Hong Kong singer/songwriter Joya explores love’s raw, heartrending beauty and power in “If Ever She Goes,” an achingly intimate, vulnerable, and deeply tender song.
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Stream: “If Ever She Goes” – Joya
Multitudes within her, finds multitudes in me. There’s no doubt about the sides I’ll lose, if ever she goes…
Love can be a lot of things all at once: Intense, intimate, overwhelming, fragile, breathtaking, even frightening. But above all else, love is beautiful, and it brings out the best in all of us. Singer/songwriter Joya explores love’s raw, heartrending beauty in her latest single: Achingly intimate and vulnerable, the tender “If Ever She Goes” is a soul-stirring reflection on the power of love’s connection, what it means to have love, and the parts of us we lose without it.
There she is, lying right next to me
Her thoughts somewhere in a dream
As she stirs, I’m looking at her
There she is, busy stopping time
Half asleep, just out of reach
she still holds my attention
That’s what she does to me
That’s who she is, you see
And multitudes within her
Finds multitudes with me
There’s no doubt about the sides I’ll lose
If ever she goes
little does she know
Released June 9, 2023 via Future Future Records, “If Ever She Goes” aches from the inside out. Taken off her highly anticipated debut album SHE IS JOYA (out this fall), Joya’s fourth single of the year sees the up-and-coming Hong Kong singer/songwriter dwelling in profound emotional depths as she reflects on the intensity, and the fragility, of her love.
Nothing compares to feeling so deeply connected to someone else, but that limitless euphoria comes with an equally powerful pain – that of potential loss.
Here I am, lying right next to her
Neither here nor there
Wondering, who she loved before me
Scattered thoughts floating through scattered light,
In cyan blue, this feeling feels new
I should be scared but I’m not with you?
And it don’t make sense, how it took so long
For me to see
“I wrote this song one morning in that blue morning light looking at my now-wife sleeping in bed,” Joya tells Atwood Magazine. “I recall a pivotal moment when I felt acutely aware of the strong love I had for her, but with it at the same time, the fear that came with the possibility that I could lose her. I’ve always felt that different people bring out different sides of you, not so different how the same diamond looks different when shone upon by various light sources. These people create and show more sides of you, even to yourself, simply because of that relationship you have with them. That’s what I felt and still feel about her.”
“This is a love song, and as a love song I wanted it to highlight how we all know that love is powerful… but that the giver and receiver of that love, are the ones who ultimately decides whether that builds or breaks. ‘Multitudes within her, finds multitudes in me. There’s no doubt about the sides I’ll lose, if ever she goes.'”
Singing softly and sweetly, Joya (AKA Jodie Chan) delivers a breathtaking performance over an ethereal bed of sweet synths, light percussion, gentle acoustic guitars, and gorgeous harmonized vocals. She’s without a doubt in her head, but that’s what love does to us: It can be so powerful and overwhelming that it breaks us down for absolutely no reason at all. In this case, it’s the immediacy and the beauty of her love that rings strongest for Joya; her voice aches, knowing just how much of a hold this other person, and the love they share, have over her own mind, body, and soul.
Cause when she softens at the edges, I fold
And there goes my defences,
As if I ever really had a chance
against a single word she said
That’s what she does to me
That’s who she is, you see
And multitudes within her
Finds multitudes within me
There’s no doubt about the sides I’ll lose
Let love be a mystery some other day; today, we celebrate the beauty of this higher power in a song that hurts in all the best ways. “If Ever She Goes” is a reminder to cherish love in the moment and every day. Remember what you have while you have it, and let that special someone know just how much they mean to you while they’re right here, right now, beside you.
If ever she goes
I hope she knows
I can’t let her go
Little does she know
That’s what she does
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Stream: “If Ever She Goes” – Joya
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© Stephanie Teng
© Stephanie Teng
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