Never One Thing

Album: Mother Lion (2017)
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Songfacts®:

  • This is the first release from the Michigan singer-songwriter May Erlewine's album, Mother Lion, which was produced by Tyler Duncan. Erlewine told us:

    "The song 'Never One Thing' was inspired by the Walt Whitman verse:

    I am large, I contain multitudes

    It is a song about personal revolution and accepting and caring for all parts of ourselves. It is both a triumphant burst from the confines of society and a plea to be released from the captivity of labels and generalizations."
  • "The video was inspired by Frida Kahlo's self-portraits and the many ways she explored her image," Erlewine explained. "I saw this GIF and was so moved by how honestly she accepted all of her "selves." I wanted to recreate this imagery but with different women on film. The shots speak to the complexity of the pressures of being objects of beauty vs. being a feeling human. I asked all of the women to embrace the pain of the limitations in their lives, while also honoring the empowerment of self acceptance."
  • Many of the songs from the album have poems to accompany them. The poem for "Never One Thing" is is entitled, Too Wide:

    Your eyes are asking
    And
    the sun warms my heart without knowing
    The moon leaves her doors open to the sky
    Do not mold me
    The world is too wide

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