Evergreen

Album: Ivory (2022)
Charted: 31 51
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Born to Mexican parents, Omar Apollo (real name Omar Velasco) grew up in Hobart, Indiana. He started playing the guitar when he was 12, learning how to play by watching and mimicking YouTube cover videos. Apollo's breakthrough came when he uploaded his song "Ugotme" to Spotify and the platform playlisted it on their Fresh Finds. "Evergreen" is a track from his debut album, Ivory.
  • Here, Apollo tries to win back his man, who left him for a girl. He still has a strong love for him and feels ripped apart that his ex doesn't feel the same way anymore.

    Evergreen, he tears me to pieces
    Evergreen, Doesn't even have to try


    Like evergreen plants that keep their foliage throughout the entire year, Apollo's heartbreak at losing his ex's love is unending.
  • Rumor has it that "Evergreen," along with other Ivory tracks, is about Apollo's relationship with Frank Ocean. However, this is unlikely as the singer tweeted, "Evergreen is about an Aquarius man." Ocean's Zodiac sign is Scorpio.
  • "Evergreen" became Apollo's first Hot 100 hit when it went viral on TikTok. The Chicano pop musician first promoted the song with a video showing him shaking his ass on the platform. Then users posted compilations of adversity, followed by their recovery, soundtracked by part of the bridge. The enhanced interest in "Evergreen" can also be attributed to Apollo's performance during his NPR Tiny Desk Concert on September 15, 2022 in honor of Latinx Heritage Month.
  • Throughout Ivory, Apollo sings of his gay romantic trysts. Its title is "a metaphor for a bond or trust," he told MTV News, referring to the material's strength and durability.
  • Apollo wrote "Evergreen" himself and co-produced it with Teo Halm and Manuel Barajas. Other songs on Halm's resumé include Rosalia's banger "Con Altura" and Beyoncé, Jay-Z and Childish Gambino's Lion King the Gift track "Mood 4 Eva."
  • Teo Halm also played the bass guitar. The other musicians are:

    Trumpet and flugelhorn: Harry Kim
    Tenor and baritone saxophone: Brian Scanlon
    Keyboards and synthesizer: Joachim Polack
    Guitar: Adam Paulson
    Drums: Riley Geare
  • Apollo wrote "Evergreen" in a rented house in Idyllwild, California, with his childhood best friend Manuel Barajas, who plays bass in his band. They made "Evergreen" and the Ivory (Marfil) track "Endlessly" on the same day. "It was so simple," he told Billboard. "Being far away from everybody, not having access to do things, things become clear."
  • Apollo and his producer friend Teo Halm hired a band and laid down "Evergreen" at Larrabee Studios. The two especially focused on the bridge, the part of the song that blew up on TikTok. For the first half, Apollo borrowed the lyrics from his song "How Do You Live in Your Skin."

    "There are so many textures - if you listen to background vocals, even Teo is singing on that part," he told Billboard. "It's beautiful to see that all the effort I put in with Teo, Manny and my engineer Nathan [Phillips] is the part that's blowing up. That literally makes me so happy."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

The 10 Bands Most Like Spinal Tap

The 10 Bands Most Like Spinal TapSong Writing

Based on criteria like girlfriend tension, stage mishaps and drummer turnover, these are the 10 bands most like Spinal Tap.

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."

Strange Magnetics

Strange MagneticsSong Writing

How Bing Crosby, Les Paul, a US Army Signal Corps Officer, and the Nazis helped shape rock and Roll.

Brenda Russell

Brenda RussellSongwriter Interviews

Brenda talks about the inspiration that drove her to write hit songs like "Get Here" and "Piano in the Dark," and why a lack of formal music training can be a songwriter's best asset.

Narada Michael Walden - "Freeway of Love"

Narada Michael Walden - "Freeway of Love"They're Playing My Song

As a songwriter and producer, Narada had hits with Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Starship. But what song does he feel had the greatest impact on his career?

Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders

Chrissie Hynde of The PretendersSongwriter Interviews

The rock revolutionist on songwriting, quitting smoking, and what she thinks of Rush Limbaugh using her song.