Jessurun

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What began as a biweekly demo series on Patreon has evolved into a three-volume EP-set and an ongoing yearly project. This project is an exercise in anti-perfectionism, following after self-recording heroes such as Richard Swift and Sufjan Stevens. Each song from the set is one-take, recorded on one-mic and mixed and mastered in my home studio.
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    Get Lost and Found (Demo) 3:34
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    Lonely is its Name (Demo) 3:31
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    The Other Shoe (Demo) 2:45
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Demo-Listen Derby 2020, Vol. 2

Arend Lee Jessurun

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The second installment! What began as a biweekly demo series on Patreon has evolved into a three-volume EP-set. This project is an exercise in anti-perfectionism, following after self-recording heroes such as Richard Swift and Sufjan Stevens. Each song from the set is one-take, recorded on one-mic and mixed and mastered in my home studio.
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    Thinking 'bout John Prine (Demo) 3:32
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    Time's for the Taking (Demo) 2:58
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    Pizza for Breakfast (Demo) 1:11
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    I'm Not Gonna Die on Your Hill (Demo) 2:24
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Singles

Seeking a Friend in LA - Single

Arend Lee Jessurun

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This is the third single in The Old Soul and the Holy Fool,” a song cycle about relationships and self-realization. I’m gradually releasing these songs as singles, documenting my becoming as I record them individually over a period of time.
“Seeking a Friend in LA” was inspired by a conversation I had with a friend who said, “We’re all just
This is the third single in The Old Soul and the Holy Fool,” a song cycle about relationships and self-realization. I’m gradually releasing these songs as singles, documenting my becoming as I record them individually over a period of time.
“Seeking a Friend in LA” was inspired by a conversation I had with a friend who said, “We’re all just looking for a friend in LA, man.” That, and I really wanted to write a song that made a lyric out of the internet slang, “living their best life.” It was written during the same period as “Tell Me What For,” a period wherein I was wondering why there aren’t more platonic love songs out there.
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Everybody is a Fool - Single

Arend Lee Jessurun

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This is the first single in my new project “The Old Soul and the Holy Fool,” a song cycle about relationships and self-realization. As a depiction of the slow process of self-realization, I’m gradually releasing these songs as singles, documenting my becoming as I record them individually over a period of time.

The process of writing, recording,
This is the first single in my new project “The Old Soul and the Holy Fool,” a song cycle about relationships and self-realization. As a depiction of the slow process of self-realization, I’m gradually releasing these songs as singles, documenting my becoming as I record them individually over a period of time.

The process of writing, recording, and mixing “Everybody is a Fool” has been at times a labor of love and at other times a fool’s errand. The song itself is at least three years old, has been revised countless times, and wasn’t shown to the public until years after its inception, due to self-consciousness. I recorded three different takes over the course of a few weeks, and during the recording process, re-wrote the lyrics and the guitar part. Then I spent over a month tinkering with the mix, hit a wall, hired another engineer to do a mix, and then eventually decided I would use my own mix after all.

Along the way of making this, I have truly learned some new things about myself. And by serendipity or providence, it turns out that’s kind of what this song was always about.

“The more you learn, the less you know,
and I’ve sure got a ways to go.”
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Tell Me What For - Single

Arend Lee Jessurun

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This is the second single in “The Old Soul and the Holy Fool,” a song cycle about relationships and self-realization. I’m gradually releasing these songs as singles, documenting my becoming as I record them individually over a period of time.

“Tell Me What For,” like the first single in the cycle “Everybody is a Fool,” is about processing (and in
This is the second single in “The Old Soul and the Holy Fool,” a song cycle about relationships and self-realization. I’m gradually releasing these songs as singles, documenting my becoming as I record them individually over a period of time.

“Tell Me What For,” like the first single in the cycle “Everybody is a Fool,” is about processing (and in this case, even overthinking) a relational loss. It’s also for me an experiment in a new lyrical mode, one that is more tongue-in-cheek, inspired by John Prine.

I wrote this song during February Album Writing Month. This was one of those songs that just started flowing out as soon as I sat down with it. I had a fun time producing it, adding some Wilco-inspired wonky jazz guitar lines in the second verse. All in all, it was an experiment in fun, an embrace of my inner Holy Fool.

“That is what friendships are for,
sharing the apple and core.
So open to me a bit more,
and tell me what for.”
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I Don't Know the Way - Single

Arend Lee Jessurun

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“I Don’t Know the Way” is a dreamy folk ballad inspired by Brandi Carlile, Leonard Cohen, T. S. Eliot, and the search for a life of meaning.

I was listening to NPR’s New Music Friday, on my way to a coffee shop that was, as it turned out, closed, when this melody presented itself to me. I felt inspired after having heard Brandi Carlile’s song “
“I Don’t Know the Way” is a dreamy folk ballad inspired by Brandi Carlile, Leonard Cohen, T. S. Eliot, and the search for a life of meaning.

I was listening to NPR’s New Music Friday, on my way to a coffee shop that was, as it turned out, closed, when this melody presented itself to me. I felt inspired after having heard Brandi Carlile’s song “The Mother,” and sang this new melody into my phone. Perhaps it was my unconscious mind coming up with an alternate melody for that song (as it turns out, my verses scan in the same meter as Brandi’s). It was a few more months and several drafted verses before I came up with lyrics I felt I could sing. I had always wanted to write a song in the style of Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne,” with the second verse taking an aside and contemplating a religious figure. Similarly, I’d always wanted to write one of those rambling folk songs about travel, but travel in an inward, spiritual sense.
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