Achingly tender, gentle, and dreamy, Mon Rovîa’s “crooked the road.” – taken off his upcoming EP, ‘Act 4: Atonement’ – is a blanket of musical and emotional warmth ready to envelop our ears and comfort our restless souls.
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“crooked the road.” – Mon Rovîa
Achingly tender, gentle, and dreamy, Mon Rovîa’s latest single “crooked the road.” is a blanket of musical and emotional warmth ready to envelop our ears and comfort our restless souls.
It’s a song born out of love and empathy; of a pure, big heart doing all it can to support another in their time of need. We all deserve someone looking out for us – someone who can steady our hands when they start to shake, offer a fresh perspective when ours gets too dark and narrow, and just sit with us when we need a little company.
In three minutes’ time, the Liberia-born, Tennessee-based singer/songwriter offers all that and more, wearing his own heart on his sleeve as he promises to be our rock; our anchor; our safety and our sanctuary.
Crooked the road
And the one driving
25 years, I know
You’ve been unraveling
Tell me why did you run
Run past the dogs
And the horses
Now you find yourself here
Past the do’s and don’ts
Of your choices
But if you’re leaving
Know I’ll stay beside that telephone line
And tomorrow
We might steal the sun
from underneath our eyes
Mmm, mmm, mmm
Released August 23, 2024, “crooked the road.” is the lead single off Mon Rovîa’s upcoming EP Act 4: Atonement – the fourth and final extended player in a series that explores The Hero’s Journey, taking listeners through the natural sequences of discovering their purpose.
“These 4 ‘Acts’ have been meant to serve as a peak into my story; a window into what’s next – and Act 4 will leave us at the door of the album that we’re currently working on,” the artist tells Atwood Magazine. The project began over a year ago with the July 2023 release of Act 1: The Wandering, and also includes Act 2: Trials and Act 3: The Dying of Self.
As the first peak into Act 4 – which promises to offer at least some sense of resolution and catharsis to this year-long endeavor – “crooked the road.” finds Mon Rovîa dwelling in a space of healing, hope, and light.
“This is a song for those who have fallen too in love with their pain,” he explains. “I was there a couple of years back before I became Mon Rovîa. I was in love with my suffering, it became who I knew myself as.
“Because of this, I couldn’t see the hands that had been extended to lift me out,” he continues. “Ones that were longing to see me become who I was meant to be. For the listener I hope they find freedom, I hope they find strength to pull away from what brings down. The song is for all of us who thought in our darkest moments, ‘this is who I am.‘”
Tennis courts
When I was yours
Late night releasing
Sacred floors
Got me believing
A little more
This pain
Will run its course
In the morning
I saw you there
Holding out your hand
If I grab it
Know that I care
Cuz darkness don’t look good on you
There’s a sense of romance to Mon Rovîa’s language; his poetic, impassioned, life-affirming lyrics implore his audience to look up and believe in themselves; believe that they are more than their darkest moments, more than their darkest thoughts, more than their darkest spaces.
“To me, the lyrics ‘and tomorrow we might steal the sun from underneath our eyes‘ is one of the most important parts of this song,” he says. “The weariness of the eyes, the exhaustion, the tears, dark circles – the pain hidden underneath – regardless of all this, the sun is still close by. That lifting of the eyes again, to the sun, to the light, is the hopeful part of the song. Finding the sun again; putting the light back into your perception of the world you see, is possible, and that’s what the song is trying to convey.”
And tomorrow, we might steal the sun from underneath our eyes…
“crooked the road.” also arrives with news of Mon Rovîa’s signing to Nettwerk Music Group, who will be releasing Act 4: Atonement later this year.
While his story is still very much beginning’ – after all, his first release came only four years ago – the Afro-Appalachian folk artist already feels like he has ‘arrived’ at who he’s meant to be; his music, and especially “crooked the road.,” realizes an artistry centered around love, empathy, and kindness – one that will always be here for us whenever we need him to be, because he’s offered his whole heart and soul in song.
But if you’re leaving
Know I’ll stay beside that telephone line
And tomorrow
We might steal the sun
from underneath our eyes
Day breaks sorrow
And I still feel the edge of this cold knife
But next to you I laid softly
on this hard ground
But next to you I laid softly
on this hard ground
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“crooked the road.” – Mon Rovîa
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© Caity Krone
© Caity Krone
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