Backroads

Album: The Day's War (2014)
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Songfacts®:

  • Lonely Are The Brave hail from Cambridge, England and consist of singer David Jakes, guitarists Mark Trotter and Joel Mason, bassist Andrew Bushen and drummer Gavin 'Mo' Edgeley. This is the title track of their debut EP, which was released after inking a deal with Hassle Records (home of August Burns Red, Thousand Foot Krutch and Cancer Bats).
  • The song's music video features Ukrainian skateboarders filmed against the backdrop of the country's recent uprising. "We're not a political band," Mark Trotter told Q magazine, "but the director said the song reminded him of that time and that feeling of hope."

    "I thought I'd written all these miserable songs," David Jakes added, "but people say they're actually uplifting."
  • The video's director Greg Davenport explained its concept: "When I first heard the track I instantly felt that the video had to have a feeling of freedom and escape," he said. "As it happens I'd been following the Euromaidan movement in Ukraine very closely since it started in November, and I was actually there in Maidan Square, Kiev on NYE singing along with 200,000 people, full of hope - only to then watch in horror at the violence that was unleashed after returning to London."

    "We all saw the images to some degree or another and at times they were nothing short of apocalyptic," Davenport continued. "I thought about these people after the revolution had succeeded and that clearly was the catalyst for the idea. Fresh from such a violent experience but hoping for a brighter future and for the time being at least just wanting to escape and feel free."

    "This image of a group of longboarders weaving through the countryside," he added, "seemed to synch so perfectly with the guitar riff and the whole vibe of the track."

Comments: 1

  • Marc from London, EnglandBeatiful song, I only heard it on a spotify playlist "chill rock " the other day. I was totally gobsmacked at how good the singing is. The lyrics and the message and emotions it provokes. It is a masterpiece! One of the greatest songs I've heard!
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