There’s feeling in every inch of Hollan‘s latest tune, “I’ve Been Alone.” Anna Manotti (aka Hollan) is an artist from central Pennsylvania whose music speaks in volumes gently. “I’ve Been Alone” is the perfect example of just that. The song has both emotional and sonic pulses that constantly tug the heart and the ears in this mesmerizing swirl of vivid isolation. Speaking to both the pain and the beauty of being lonely, the little details and big questions of these lyrics are like a lens zooming in and out on the same subject. The lyrics are poetry in motion, taking place everywhere and nowhere but right at home in the glow of the track’s arrangement.
It seems such a natural fit to have the heart of this song be plucks of acoustic guitar moving in a current that guides the way for this melody. But, it’s the softest sweeps of swelling sound that dance around these verses and rise up around this chorus that really enhance the movement in this song. From the sliding guitar to the soaring backing vocals in the distance to the patter and brush of the drums, soothing sounds weave carefully with the lyrics and melody into the kind of blanket of catharsis we all need right now.
After soaking in the reverberating waves of “I’ve Been Alone,” listen to more Hollan here.
Dig into the world of the song’s lyrics below:
I’ve been alone
For a long time
For some daylight
And some nighttime
You know
How the time flies
And it goes by
And you realize
You are alone
With your ghost friends
When the days end
They say amen
And they go home
To their small towns
Somewhere way out
Yeah there’s no doubt
They are alone
I’ve been alone
Among people
Under steeples
Some cathedrals
And they’ve been alone
Right beside me
But they deepened me
And they widened me
And truth be told
I was just fine
In the springtime
With the long drive
And the future
Like a vision
I could walk in
If I listened
Why can’t we, Why can’t we get to each other
Why can’t we, Why can’t we just be together
You know
I’ve been alone
And the weekends
Are a weakness
Like my split ends
Are too damn close
To my own head
And my loose threads
Turn maroon red
Can I get alone
On an island
By the highway
And the highlands
Can I go home
To a sunset
With my head high
And some pride left
To wake up slow
Why can’t we, Why can’t we get to each other
Why can’t we, Will it be this way forever
You know
Cause me, man, I’ve been alone
In my old room
Turning see-through
With a nice view
And every little nerve exposed
Like a child
Or a Clydesdale
Running wild
First time it broke the rope
And jumped the fence
And ran the road
And made it’s own sense
