I only listen to this song when I am alone. At age 66 I can't have people seeing me cry like a baby. But I cry because the song is so beautiful and I'm astounded that it came from a 13 yr. old! Awesome Reaction. Thanks for laying your heart out there for us. Very Grace like!!
Chuck Truax, thank you for sharing what is felt by many, my self with being a veteran has done so much to help me with my demons. I am so thankful God created Grace.
@@daxmusix She has said that this is one of the two songs that she wrote about her brother. Beautiful life is her singing from her point of view, and this one from her brother's point of view, but changes back and forth during the song.
This is one of my fav Grace songs, in fact one of my fav songs of all time , her vulnerability and the way she sings this for those that do have darkness chase us sometimes makes it outstanding , to sing this live cannot be easy , its not a easy song to sing and it should not be easy to listen to
Grace is protective of her family, and her brother, Jacob has went through a dark time. I think this beautiful song has help out alot of people through their dark times. I my self have been through the darkness, being a veteran, it tells me not to give up on life. This is another Masterpiece of this incredible songwriter. Great reaction. You have to admit Grace brought out even your inner fears that you had at one time. So Grace brings out the conversation about mental health. The fact that you dissect the music so intricately makes this reaction one of the best.
12 years ago i was in a motorcycle wreck...i paralyzed my left arm and was a bassist and i had a trach from the wreck and i was a singer. so unfortunately darkness these days always chases me. lucky for me i found grace and she shed a lil light into my life that is constantly riddled with "darkness" and pain....peace brother :) D~
By far the darkest and the most beautiful and the most touching of all of Grace's work so far. I actually enjoy tearing up, both to happy experiences and sad ones. I feel that in ways it washes my soul clean to shed tears. This performance always brings that out of me.
Grace writes music that people can interpret in many ways. I've heard people say this song was strangely comforting to them, others say it is evil, or bad thoughts they feel, Grace herself called it a "Debbie Downer". Grace does that, Beutiful thing hits people as a love song that is relatable in so many different ways. I've read countless opinions on alost every song she writes, and people seem to get different messages. The only thing most agree on, is her dilivery, her voice and she never fails to amaze us.
The way she sings the "MEs" in this song, is important. It is both a song about perseverance and a plea for help to all those who love her (and God). Ultimately it's a positive. JMO. ✌️😎 Peace Breezy
Coolbreeze Productions she does indeed get that lovely soaring ME in several times, and I love it each time. I certainly hope that is about her perseverance through this. Thanks, my friend.
@@daxmusix Howdy Dax, sorry my replies are so sporadic. I wanted to point out the last "Me" is different. I hear a "oh well life goes on (but no surrender)". I just wanted to add that. Anyway, take care of yourself, til we "talk" again.✌️😎
Grace's guitarist, Melissa, is also a guitar teacher. I think she's a big influence on, and a mentor to Grace. And I also think she's teaching Grace guitar. I think of how much we've come to love Grace. Imagine how much Melissa and the other two in the band must love her and want to do everything they can to help her grow in music and as a good person.
I do imagine that, Mark, and I imagine that Melissa knows she is on the edge of history in the making. What an extraordinary experience it must be to be an accomplished guitarist teaching a phenomenon and being with that phenomenon on almost a daily basis. Wow!
I dont get the impression her bandmates compose and write with her in the studio though. Wouldn't that, as a musician, take away from the experience of performing with grace.
@@jyee2217 I haven't looked at the credits of her most recent songs as to who performs on her recordings with her. You can find them on Spotify, I think. I know her producer, Ido, does quite a bit-even background vocals.
She wrote this song in 30 minutes after she finished a session with Ido. She had some time left and she sat there and wrote this. I would be willing to bet it came from a conversation they had earlier. I always felt that the darkness might be about the industry, and the fact that they may have been trying to force her sing songs she doesn’t want to.
I just had a thought. Probably absurd, but possibly not. At three Grace made up a song about losing her best friend. Then about 8 or 9 years later she sang an original song about missing someone. What if those two songs and this one are all talking about the same best friend that she lost when she was three, and the feelings that loss brought up in her. Maybe that loss was so traumatic that she occasionally relives those feelings many years later.
Hello again mr. Dax. I have a feeling about the meaning of this song that I would like to share. And I am actually glad to do this because the way I understand it, incorporates some of what you said, amongst others, that Grace is strong and she does overcome the darkness. At the beginning of discovering this beautiful young lady with the most beautiful soul I feared for her. I feared precisely, that the sort of darkness that corrupts and makes a caricature out of all that is beautiful could get to her. But the more I listen to her music the more I understand that she might be, and probably is much stronger than I am, and she is the one giving me hope and strength through her music. So in this song I think she is a lot more concerned about the person in ripped jeans who she sees blowing smoke "Don't tell me you fell in, The darkness is already seeping through, Oh, can't you see?". She does ask the other person not to let the darkness get to her but Grace wants the person to be strong so that he/she can help themselves. She uses herself as an excuse in the way of ~If not for yourself then do it for me. I love you, but I can't fight your fight, I'm not strong enough to fight your fight and sometimes seeing how you bring your demons with you, instead of fighting them, I want to run away~. "I just want you here, But I also want to be alone, I don't know what I want anymore" I understand these verse as seeing the other person befriend his own demons, like saying ~you have changed I and I can't help you. Seeing you like this is to painful~. "Hiding places remind me of you and, I wanna call you, But if I hear your voice I just might cry". Sometimes when we befriend our demons, our vices, we do that hidden away from the light. These verses seem Like she wants to call someone out of the hiding place where they used to play when "we were just kids" and didn't know the danger of the fire they were playing with. Like saying ~I want to call for you but if I hear your voice saying you are content with hiding in the dark, I might cry~. Grace is amazing and speaks about a world that is biblical, it is overwhelming. I hope my words make some sense. Thank you again for all your work. You help me understand Grace and her great works so much better! Thank you a million times! PS: The way she ends the grave sentence "darkness keeps chasing 🎶me e e e e e🎶" Makes me think of an advices from great spiritual teachers and actually a monk I once talked to and who has told me "don't take it seriously. Have humor". As if Grace is making darkness seem like something you can sing away. And I believe you can😉. Sorry for such a long comment.
1) I think Grace just has a way of saying what everyone feels at some point. 2) Isn't every song we need to hear every few years a classic? We all have those songs. 3) Nightmares? All of us have had/do have have them. I and most of us have gotten over them. Grace is just telling a story of life. 4) There is much debate about Grace's "running away to it in the night." That is her style. She writes in cryptic mode that leaves us all wondering. We can all come to our own conclusions. 5) I don't know what I want anymore? Normal human feelings... 6) Grace writing down her feelings and making us see them is what makes her special. 7) (Weather) her words are what matters. Grace is a genius. 8) "Bowing smoke" You nailed it. Let me say two words that make Grace a step above. "Depth" and "Cryptic". She has all of it. I hope she doesn't veer too much into the Pop side - which she seems to be doing. It would be a shame to lose her.
As always, an excellent reaction! This time I really, truly wish we could have an in-person conversation. So much to discuss! For this comment I will speak to only one thing so I don't write a 5 page essay. I believe this song is about depression. (It might be about drugs if her brother was the inspiration, though.) I think it is her very best song poetically. My love for it stems from the same sort of feeling you expressed in your reply to John Emberson "I’m glad that there’s somebody who feels the same way." I fought severe depression not too long ago. I still fight it some. While the lyrics at times don't apply directly, the feeling described by the line "The darkness keeps chasing me" is 100% accurate. That IS how it feels. So if nothing else is true, the song makes me feel that it's not just me feeling this way. Then "please don't let it get to me, I don't want to give up that easily". I want to get better, feel differently, but I need help. There-in lies the positive. Wanting to fight it, but needing help. Thanks for your honest reaction.
Yes, Neil, I think the commiseration aspect of Grace’s song, where we have been there and have gotten past it or want to get past it, is huge. Obviously, she didn’t write the song for us to have that commiseration, but we get to have it anyway. I think your depression comment is spot-on. Depending on the person, I think the darkness is an aspect of at least mild depression, if not worse. Our magnificent human brains are extraordinary at figuring things out, but also encountering the enormous complexities of life and death. It makes for sometimes a very difficult experience, and sometimes extraordinary art. I feel confident we will have our in-house conversation that lasts for 13 1/2 hours sometime in the next year or two. Until then, let’s keep on keeping on. And, BTW, thanks again for your very kind comments about me.
@@daxmusix I've been out of town for a couple days and have been thinking about your reply. I don't like the word commiseration. For me listening to this song is cathartic.
Neil Mikesell you’re right. Commiseration is not the right word. It actually niggled at me when I wrote it and I didn’t change it. I hate it when that happens. Perhaps connection or something like that. Thanks for calling me on that.
The verse- ''See you blowing smoke in your ripped jeans Don't tell me you fell in The darkness is already seeping through Oh, can't you see? I will be different'' refers to a famous photo of Miley Cyrus smoking marijuana in ripped jeans. Grace is trying to avoid Miley's pitfalls.
Heartfelt and poignant reaction! One of my favourites of Graces songs. I believe she wrote this song about her older brother who has had a long battle with drug abuse. The emotions she portrays while singing this song are genuine as she loves and cares very deeply for him and his daily struggles with his problem. God bless both of them....
You are correct. Her brother was struggling with addiction. Thankfully he is recovering and the family is stronger . He's works on her tours now. She is an incredibly insightful soul for such a young lady. An old soul. BTW-Dax, I enjoy your reactions.
By far, this is Grace's most dramatic and affecting song. It would be hard to believe that it's not autobiographical. What's really heartbreaking are her lines, "Look at the skylight. Would you be mad at me if I tried running to it in the night?" and "I don't wanna give up so easily." I'm pretty sure those are references to suicidal thoughts. You might have noticed that she omitted the word "cry" from the line, "If I hear your voice, I just might cry." To my knowledge, the only time we hear the complete line is in her studio recording. It may well be that she might actually cry if she says the word as she's singing this song. It must evoke strong feelings in her, as she has avoided singing the song despite Grace's fans clamoring to hear it. I've heard that it took only an hour for this song to come spilling out of her--another indication that it's about HER. Some people think that her reference to "blowing smoke in your ripped jeans" was inspired by a photograph of Miley Cyrus, but I suspect that the other person in the song is either her sister, Olivia, or the friend she sings about in "Moonlight." BTW, if this song does, indeed, include references to suicidal thoughts, it would not be the first song in which Grace sang about overcoming suicidal thoughts, namely, "The Good Just Gets Better," a wonderful song which was inexplicably removed from her YT channel. Here's another place you can go to hear it. ua-cam.com/video/SoSPVEzG2tU/v-deo.html
You are insightful and informative, as always, Larry. I wouldn’t doubt that she has great difficulty in singing this in public, or even that her handlers don’t really want this and one or two other songs on her channel, with our PC culture the way it is. And of course, one of the things I love about Grace is that she is going to sing what she wants to sing, and nobody gets in the way. Thanks again, my friend.
Great composers like Mozart and Chopin confront their fears, mortality, or darkness by confronting the inner demons through expulsion and then confrontation of the emotions with their creativity and expression through the compositions. So to say bringing them into the light and giving the darkness form and hopefully definment and resolution. I do believe Grace is a spiritual creature of empathy with the same methods of transference and expression. She confronts, redefines and then the release through creation. ps and deserves to be referenced with the two previously mentioned. Truly a pearl of great price. Love you Dax and appreciate your confrontation of the darkness in a way you also brought it into the light. You have my respect and LOL always my thumb in an upright position.
GRANT TRIBE You are right, of course, about the great composers and how they dive down and deal with it and then bring us great art, as Grace does. Thank you for your insights, as usual, and keep that thumb pointing at the stars! 🤓😉
brother, life decisions being made at thirteen, stress, not wanting to conform to industry norms shackled with doubt of choices made, fear of what lies ahead, and what has been left behind. Lack of experience of her mentors dealing with her unique situation and circumstances.......... just a thought no facts
The song tries to be sad but is overcome by the inherent positivity of the person composing and singing, and the me-e-ee at the end, a gentle rocking motion as one comforts a child, and the setting for this jewel: up in the sky, late afternoon sun, oranges & browns, two women a guitar and a voice casting beauty out over the city... It lifts us, when we most need it. Beauty in life, and this song, overcomes sadness in life and this song. Melissa Dougherty has described what this moment meant for her. It was the first time they performed together just the two of them, when it became clear to both of them that they are meant for each other. jammcard.com/teacher-by-day-rock-star-all-the-time-melissa-doughertys-lifelong-pursuit-of-music-bliss-2/ The setting can be explored with Google Earth by searching for "Sony Square New York City" and zooming down onto the roof!
Os Cresson I agree that there is some almost indefinable tone of optimism and positivity in this, including her swooping vocal. Tried to put my finger on that in the video, not sure I quite got there. Your comments, as usual, are insightful. That is a great story about her and Melissa!
Rough lyrics but oh so very beautifully sung, the most beautiful song about depression that I have ever experienced. I cry every time I hear it. Rumor has it that she wrote this song in 30 minutes at the tail end of a recording session. Grace has a beautiful voice but it is surpassed by her writing talent.
This song along with many others conceived by this child is breathtaking. Her sense of the use of language and poetry is something that any UK Poet Lauriatte would have been proud to have written. This girl is, I am convinced, a poetic genius. Add to this advanced ability to string unique sentences together in a wonderful way, her voice and the emotion she puts into her music makes Grace, already at such a young age, one of the greatest singer/songwriters of all time. I respect your feelings, I on the other hand am a crier. Not bad for an ex military guy, but I can tear up at many things, beautiful lyrics that come from this girls brain for example. To be fair she is one of a small group if songwriters who expose their soul in their words, Connie Talbot is another. Others do the same but in their music rather than their singing, like Alma Deutscher and Emily Bear. They The problem I have is also watching people especially kids, who have overcome huge problems and never give up. Folk like Lorelai Mosnegutu, Emmanuel Kelly and Harrison Craig. I am just a big softy. Please keep sending in your reactions as they are so genuine, amongst the best
Leslie Cox, Ha, yes, I am evidently a major crier myself, according to my mom and my daughter, who has told me countless times, “dad, seriously, are you crying again,” while she and I are watching a movie or listening to a great song. Of course, I correct her, and tell her, “just tearing up baby. Thank you.” Ha! Yes, every aspect of Grace seems to be genius, including her song writing. My favorite pure poet, by far, is Wordsworth and my favorite poet dramatist, by far, is Shakespeare. I think both gentlemen would be in awe of adorable, witty, profound Grace. But as my daughter pointed out, I tend to be a “happy crier,” like when Grace got the golden buzzer and I think I was crying as hard as Grace was crying. I don’t mind sad moments or sad episodes, and I do cry at them, but I don’t really like extended sort of dark expression very much. Just the way I am. I’m a huge fan of Alma Deutscher and have been following her for years. She is truly, I think, a young Mozart and able to create as quickly and ingeniously as sweet Grace. I’ll check out some of the others you mentioned. Thank you for that! Thank you very much for expressing your thoughts here so genuinely, and for your very kind compliment!
You should watch the version Grace did at Austin City Limits. Grace forgot the words at one point, then sharp as a tack picked it up. Such professionalism in someone so young. May help to change you mind a little. Cheers Brian (Probably older than you)
New sub, been binge watching your Grace videos. Have not been commenting till now, on one of my favorite songs. I don't know that I have ever suffered from depression, what this song is said to be about. I can appreciate how this must affect those who have suffered, as it produces an emotional response from me every time I hear it. I'll not make any comment on phrasing and such that you have nailed on most of her videos, as well as the visual aspect of Grace. I appreciate and agree with the bulk of your insights, and thank you for the enlightenment on many points. One thing that has not been clarified, yet mentioned by many, is that sense of why does she affect me this way. My own opinion on that goes to the root of our existence. We are all just an organized 'song' of vibrations, our bodies and our world are masses of frequencies that exist in harmony with one another to make life possible. Imagine a set of ripples from a stone thrown into still water, perfect symmetry of rings result, as it should be. Now another stone thrown into the ripples, does not stop the original, but alters the symmetry. This can be good or bad, but removes the perfection, and is normal. I feel that Grace's vocal vibrations are another stone thrown perfectly into the center of the original ring of ripples amplifying the vibrations that life is made of. This in turn increases our own vibratory state when we listen resulting in the emotional release we feel. Kind of an overload and the resulting vibrations need a release. It's why I tear up (release of excess vibrations) on this song for one, and smile like an idiot or dance about during most of her others. It also explains why I can listen to her endlessly and never get bored, I'm a junky for that vibration boost. Other music can and has affected me like this but most times it is just a part of some music, a phrase or a chord. One example being Dolores O'Reordan of the Cranberries singing Zombie.Or Rachel Platten singing "blue meets blue" on her 1000 ships. You know it when it happens, it's when you hit the replay button immediately after the song ends, or look for another song by that artist to see if you can find that boost again. I probably am just wishing I knew how it works, but this is how I interpret Grace's mastery over my and many others emotions. Remember, she doesn't play by the rules of the game. She told us this right up front. Thank you daX for your commitment to promoting and loving this gifted and beautiful young lady. You are far and above the most committed reactor I have found and will continue to watch all your work. Since you will be doing Pink Floyd I'll make an exception and watch some not Grace reactions for a change! d:o)>
Your phrase "Imagine a set of ripples from a stone thrown in still water" is very beautiful! I think your explanation for why Grace creates such strong emotional reactions in her listeners is the perfect metaphor even if the truth of why she affects us so much remains elusive. I am the kind of person who enjoys a beautiful explanation even more than a logical explanation! Logic has its limits! Beauty knows no limits! The main reason I started watching Dax's Grace reactions was to try and figure out why Grace's music always has such a powerful effect on me. Thank you for your very interesting comment!
@@thomaslowry7079 And still it continues in her current phase. Thank you Thomas for your complimentary and eloquent reply! If you have a mind to please share some current thoughts on G's new work. I won't be online daily till Nov. Hope to 'see' ya round.
The enigma that is Our Grace. I don't think she has any idea what a genius she is. I find this song sad yet joyful. The darkness chases but doesn't catch. It almost does and she feels like giving up...but she doesn't. She wants to run away but she perseveres. She shows concern for another. And, I find the Me-e-e-e-e-es like the way she sings, "Yooo wooon't moooold meeee. in Clay. I think she's laughing at the darkness just like she's laughing at those trying to mold her. Like a little kid mocking a bully. It's her version of, "Nah-nah-na-nah-nah!"
I like your idea of laughing at the darkness, Mark. I think that is something like what I was trying to get to. Grace will overcome and perhaps she has already overcome by the time she is writing this down, and that’s why she is so comfortable with writing it and expressing it. She is grace, and she is confident and optimistic, and these moments are temporary but important. And yes, I think she is a genius. I just told my daughter that today. But like most geniuses, they don’t like to think of it that way, and when they are interviewed, they don’t even attempt to go there. They just do what they do. And I’m glad Grace does what she does. Thx!
@@daxmusix The story goes that Grace shut herself in a room, I think at the studio, and in something like 30 minutes came out with this song in hand. You never know with Grace whether this song, or even parts, are made up or about someone. Parts of it sure fits in with her brother. But the way Grace writes, she may be talking AS her brother-the darkness is chasing him. Then as herself-I see him blowing smoke.... Like she does in Clay. Have you listened to Burned? She goes back and forth between herself and the "little boy". About the only person I remember writing this way is maybe Harry Chapin like in Taxi where he's actually telling a story in song. Grace is much more abstract, though. I'll leave you with another snippit of Grace's life: ua-cam.com/video/e8AtNL8AR4E/v-deo.html
Mark Sandal, yes indeed, she goes back-and-forth, quite a bit actually, like in burned, a gorgeous song, and she can be quite cryptic pretty often, which I mention in this reaction a couple of times. She makes each song very personal for her, which I love, and yet making it an intriguing detective story for us listeners, which I also love. I’ll have to go back and listen to Taxi, now that you mention it. Thanks!
Wow. So many things I could say and contrast with your sensations...... 😊 But it's okay to feel how you feel. I don't know English enough to understand the lyrics of all songs directly, and I still don't care. Sometimes I go to read them, but rarely do I care about the lyrics. Not even in my own language 😄 For some this will be unfortunate, but for me the songs are just music, and the voice and words are a musical instrument playing. I'm not a poetry fan, so it's perfect for me. Even so, the incredible thing is that this song, like others from Grace, brings tears to my eyes simply by listening to the melody and harmonies. Isn't this amazing?. Man!!! I think this song is an authentic masterpiece, comparable (to me) only to some Macca or The beatles songs. And I agree that it's not a song to listen in repetition, but just as I don't do it with "Yesterday" or "Blackbird". Even so, they are authentic masterpieces that squeeze your throat and chest..... precious songs like DKCM is 🙌 ....unique, and for some of us, they are already part of the best songs on the "soundtrack" of our life ✨
It’s interesting that you mention Yesterday, Casper. That is also another song I have difficulty with, and yet it is positively gorgeous. It is also interesting that you mention that Grace’s singing brings you to tears. There is something about Grace that is beyond description, something purely emotional and sensitive, and you can see it in her face as well, which makes it doubly powerful. I have much the same experience that you’re talking about when I listen to Italian operas, which I love and which I do not know the words to, so I respond completely to the music and the singing and the faces, many times bringing me to tears. The highest compliment I can give any person I know is that they are honest. And Grace VanderWaal is the most honest singer, perhaps, that I’ve ever come across. She moves me every time she sings. Thanks very much for your comments and thoughts.
Gaspar, I think most people are happy to let a song just flow around them. They feel the music and they manage to catch a word here and there, but they don't treat the song as poetry. That would probably be too much work for most people. Most of the time I do what you do, I just enjoy the music! Occasionally, I search out the lyrics and really study the song, but not very often. Great comment, thank you!
Has far as I know, it wasn't really a dark time for her, it is just something that came out. Don't we all have something that jumps out of our mind from time to time that we wonder where the hell did that come from.
Hello my friend, is not it amazing how a 12-year-old girl manages to cause some discomfort, even physical pain, to anyone listening to this song! There will be negative experiences and suppressed fears suddenly pushed back into focus! I have read and seen hundreds of comments and just as many reasons videos! Each of these people had their own personal experiences with the "darkness"! Grace was 12 years old when she wrote this song! At this time also songs like "12 Stars" and "Lungs" were created! Grace expresses in this song, her deep concern about what might happen to her if she allows other people to decide about her life!! This refers to the music industry!! This monster that wants to control everything and everyone! After gaining AGT, Grace quickly learned just how powerful this monster is! She was overrun by offers, flattery and gifts! That made her think more about her and future life! Grace has decided this with the words : "I've asked myself more than twenty times :what did you do, you ruined your life"! She goes on to say, "If I let these people decide about my life, it will stay that way forever, and I will not allow that to happen!! Yes, Grace was 12 years old when she said that!! Any questions?! You were wondering what Grace might have meant by the smoke in the ridged jeans! These lines of text refer to Miley Cyrus, who, albeit under a different name, was for a long time Grace's role model! Conscious is Hannah Montana! (a TV series /2006-2011 in which Miley Cyrus plays a dual role!) Grace loved this series and emulated Hannah Montana! So Grace had seen what the powerful music industry can do with a young girl if she dose not defend herself! The demise of Miley Cyrus, from lovable Hannah Montana to naked Miley Cyrus on a Lear off 🏗️, made Grace (understandably) realize she did not want to be! "I will be different, not sure if I can do it alone"! To deal with this problem at this age and to seek solutions and to process them in a lyrics, requiring a high intelligence, balance, acumen and selfcritical consciousness that I have not seen to that extent! And again, I can not think of another word than "Genius"! I hope you like my little post and can not wait to see your next video! Until then, I'll stay, you friend. James T Auf Wiedersehen 🇩🇪
Wow, James, just wow. Yet again you provide background information and insight into the performance. This makes it even more powerful, and I can’t imagine how much more my respect for Grace can grow. I’m so glad she had the moral courage and determination to learn from Miley. Yes, genius, and extraordinary wisdom. Thanks again, my good friend. And until next time, auf!
Hey James. I got your most recent comment via email but it is not showing up on this page, for some reason. Yeah, I would simply love to be Grace’s dad. How proud that man must be!. Would you please send me the links to your videos again? Thx
Can't forget after JTB released someone has commented about, but wonder in few hours later just erased, the same story behind those line 'the smoke in the ridget jeans'.
Guitarist Melissa Dougherty, who bumped into me on her way to the stage from the back of the room at Bluebird Theater in Denver where I took my movies. As soon as I saw her hair from the back I know who it was, I was blessed. :)
@@daxmusix You may be right about part of it being about her brother. That may come out later when she gets older and it seems that her brother is doing better now. I think it is still to soon for that reveal.
This is my favorite song of Grace. I rarely skip it, but I don't have any lingering bad memories or current darkness to affect me. I was thinking about suggesting to you that because of your hesitation to reacting to this song, that you instead react to another person's reaction of this song. "Petra Reacts" is a beloved Grace reactor and has a reaction to this song I have rewatched many times, and showcases the power of this song. I tear up every time but in a good way.
Thanks Andrew, but it’s not really the bad memories that make me not want to listen to this song over and over, like every other Grace song. It’s more like what I was talking about concerning the fact that I truly enjoy songs that make me happy. That doesn’t take away from the greatness of this song, obviously, but it’s just not really my cup of tea. I’m glad you love it! I love Petra, like everybody else, and I will watch her reaction on this song sometime soon. A few other people have asked me to watch that as well. Thanks for bringing it up.
I always believed this song was about the advice from professionals in the industry advising her to do this, or do that, and she wanted to stay true to herself instead.
The skylight "Would you be mad at me if I ran away to it in the night" A very dark passage. To me it sounds like she is talking "in her mind" to "the somebody who she wants with her, while also wanting to be alone." about committing suicide, her soul running away to the skylight in the night. "I don't know what I want anymore." Maybe when she was plunged into the life of an AGT winner and found so much of it harder than she imagined, she faced an existential crisis. Then again this whole song may be Grace using her empathy to tell a story from the perspective of a loved one.
Yes Eric, it is quite cryptic and could be any of these things, I suppose. I think it says something that she does not like to perform this song in public. May have been a very seriously dark moment for her.
@@daxmusix I have never heard Grace say that she didn't like to perform this song in public. What I did hear her say was that others thought that this would not be a good song to sing in public, due to the fact that it was a downer. Until I see a Grace quote that she herself doesn't like to perform it in public, I will hold my opinions in abeyance.
I have watched a video of a live performance where Grace says she worries that others will think the song is a downer but she is going to sing it anyway because "she loves singing it." I regret I don't have the exact reference, but I am absolutely positive I heard her say this.
@@pauldhoff She certainly didn´t write Lungs in the age of 12. She just won AGT and released Perfectly Imperfect in December 2016. Her work for her Full Album began in 2017, when she was 13 years old. I´m quite positive about it, although neither of us will know for sure. But given her schedule after releasing Perfectly Imperfect, her appearance and performances, it is unlikely, that she wrote Lungs then.
@@daxmusix The lyrics on the VanderVault.org site are consensus interpretations not verified by Grace herself. Personally, I don't believe there are any hard and fast lyrics to Grace's songs. As she performs them she often changes up the lyrics. I believe that Grace prefers her lyrics to be fluid. I believe she wants the listeners to put their own spin on the lyrics as much as possible.
I've known a few people who have had such hard confusing lives that even in their 50s they are still messed up and haven't been able to put it behind them. I believe the people who help other people or volunteer to work with people are the ones who have overcome and put the past behind them. I had to leave a few friendships because they let their past dominate them and their anguish made it appear they were reliving the same day over and over in mourning their past. There is nothing abnormal about avoiding things that make you feel uncomfortable. I couldn't walk into a hospital for the longest time after visiting my Grandfather as a child in his last days, I might have been too philosophical at the time but each time I went to visit him I felt I was in the midst of death. My daughters birth forced me to face it. Now I'm cool but I still have a thought seep in once in a while when I'm there. I've never felt true emotion in a song before that made me think one way or another til Grace and the feelings you have expressed about Pink Floyd are how I feel about Dark Side of The Moon but probably not as emotionally as you do. I don't think your obligated to do any reaction you don't want to, thank you for this one, reactors ignore us all the time
Cal 99ers Thanks for sharing that, and I’m sure glad that the birth of your daughter helped get you over it. Oh, and believe me, I will not do any reactions I do not want to. But thanks for the advice.👈🤓
☑️ Darkness Keeps Chasing Me 🎼 Grace VanderWaal, an outspoken advocate of depression awareness, wrote Darkness Keeps Chasing Me when she was thirteen. Darkness is a hauntingly beautiful melody about the artist’s internal struggles with her personal demons. Grace’s uncanny ability to infuse emotion into her music is on full display. This, and an air of inevitability which hangs over the music, makes it a difficult listen for some. The studio recording is so darkly compelling that her handlers discouraged her from performing it in public out of concern for her young fans. Grace complied for a season, but Grace being Grace eventually forced their hand. This is her song, and her declaration to the world of what is possible from the most important singer-songwriter of this generation.
One comment I heard from Simon Cowell and musicians who have met Grace is, "She always knows what SHE wants to do". I believe that in a year or two (when the suits and the egoists realize that SHE is the genius, and the best they can do is to hand her the tools and get out of her way) she will have complete unquestioned autonomy in her musical creativity and choices.
She seems to be gaining a good amount of control and comfort now. I don’t know, but I do feel confident that she will be the queen of her destiny very soon.
@@daxmusix She said that she just wanted to sing upbeat songs. Also you see her crop a word, that is watermarking it, like they do for pictures so if it is copied it isn't complete or unblemished. She has done that with other songs that she hasn't released yet.
She wrote the song in under 30 minutes. I lost my wife Lorraine over 8 years ago, and my mother the next year, my father the next year, they were divorced when I was about 13. The next year a close friend of 89 that called me her son, a close cousin the next year, and an aunt the following one. It was bang bang band. But with this song, I love it so and I so wish that I had written a song that is so mature as it is about hurt. I think in many ways it is her best song. It is a shame for now that you can't join it and listen to it when it does come on, and in no way is it easy for me too. My wife was a 10 for hurt, no one, not even my mother comes close to that number, maybe a 3. After 40 years and with 3 years before we got married, she is always there in my mind, almost nothing I do is without her being there. Enough said.
Paul, I am so very glad, happy, that this song means so much to you and reminds you of the loveliness of your wife and the closeness of others that you lost. Thanks for sharing that with me! I get it!!
Thanks John. I almost hate to say it, but I’m glad that there’s somebody who feels the same way. Beautiful song, obviously, but yeah, I like the more upbeat and positive from grace. Thanks very much!
She wrote this song in 30 minutes after she finished a session with Ido. She had some time left and she sat there and wrote this. I would be willing to bet it came from a conversation they had earlier. I always felt that the darkness might be about the industry, and the fact that they may have been trying to force her sing songs she doesn’t want to.
She wrote this song in 30 minutes after she finished a session with Ido. She had some time left and she sat there and wrote this. I would be willing to bet it came from a conversation they had earlier. I always felt that the darkness might be about the industry, and the fact that they may have been trying to force her sing songs she doesn’t want to.
I only listen to this song when I am alone. At age 66 I can't have people seeing me cry like a baby. But I cry
because the song is so beautiful and I'm astounded that it came from a 13 yr. old! Awesome Reaction. Thanks
for laying your heart out there for us. Very Grace like!!
Thanks very much, Chuck, and yes, we don’t need a lot of folks watching us older gentlemen cry like babies to the sweet sound of grace! 😉
Chuck Truax, thank you for sharing what is felt by many, my self with being a veteran has done so much to help me with my demons. I am so thankful God created Grace.
@@jamesgriego1089 Sometimes I wonder how her parents knew to name her "Grace". The name fits. Thank you James for your service to our country!
@@daxmusix
She has said that this is one of the two songs that she wrote about her brother. Beautiful life is her singing from her point of view, and this one from her brother's point of view, but changes back and forth during the song.
I believe she is a little older in this video
This is one of my fav Grace songs, in fact one of my fav songs of all time , her vulnerability and the way she sings this for those that do have darkness chase us sometimes makes it outstanding , to sing this live cannot be easy , its not a easy song to sing and it should not be easy to listen to
One of the greatest songs ever written.
Grace is protective of her family, and her brother, Jacob has went through a dark time. I think this beautiful song has help out alot of people through their dark times. I my self have been through the darkness, being a veteran, it tells me not to give up on life. This is another Masterpiece of this incredible songwriter. Great reaction. You have to admit Grace brought out even your inner fears that you had at one time. So Grace brings out the conversation about mental health. The fact that you dissect the music so intricately makes this reaction one of the best.
Yes James! Thanks very much!
12 years ago i was in a motorcycle wreck...i paralyzed my left arm and was a bassist and i had a trach from the wreck and i was a singer. so unfortunately darkness these days always chases me. lucky for me i found grace and she shed a lil light into my life that is constantly riddled with "darkness" and pain....peace brother :) D~
By far the darkest and the most beautiful and the most touching of all of Grace's work so far. I actually enjoy tearing up, both to happy experiences and sad ones. I feel that in ways it washes my soul clean to shed tears. This performance always brings that out of me.
When Grace does something she lives it, whether it's dark or full of stars, she puts her soul in it. Thanks for bring in the video back Dax.
Grace writes music that people can interpret in many ways. I've heard people say this song was strangely comforting to them, others say it is evil, or bad thoughts they feel, Grace herself called it a "Debbie Downer". Grace does that, Beutiful thing hits people as a love song that is relatable in so many different ways. I've read countless opinions on alost every song she writes, and people seem to get different messages. The only thing most agree on, is her dilivery, her voice and she never fails to amaze us.
The way she sings the "MEs" in this song, is important. It is both a song about perseverance and a plea for help to all those who love her (and God).
Ultimately it's a positive.
JMO.
✌️😎 Peace
Breezy
Coolbreeze Productions she does indeed get that lovely soaring ME in several times, and I love it each time. I certainly hope that is about her perseverance through this. Thanks, my friend.
@@daxmusix I Agree with Coolbreeze , good to see you and the others here :) Great reactions to Our Ms Grace , The Texas Gent
@@daxmusix
Howdy Dax, sorry my replies are so sporadic. I wanted to point out the last "Me" is different. I hear a "oh well life goes on (but no surrender)". I just wanted to add that. Anyway, take care of yourself, til we "talk" again.✌️😎
@@coolbreez1214 yeah, I felt those last 'me' is the 'optimistic me'.
@daXmusiX, comprehensive n great analysis. Thanks.
Fender Fanderwell thx much!
Grace's guitarist, Melissa, is also a guitar teacher. I think she's a big influence on, and a mentor to Grace. And I also think she's teaching Grace guitar. I think of how much we've come to love Grace. Imagine how much Melissa and the other two in the band must love her and want to do everything they can to help her grow in music and as a good person.
I do imagine that, Mark, and I imagine that Melissa knows she is on the edge of history in the making. What an extraordinary experience it must be to be an accomplished guitarist teaching a phenomenon and being with that phenomenon on almost a daily basis. Wow!
I dont get the impression her bandmates compose and write with her in the studio though.
Wouldn't that, as a musician, take away from the experience of performing with grace.
@@jyee2217 I haven't looked at the credits of her most recent songs as to who performs on her recordings with her. You can find them on Spotify, I think. I know her producer, Ido, does quite a bit-even background vocals.
She wrote this song in 30 minutes after she finished a session with Ido. She had some time left and she sat there and wrote this. I would be willing to bet it came from a conversation they had earlier. I always felt that the darkness might be about the industry, and the fact that they may have been trying to force her sing songs she doesn’t want to.
I appreciate your vulnerability here. This is one of my favorite songs by Grace. So relatable and moving. I wept more than once through this one.
I just had a thought. Probably absurd, but possibly not. At three Grace made up a song about losing her best friend. Then about 8 or 9 years later she sang an original song about missing someone. What if those two songs and this one are all talking about the same best friend that she lost when she was three, and the feelings that loss brought up in her. Maybe that loss was so traumatic that she occasionally relives those feelings many years later.
Hello again mr. Dax. I have a feeling about the meaning of this song that I would like to share. And I am actually glad to do this because the way I understand it, incorporates some of what you said, amongst others, that Grace is strong and she does overcome the darkness. At the beginning of discovering this beautiful young lady with the most beautiful soul I feared for her. I feared precisely, that the sort of darkness that corrupts and makes a caricature out of all that is beautiful could get to her. But the more I listen to her music the more I understand that she might be, and probably is much stronger than I am, and she is the one giving me hope and strength through her music.
So in this song I think she is a lot more concerned about the person in ripped jeans who she sees blowing smoke "Don't tell me you fell in, The darkness is already seeping through, Oh, can't you see?". She does ask the other person not to let the darkness get to her but Grace wants the person to be strong so that he/she can help themselves. She uses herself as an excuse in the way of ~If not for yourself then do it for me. I love you, but I can't fight your fight, I'm not strong enough to fight your fight and sometimes seeing how you bring your demons with you, instead of fighting them, I want to run away~.
"I just want you here, But I also want to be alone, I don't know what I want anymore" I understand these verse as seeing the other person befriend his own demons, like saying ~you have changed I and I can't help you. Seeing you like this is to painful~.
"Hiding places remind me of you and, I wanna call you, But if I hear your voice I just might cry". Sometimes when we befriend our demons, our vices, we do that hidden away from the light. These verses seem Like she wants to call someone out of the hiding place where they used to play when "we were just kids" and didn't know the danger of the fire they were playing with. Like saying ~I want to call for you but if I hear your voice saying you are content with hiding in the dark, I might cry~.
Grace is amazing and speaks about a world that is biblical, it is overwhelming. I hope my words make some sense. Thank you again for all your work. You help me understand Grace and her great works so much better! Thank you a million times!
PS: The way she ends the grave sentence "darkness keeps chasing 🎶me e e e e e🎶" Makes me think of an advices from great spiritual teachers and actually a monk I once talked to and who has told me "don't take it seriously. Have humor". As if Grace is making darkness seem like something you can sing away. And I believe you can😉. Sorry for such a long comment.
Every time I listen to this song my nose runs and I tear-up.
1) I think Grace just has a way of saying what everyone feels at some point.
2) Isn't every song we need to hear every few years a classic? We all have those songs.
3) Nightmares? All of us have had/do have have them. I and most of us have gotten over them. Grace is just telling a story of life.
4) There is much debate about Grace's "running away to it in the night." That is her style. She writes in cryptic mode that leaves us all wondering. We can all come to our own conclusions.
5) I don't know what I want anymore? Normal human feelings...
6) Grace writing down her feelings and making us see them is what makes her special.
7) (Weather) her words are what matters. Grace is a genius.
8) "Bowing smoke" You nailed it.
Let me say two words that make Grace a step above. "Depth" and "Cryptic". She has all of it.
I hope she doesn't veer too much into the Pop side - which she seems to be doing. It would be a shame to lose her.
Jeff H Great comments. And yes, I too hope Grace does not go to the Darkside (the pop side)! Thanks again!
In My Blood, cover. She now PWNs that song.
She never just does a cover she just goes straight in and makes them her bitch every time.
@@dud3man6969 PWNS is the word.
As always, an excellent reaction! This time I really, truly wish we could have an in-person conversation. So much to discuss! For this comment I will speak to only one thing so I don't write a 5 page essay. I believe this song is about depression. (It might be about drugs if her brother was the inspiration, though.) I think it is her very best song poetically. My love for it stems from the same sort of feeling you expressed in your reply to John Emberson "I’m glad that there’s somebody who feels the same way." I fought severe depression not too long ago. I still fight it some. While the lyrics at times don't apply directly, the feeling described by the line "The darkness keeps chasing me" is 100% accurate. That IS how it feels. So if nothing else is true, the song makes me feel that it's not just me feeling this way. Then "please don't let it get to me, I don't want to give up that easily". I want to get better, feel differently, but I need help. There-in lies the positive. Wanting to fight it, but needing help. Thanks for your honest reaction.
Yes, Neil, I think the commiseration aspect of Grace’s song, where we have been there and have gotten past it or want to get past it, is huge. Obviously, she didn’t write the song for us to have that commiseration, but we get to have it anyway.
I think your depression comment is spot-on. Depending on the person, I think the darkness is an aspect of at least mild depression, if not worse. Our magnificent human brains are extraordinary at figuring things out, but also encountering the enormous complexities of life and death. It makes for sometimes a very difficult experience, and sometimes extraordinary art.
I feel confident we will have our in-house conversation that lasts for 13 1/2 hours sometime in the next year or two. Until then, let’s keep on keeping on.
And, BTW, thanks again for your very kind comments about me.
@@daxmusix I've been out of town for a couple days and have been thinking about your reply. I don't like the word commiseration. For me listening to this song is cathartic.
Neil Mikesell you’re right. Commiseration is not the right word. It actually niggled at me when I wrote it and I didn’t change it. I hate it when that happens. Perhaps connection or something like that. Thanks for calling me on that.
The verse-
''See you blowing smoke in your ripped jeans
Don't tell me you fell in
The darkness is already seeping through
Oh, can't you see?
I will be different''
refers to a famous photo of Miley Cyrus smoking marijuana in ripped jeans. Grace is trying to avoid Miley's pitfalls.
Heartfelt and poignant reaction! One of my favourites of Graces songs. I believe she wrote this song about her older brother who has had a long battle with drug abuse. The emotions she portrays while singing this song are genuine as she loves and cares very deeply for him and his daily struggles with his problem. God bless both of them....
Thanks Mark, and yes indeed!
You are correct. Her brother was struggling with addiction. Thankfully he is recovering and the family is stronger . He's works on her tours now. She is an incredibly insightful soul for such a young lady. An old soul. BTW-Dax, I enjoy your reactions.
Thanks much, Debra!🤓
By far, this is Grace's most dramatic and affecting song. It would be hard to believe that it's not autobiographical. What's really heartbreaking are her lines, "Look at the skylight. Would you be mad at me if I tried running to it in the night?" and "I don't wanna give up so easily." I'm pretty sure those are references to suicidal thoughts. You might have noticed that she omitted the word "cry" from the line, "If I hear your voice, I just might cry." To my knowledge, the only time we hear the complete line is in her studio recording. It may well be that she might actually cry if she says the word as she's singing this song. It must evoke strong feelings in her, as she has avoided singing the song despite Grace's fans clamoring to hear it. I've heard that it took only an hour for this song to come spilling out of her--another indication that it's about HER. Some people think that her reference to "blowing smoke in your ripped jeans" was inspired by a photograph of Miley Cyrus, but I suspect that the other person in the song is either her sister, Olivia, or the friend she sings about in "Moonlight." BTW, if this song does, indeed, include references to suicidal thoughts, it would not be the first song in which Grace sang about overcoming suicidal thoughts, namely, "The Good Just Gets Better," a wonderful song which was inexplicably removed from her YT channel. Here's another place you can go to hear it. ua-cam.com/video/SoSPVEzG2tU/v-deo.html
You are insightful and informative, as always, Larry. I wouldn’t doubt that she has great difficulty in singing this in public, or even that her handlers don’t really want this and one or two other songs on her channel, with our PC culture the way it is.
And of course, one of the things I love about Grace is that she is going to sing what she wants to sing, and nobody gets in the way. Thanks again, my friend.
When she drops a word she is just watermarking the song. She done that with other songs.
@@daxmusix Grace provides pretty fertile material for analysis, LOL.
Larry Kulp Seriously, she has the depth of a 55-year-old accomplished poet. Seriously! I could talk about her all day, as most of us probably could.👈
@@daxmusix Go for it. :) :) :)
Great composers like Mozart and Chopin confront their fears, mortality, or darkness by confronting the inner demons through expulsion and then confrontation of the emotions with their creativity and expression through the compositions. So to say bringing them into the light and giving the darkness form and hopefully definment and resolution. I do believe Grace is a spiritual creature of empathy with the same methods of transference and expression. She confronts, redefines and then the release through creation. ps and deserves to be referenced with the two previously mentioned. Truly a pearl of great price. Love you Dax and appreciate your confrontation of the darkness in a way you also brought it into the light. You have my respect and LOL always my thumb in an upright position.
GRANT TRIBE You are right, of course, about the great composers and how they dive down and deal with it and then bring us great art, as Grace does.
Thank you for your insights, as usual, and keep that thumb pointing at the stars! 🤓😉
Grace VanderWaal Rocks!!!💜💜💜😎 I take it for what it is ART
brother, life decisions being made at thirteen, stress, not wanting to conform to industry norms shackled with doubt of choices made, fear of what lies ahead, and what has been left behind. Lack of experience of her mentors dealing with her unique situation and circumstances.......... just a thought no facts
I view as a prayer , and asking for help From GOD , So i think it as a pos , song when you really take in to the song , The Texas Gent
The song tries to be sad but is overcome by the inherent positivity of the person composing and singing, and the me-e-ee at the end, a gentle rocking motion as one comforts a child, and the setting for this jewel: up in the sky, late afternoon sun, oranges & browns, two women a guitar and a voice casting beauty out over the city... It lifts us, when we most need it. Beauty in life, and this song, overcomes sadness in life and this song.
Melissa Dougherty has described what this moment meant for her. It was the first time they performed together just the two of them, when it became clear to both of them that they are meant for each other. jammcard.com/teacher-by-day-rock-star-all-the-time-melissa-doughertys-lifelong-pursuit-of-music-bliss-2/
The setting can be explored with Google Earth by searching for "Sony Square New York City" and zooming down onto the roof!
Os Cresson I agree that there is some almost indefinable tone of optimism and positivity in this, including her swooping vocal. Tried to put my finger on that in the video, not sure I quite got there. Your comments, as usual, are insightful. That is a great story about her and Melissa!
Rough lyrics but oh so very beautifully sung, the most beautiful song about depression that I have ever experienced. I cry every time I hear it. Rumor has it that she wrote this song in 30 minutes at the tail end of a recording session. Grace has a beautiful voice but it is surpassed by her writing talent.
This song along with many others conceived by this child is breathtaking. Her sense of the use of language and poetry is something that any UK Poet Lauriatte would have been proud to have written. This girl is, I am convinced, a poetic genius. Add to this advanced ability to string unique sentences together in a wonderful way, her voice and the emotion she puts into her music makes Grace, already at such a young age, one of the greatest singer/songwriters of all time.
I respect your feelings, I on the other hand am a crier. Not bad for an ex military guy, but I can tear up at many things, beautiful lyrics that come from this girls brain for example. To be fair she is one of a small group if songwriters who expose their soul in their words, Connie Talbot is another. Others do the same but in their music rather than their singing, like Alma Deutscher and Emily Bear. They The problem I have is also watching people especially kids, who have overcome huge problems and never give up. Folk like Lorelai Mosnegutu, Emmanuel Kelly and Harrison Craig. I am just a big softy.
Please keep sending in your reactions as they are so genuine, amongst the best
Leslie Cox, Ha, yes, I am evidently a major crier myself, according to my mom and my daughter, who has told me countless times, “dad, seriously, are you crying again,” while she and I are watching a movie or listening to a great song. Of course, I correct her, and tell her, “just tearing up baby. Thank you.” Ha!
Yes, every aspect of Grace seems to be genius, including her song writing. My favorite pure poet, by far, is Wordsworth and my favorite poet dramatist, by far, is Shakespeare. I think both gentlemen would be in awe of adorable, witty, profound Grace.
But as my daughter pointed out, I tend to be a “happy crier,” like when Grace got the golden buzzer and I think I was crying as hard as Grace was crying. I don’t mind sad moments or sad episodes, and I do cry at them, but I don’t really like extended sort of dark expression very much. Just the way I am.
I’m a huge fan of Alma Deutscher and have been following her for years. She is truly, I think, a young Mozart and able to create as quickly and ingeniously as sweet Grace. I’ll check out some of the others you mentioned. Thank you for that!
Thank you very much for expressing your thoughts here so genuinely, and for your very kind compliment!
Leslie Cox I just listened to Emily Bear’s “emotions.” Wow, great jazzy song and she is majorly talented! Thanks
You express yourself very well
You should watch the version Grace did at Austin City Limits. Grace forgot the words at one point, then sharp as a tack picked it up. Such professionalism in someone so young. May help to change you mind a little.
Cheers Brian (Probably older than you)
New sub, been binge watching your Grace videos. Have not been commenting till now, on one of my favorite songs. I don't know that I have ever suffered from depression, what this song is said to be about. I can appreciate how this must affect those who have suffered, as it produces an emotional response from me every time I hear it. I'll not make any comment on phrasing and such that you have nailed on most of her videos, as well as the visual aspect of Grace. I appreciate and agree with the bulk of your insights, and thank you for the enlightenment on many points.
One thing that has not been clarified, yet mentioned by many, is that sense of why does she affect me this way. My own opinion on that goes to the root of our existence. We are all just an organized 'song' of vibrations, our bodies and our world are masses of frequencies that exist in harmony with one another to make life possible. Imagine a set of ripples from a stone thrown into still water, perfect symmetry of rings result, as it should be. Now another stone thrown into the ripples, does not stop the original, but alters the symmetry. This can be good or bad, but removes the perfection, and is normal. I feel that Grace's vocal vibrations are another stone thrown perfectly into the center of the original ring of ripples amplifying the vibrations that life is made of. This in turn increases our own vibratory state when we listen resulting in the emotional release we feel. Kind of an overload and the resulting vibrations need a release. It's why I tear up (release of excess vibrations) on this song for one, and smile like an idiot or dance about during most of her others. It also explains why I can listen to her endlessly and never get bored, I'm a junky for that vibration boost. Other music can and has affected me like this but most times it is just a part of some music, a phrase or a chord. One example being Dolores O'Reordan of the Cranberries singing Zombie.Or Rachel Platten singing "blue meets blue" on her 1000 ships. You know it when it happens, it's when you hit the replay button immediately after the song ends, or look for another song by that artist to see if you can find that boost again. I probably am just wishing I knew how it works, but this is how I interpret Grace's mastery over my and many others emotions. Remember, she doesn't play by the rules of the game. She told us this right up front.
Thank you daX for your commitment to promoting and loving this gifted and beautiful young lady. You are far and above the most committed reactor I have found and will continue to watch all your work. Since you will be doing Pink Floyd I'll make an exception and watch some not Grace reactions for a change! d:o)>
Your phrase "Imagine a set of ripples from a stone thrown in still water" is very beautiful! I think your explanation for why Grace creates such strong emotional reactions in her listeners is the perfect metaphor even if the truth of why she affects us so much remains elusive. I am the kind of person who enjoys a beautiful explanation even more than a logical explanation! Logic has its limits! Beauty knows no limits! The main reason I started watching Dax's Grace reactions was to try and figure out why Grace's music always has such a powerful effect on me. Thank you for your very interesting comment!
@@thomaslowry7079 And still it continues in her current phase.
Thank you Thomas for your complimentary and eloquent reply!
If you have a mind to please share some current thoughts on G's new work. I won't be online daily till Nov. Hope to 'see' ya round.
The enigma that is Our Grace. I don't think she has any idea what a genius she is. I find this song sad yet joyful. The darkness chases but doesn't catch. It almost does and she feels like giving up...but she doesn't. She wants to run away but she perseveres. She shows concern for another. And, I find the Me-e-e-e-e-es like the way she sings, "Yooo wooon't moooold meeee. in Clay. I think she's laughing at the darkness just like she's laughing at those trying to mold her. Like a little kid mocking a bully. It's her version of, "Nah-nah-na-nah-nah!"
I like your idea of laughing at the darkness, Mark. I think that is something like what I was trying to get to. Grace will overcome and perhaps she has already overcome by the time she is writing this down, and that’s why she is so comfortable with writing it and expressing it. She is grace, and she is confident and optimistic, and these moments are temporary but important.
And yes, I think she is a genius. I just told my daughter that today. But like most geniuses, they don’t like to think of it that way, and when they are interviewed, they don’t even attempt to go there. They just do what they do. And I’m glad Grace does what she does. Thx!
@@daxmusix The story goes that Grace shut herself in a room, I think at the studio, and in something like 30 minutes came out with this song in hand. You never know with Grace whether this song, or even parts, are made up or about someone. Parts of it sure fits in with her brother. But the way Grace writes, she may be talking AS her brother-the darkness is chasing him. Then as herself-I see him blowing smoke.... Like she does in Clay. Have you listened to Burned? She goes back and forth between herself and the "little boy". About the only person I remember writing this way is maybe Harry Chapin like in Taxi where he's actually telling a story in song. Grace is much more abstract, though. I'll leave you with another snippit of Grace's life: ua-cam.com/video/e8AtNL8AR4E/v-deo.html
Mark Sandal, yes indeed, she goes back-and-forth, quite a bit actually, like in burned, a gorgeous song, and she can be quite cryptic pretty often, which I mention in this reaction a couple of times. She makes each song very personal for her, which I love, and yet making it an intriguing detective story for us listeners, which I also love.
I’ll have to go back and listen to Taxi, now that you mention it. Thanks!
Wow. So many things I could say and contrast with your sensations...... 😊 But it's okay to feel how you feel. I don't know English enough to understand the lyrics of all songs directly, and I still don't care. Sometimes I go to read them, but rarely do I care about the lyrics. Not even in my own language 😄 For some this will be unfortunate, but for me the songs are just music, and the voice and words are a musical instrument playing. I'm not a poetry fan, so it's perfect for me. Even so, the incredible thing is that this song, like others from Grace, brings tears to my eyes simply by listening to the melody and harmonies. Isn't this amazing?. Man!!! I think this song is an authentic masterpiece, comparable (to me) only to some Macca or The beatles songs. And I agree that it's not a song to listen in repetition, but just as I don't do it with "Yesterday" or "Blackbird". Even so, they are authentic masterpieces that squeeze your throat and chest..... precious songs like DKCM is 🙌 ....unique, and for some of us, they are already part of the best songs on the "soundtrack" of our life ✨
It’s interesting that you mention Yesterday, Casper. That is also another song I have difficulty with, and yet it is positively gorgeous.
It is also interesting that you mention that Grace’s singing brings you to tears. There is something about Grace that is beyond description, something purely emotional and sensitive, and you can see it in her face as well, which makes it doubly powerful.
I have much the same experience that you’re talking about when I listen to Italian operas, which I love and which I do not know the words to, so I respond completely to the music and the singing and the faces, many times bringing me to tears.
The highest compliment I can give any person I know is that they are honest. And Grace VanderWaal is the most honest singer, perhaps, that I’ve ever come across. She moves me every time she sings. Thanks very much for your comments and thoughts.
So true daX
Gaspar, I think most people are happy to let a song just flow around them. They feel the music and they manage to catch a word here and there, but they don't treat the song as poetry. That would probably be too much work for most people. Most of the time I do what you do, I just enjoy the music! Occasionally, I search out the lyrics and really study the song, but not very often. Great comment, thank you!
This is what is referred to as an old soul
This was her first depression song. We all get chased bt darkness now and then.
Has far as I know, it wasn't really a dark time for her, it is just something that came out. Don't we all have something that jumps out of our mind from time to time that we wonder where the hell did that come from.
Hello my friend,
is not it amazing how a 12-year-old girl manages to cause some discomfort,
even physical pain, to anyone listening to this song!
There will be negative experiences and suppressed fears suddenly pushed back into focus!
I have read and seen hundreds of comments and just as many reasons videos!
Each of these people had their own personal experiences with the "darkness"!
Grace was 12 years old when she wrote this song!
At this time also songs like "12 Stars" and "Lungs" were created!
Grace expresses in this song, her deep concern about what might happen
to her if she allows other people to decide about her life!!
This refers to the music industry!!
This monster that wants to control everything and everyone!
After gaining AGT, Grace quickly learned just how powerful this monster is!
She was overrun by offers, flattery and gifts!
That made her think more about her and future life!
Grace has decided this with the words :
"I've asked myself more than twenty times :what did you do, you ruined your life"!
She goes on to say, "If I let these people decide about my life, it will stay that way forever, and I
will not allow that to happen!!
Yes, Grace was 12 years old when she said that!!
Any questions?!
You were wondering what Grace might have meant by the smoke in the ridged jeans!
These lines of text refer to Miley Cyrus, who, albeit under a different name, was for a
long time Grace's role model!
Conscious is Hannah Montana!
(a TV series /2006-2011 in which Miley Cyrus plays a dual role!)
Grace loved this series and emulated Hannah Montana!
So Grace had seen what the powerful music industry can do with a
young girl if she dose not defend herself!
The demise of Miley Cyrus, from lovable Hannah Montana to naked
Miley Cyrus on a Lear off 🏗️, made Grace (understandably) realize she did not want to be!
"I will be different, not sure if I can do it alone"!
To deal with this problem at this age and to seek solutions and to process them
in a lyrics, requiring a high intelligence, balance, acumen and selfcritical consciousness
that I have not seen to that extent!
And again, I can not think of another word than "Genius"!
I hope you like my little post and can not wait to see your next video!
Until then, I'll stay, you friend. James T
Auf Wiedersehen 🇩🇪
Wow, James, just wow. Yet again you provide background information and insight into the performance. This makes it even more powerful, and I can’t imagine how much more my respect for Grace can grow.
I’m so glad she had the moral courage and determination to learn from Miley. Yes, genius, and extraordinary wisdom.
Thanks again, my good friend. And until next time, auf!
Hey James. I got your most recent comment via email but it is not showing up on this page, for some reason. Yeah, I would simply love to be Grace’s dad. How proud that man must be!. Would you please send me the links to your videos again? Thx
Can't forget after JTB released someone has commented about, but wonder in few hours later just erased, the same story behind those line 'the smoke in the ridget jeans'.
Guitarist Melissa Dougherty, who bumped into me on her way to the stage from the back of the room at Bluebird Theater in Denver where I took my movies. As soon as I saw her hair from the back I know who it was, I was blessed. :)
Not only do you know Melissa‘s name, Paul, but you actually bumped into her. Are you trying to get me jealous! 🧐😉
@@daxmusix she bumped into me, I was blocking the way. :) There is no seating.
pauldhoff that still counts!🤓
@@daxmusix You may be right about part of it being about her brother. That may come out later when she gets older and it seems that her brother is doing better now. I think it is still to soon for that reveal.
This is my favorite song of Grace. I rarely skip it, but I don't have any lingering bad memories or current darkness to affect me. I was thinking about suggesting to you that because of your hesitation to reacting to this song, that you instead react to another person's reaction of this song. "Petra Reacts" is a beloved Grace reactor and has a reaction to this song I have rewatched many times, and showcases the power of this song. I tear up every time but in a good way.
Thanks Andrew, but it’s not really the bad memories that make me not want to listen to this song over and over, like every other Grace song. It’s more like what I was talking about concerning the fact that I truly enjoy songs that make me happy. That doesn’t take away from the greatness of this song, obviously, but it’s just not really my cup of tea. I’m glad you love it!
I love Petra, like everybody else, and I will watch her reaction on this song sometime soon. A few other people have asked me to watch that as well. Thanks for bringing it up.
My FAV song to date... reason? Well life kinda gave me a Cleveland Steamer... So I can relate fully lol
I always believed this song was about the advice from professionals in the industry advising her to do this, or do that, and she wanted to stay true to herself instead.
To me it’s about depression. With the finger picking I flash on Joni Mitchell every time.
there you go
The skylight "Would you be mad at me if I ran away to it in the night" A very dark passage. To me it sounds like she is talking "in her mind" to "the somebody who she wants with her, while also wanting to be alone." about committing suicide, her soul running away to the skylight in the night.
"I don't know what I want anymore." Maybe when she was plunged into the life of an AGT winner and found so much of it harder than she imagined, she faced an existential crisis.
Then again this whole song may be Grace using her empathy to tell a story from the perspective of a loved one.
Yes Eric, it is quite cryptic and could be any of these things, I suppose. I think it says something that she does not like to perform this song in public. May have been a very seriously dark moment for her.
@@daxmusix I have never heard Grace say that she didn't like to perform this song in public. What I did hear her say was that others thought that this would not be a good song to sing in public, due to the fact that it was a downer. Until I see a Grace quote that she herself doesn't like to perform it in public, I will hold my opinions in abeyance.
I have watched a video of a live performance where Grace says she worries that others will think the song is a downer but she is going to sing it anyway because "she loves singing it." I regret I don't have the exact reference, but I am absolutely positive I heard her say this.
@@thomaslowry7079 So Have I.
She was about 12 when she wrote the song.
She was 13. Song came out 2017, she turned 13 in January. Mind boggling still, tho.
@@J0hnd0367 yes, I'm talking about when she wrote it. :)
@@pauldhoff She certainly didn´t write Lungs in the age of 12. She just won AGT and released Perfectly Imperfect in December 2016. Her work for her Full Album began in 2017, when she was 13 years old. I´m quite positive about it, although neither of us will know for sure. But given her schedule after releasing Perfectly Imperfect, her appearance and performances, it is unlikely, that she wrote Lungs then.
@@J0hnd0367 I wrote nothing about Lungs.
pauldhoff My mistake, I was in another comment section before. But it’s the same with Darkness. She wrote it with 13.
In the VanderVault.org lyrics section the line is not "weather streams down my cheeks" but rather "river streams down my cheeks"
Really?! Wow. I like weather. Which one is authentic, I wonder?
@@daxmusix The lyrics on the VanderVault.org site are consensus interpretations not verified by Grace herself. Personally, I don't believe there are any hard and fast lyrics to Grace's songs. As she performs them she often changes up the lyrics. I believe that Grace prefers her lyrics to be fluid. I believe she wants the listeners to put their own spin on the lyrics as much as possible.
I've known a few people who have had such hard confusing lives that even in their 50s they are still messed up and haven't been able to put it behind them. I believe the people who help other people or volunteer to work with people are the ones who have overcome and put the past behind them. I had to leave a few friendships because they let their past dominate them and their anguish made it appear they were reliving the same day over and over in mourning their past. There is nothing abnormal about avoiding things that make you feel uncomfortable. I couldn't walk into a hospital for the longest time after visiting my Grandfather as a child in his last days, I might have been too philosophical at the time but each time I went to visit him I felt I was in the midst of death. My daughters birth forced me to face it. Now I'm cool but I still have a thought seep in once in a while when I'm there. I've never felt true emotion in a song before that made me think one way or another til Grace and the feelings you have expressed about Pink Floyd are how I feel about Dark Side of The Moon but probably not as emotionally as you do. I don't think your obligated to do any reaction you don't want to, thank you for this one, reactors ignore us all the time
Cal 99ers Thanks for sharing that, and I’m sure glad that the birth of your daughter helped get you over it. Oh, and believe me, I will not do any reactions I do not want to. But thanks for the advice.👈🤓
I do feel in future u will see this song in a different light!
☑️ Darkness Keeps Chasing Me 🎼
Grace VanderWaal, an outspoken advocate of depression awareness, wrote Darkness Keeps Chasing Me when she was thirteen. Darkness is a hauntingly beautiful melody about the artist’s internal struggles with her personal demons. Grace’s uncanny ability to infuse emotion into her music is on full display. This, and an air of inevitability which hangs over the music, makes it a difficult listen for some. The studio recording is so darkly compelling that her handlers discouraged her from performing it in public out of concern for her young fans. Grace complied for a season, but Grace being Grace eventually forced their hand. This is her song, and her declaration to the world of what is possible from the most important singer-songwriter of this generation.
One comment I heard from Simon Cowell and musicians who have met Grace is, "She always knows what SHE wants to do". I believe that in a year or two (when the suits and the egoists realize that SHE is the genius, and the best they can do is to hand her the tools and get out of her way) she will have complete unquestioned autonomy in her musical creativity and choices.
She seems to be gaining a good amount of control and comfort now. I don’t know, but I do feel confident that she will be the queen of her destiny very soon.
Quick note, she had to be asked many times before she would sing it live.
pauldhoff I would imagine so. Thanks, Paul!
@@daxmusix She said that she just wanted to sing upbeat songs. Also you see her crop a word, that is watermarking it, like they do for pictures so if it is copied it isn't complete or unblemished. She has done that with other songs that she hasn't released yet.
She wrote the song in under 30 minutes. I lost my wife Lorraine over 8 years ago, and my mother the next year, my father the next year, they were divorced when I was about 13. The next year a close friend of 89 that called me her son, a close cousin the next year, and an aunt the following one. It was bang bang band. But with this song, I love it so and I so wish that I had written a song that is so mature as it is about hurt. I think in many ways it is her best song. It is a shame for now that you can't join it and listen to it when it does come on, and in no way is it easy for me too. My wife was a 10 for hurt, no one, not even my mother comes close to that number, maybe a 3. After 40 years and with 3 years before we got married, she is always there in my mind, almost nothing I do is without her being there. Enough said.
Paul, I am so very glad, happy, that this song means so much to you and reminds you of the loveliness of your wife and the closeness of others that you lost. Thanks for sharing that with me! I get it!!
@@daxmusix well, I think we need a base line since we write back and forth. You need not to say anything. :)
Well not need, I just want too.
pauldhoff mmmmmmmmm
@@daxmusix did you ever watch my other channels videoes of her? I forget if you have.
♥️♥️♥️♥️🇧🇷🥰
Please please react to the song lung by her . Best written wong od hers and you need to hear it!
It is high up on my list, Valerie. Thank you
It's not about her. She wrote empathicaly, I believe, from her brothers point of view.
Great reaction,agree with everything you said,she sings it lovely but it's a track I skip everytime.i just love grace more upbeat.english John.
Thanks John. I almost hate to say it, but I’m glad that there’s somebody who feels the same way. Beautiful song, obviously, but yeah, I like the more upbeat and positive from grace. Thanks very much!
She wrote this song in 30 minutes after she finished a session with Ido. She had some time left and she sat there and wrote this. I would be willing to bet it came from a conversation they had earlier. I always felt that the darkness might be about the industry, and the fact that they may have been trying to force her sing songs she doesn’t want to.
Truth, Facts. NOT Dauth.
She wrote this song in 30 minutes after she finished a session with Ido. She had some time left and she sat there and wrote this. I would be willing to bet it came from a conversation they had earlier. I always felt that the darkness might be about the industry, and the fact that they may have been trying to force her sing songs she doesn’t want to.