Every week, there is at least one day where it’s a struggle to get out of bed. Ideally, it’s just one day where that’s the case, and not more. The hours take their toll, and no matter how great it feels to be alive and healthy, there’s this itching feeling that things could be better. The grass is always greener, isn’t it? Nick Moran’s soulful “Easier Time” hooks into the push and pull of the everyday, finding the singer striving for that sought-after balance.
I jumped out at Cooper Union Square,
threw my hands up high into the air
And it took me so long to get a hold on,
I got a lot going on down in me
Listen: “Easier Time” – Nick Moran
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It’s funny how hard it can be to capture a simple message: “Easier Time” reportedly took Moran over a year to complete, and it was well worth the effort. The song hooks listeners in, thanks to the singer’s warm, inviting croon in the chorus. “This song started with my usual approach to songwriting, with just a melody,” Moran recalls. “Something about the descending line into the chorus led me to to land at the lyric “we should be living for an easier time.” I always imagined this song (in both its structure and progression) as a fight between chaos and comfort. The back and forth of loud and quiet, of simple and complex, mirrors how — like, life — instability can be followed by grounding, that frenzied can be followed by familiar.”
We should be living for an Easier time
I know that the fight it ain’t easy
And I’m doing my best alright
Shooting for an easier time
And the world keeps driving me crazy
trying to change me overnight
“This song took me well over a year to write and was the most challenging on the record. It turned out to be the last song finished. Patience in having a song unfold over that much time allowed a story to be captured so that it represents every thought and feeling along the way. This song was essentially a tow-rope for me in navigating ups and downs of making the record, and without question embodies the spirit and sentiment of the whole project. My biggest hope is that it can be the same for anyone in the midst of struggle and chaos.”
Buffeted forward by the warmth of a Wurlitzer and a humble rhythm guitar, Nick Moran’s voice is constantly full of life and energy. Despite his exasperation, he isn’t giving up – no surrender, as we like to say. That fuel keeps this song alive; his passion radiates throughout the song’s bright melodies. We have all had those complete and utter heart-on-sleeve pauses, where we take a step back to look around and ask, to no one in particular, what’s going on? Moran puts music to our rumination, giving us a vessel from which to vent, to breathe, and to push reset.
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cover © Elli Lauren
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