Forever

Album: Oochya! (2022)
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Songfacts®:

  • Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones wrote this melodic downtempo song in 2006 when his daughter Bootsy got stricken with cancer. The reflective track finds him facing something scary and wishing he could fly away forever. He wishes the pain Bootsy was going through would go away, and would take a bullet for his little girl if he could make that happen.

    "Not knowing how I was going to deal with it and trying to protect the person who was going through it, it became like wanting to escape, but you can't escape because you have to face whatever is going on," he explained to the BBC.
  • Jones didn't record "Forever" until 15 years after he wrote it, when he rediscovered the unused track while working on new Stereophonics material during lockdown. He felt the lyric was open for interpretation and its sentiment would resonate with a lot of listeners. Moreover, it fit with a loose theme running through Oochya! of freedom and escapism.
  • Stereophonics released "Forever" as the third single from Oochya! The album title means nothing, but symbolizes joy, or to go for it. Jones first used the word in 2004 when Stereophonics were recording Language. Sex. Violence. Other, writing it on the mixing desk and around the studio.

    "To me, it's a word that Paul Weller or Cockneys like Chas And Dave would say, like 'Let's f---ing have it!,'" he told NME. "I like records like Aerosmith's Pump or The Rolling Stones' Grrr! and Honk, where the word doesn't mean anything but still gives you a flavor. The title has a lot to do with the mood of the record, I think. Once you're going to call your record 'Oochya!', it can't be too introspective."
  • Lolita Bootsy Jones, Kelly Jones' eldest child by interior designer ex-partner Rebecca Walters, is now a son named Colby. Jones has written several other songs inspired by Bootsy/Colby, including:

    "Lolita." A celebration of Bootsy's birth recorded for Language. Sex. Violence. Other?

    "Fly Like an Eagle." Inspired by Bootsy coming out as a lesbian, Stereophonics recorded the song for their 2019 album Kind.

    "Every Dog Has Its Day." Inspired by Bootsy transitioning into a boy, Stereophonics recorded this for Oochya!.

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