Joshua Idehen channels wise words into a radiant revelry on his soulful and spirited song “All You Can Do Is Try,” a feel-good anthem that basks in the throes of the human experience.
“All You Can Do Is Try” – Joshua Idehen
Trying to be a better man, but I’d settle for a better mess. Got good intentions, just don’t know where I left them. Making new mistakes to learn the same old lessons…
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It’s a lesson we learn early, and often: Holding your head up is far easier said than done.
And no, it’s not because it’s so heavy with knowledge.
Life has a funny way of challenging us with endless twists and turns. Sometimes, we weather the surprises gracefully – even welcoming them – but even so, grace is far from our first emotional response, and our obstacles frequently get the better of us. As Joshua Idehen’s latest single so lovingly reminds us, all you can do is try – try to be your best self; try to make the best of a bad situation; try to hold you head high, even when you feel so low. Idehen channels wise words into a radiant revelry on his soulful and spirited song “All You Can Do Is Try,” a feel-good anthem that basks in the throes of the human experience.
Win or lose, all you can do is try. Succeed or fail, all you can do is try. The outcome is not the answer; it’s all about the journey: Sometimes, all you can do is try, and that will have to be alright.
unsteady days
got a lot on my spinning plates
trying to be a better man
but I’d settle for a better mess
got good intentions
just dunno where I left them
Making new mistakes
To learn the same old lessons
The other day, I helped my mum out
with some money
said I wished it was more
said I wish I did better
She pushed my hands aside,
forget that one my son are you’re happy?
And my spirit is a moment of silence
mate I tell her I’m trying
The odds are hardly in my favour, still
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering Joshua Idehen’s “All You Can Do Is Try,” a heartfelt song whose message of hope and humility is as humanizing as it is inspiring. Idehen’s first new solo offering of the year, following last year’s debut solo album Learn to Swim, A Mixtape sees the British-born, Sweden-based spoken word artist and musician once again teaming up with his longtime musical partner and close friend Ludvig Parment to create a song that is far greater than the sum of its parts.
Released last April, Learn to Swim, A Mixtape established Joshua Idehen as a singular voice of insight and reason, sonic depth and soul-soaked light. “In many ways, the 36-minute mixtape feels like a TED Talk due to the sheer depth and thought-provoking nature of Idehen’s writing, but to call it that would be a disservice to his own performance, as well as to producer Ludvig Parment’s incredible craft; together, the two artists create a captivating world of warmth and wonder, into which Idehen spills his heart, his soul, his body, and his mind,” Atwood Magazine wrote in our June ’23 feature, going on to proclaim the record a “resounding and deeply human triumph.”
“All You Can Do Is Try” arrives in the wake of this past April’s “With Balance,” a collaborative single with Metronomy and Naima Bock that will feature on Metronomy’s forthcoming Posse EP Volume 2 (out July 12 on Ninja Tune). Idehen has been teasing this song for months; its earliest public glimpses date back to last November, when he presented the third verse as a poem, quoted everyone’s favorite Star Wars character, and attributed the song’s creation to Radiohead’s Kid A track “Optimistic”: “That song has been a salve to my feels of doubt and personal / social impotence,” he wrote. “I think a lot of times I’m not good enough, or that obstacles are too big for me to overcome, and if I don’t get it right the first time, well, shouldn’t have bothered in the first place. I used to believe in the philosopher Yoda, ‘Do or do not, there is no try,’ but that’s what I get for placing my faith in a puppet of capitalism.”
“There is always first, to try. Because often the right thing, the good thing, is the scary thing, and if you’re scared, it’s often because you’re not certain you can pull it off. And isn’t that the definition of bravery, to have the odds against you, but try anyway?”
“What I’m saying is Free Palestine.”
Sometimes, all you can do is try
Alright? I’m saying
Sometimes, all you can do is try
and that will have to be alright
I promise it will be alright
I promise it will be
I promise it will be
True to its word, “All You Can Do Is Try” stays optimistic in the face of overwhelming hardship,
thanks in large part to Ludvig Parment’s bright piano chords and the bold drum and bass beats that drive the track’s sparse, but sprightly musical accompaniment. Backed by the singular Sharlene Hector & The Singing Choir (whom you may recognize from previous Idehen releases, including “This World’s a Mess”), Idehen drops wisdom like he’s shaking out the creases in his clothes. His words are as candid and as eloquent as ever; music has always been far more than mere entertainment to him, and this song once again follows through on his unspoken, but understood mission – a higher purpose to leave the world a better place than when he found it.
Whereas his first verse reflects on shared moments of reflection to himself and with his mother, the second verse sees Idehen reckoning with a dear friendship that’s fallen out. He reminisces nostalgically on how close they once were, laments the way they both left things, and ultimately resolves that “this can’t be the end” – recognizing this to be just a glitch in the Matrix, a hiccup in their larger narrative, a “sad song with no crescendo.” His story feels hauntingly intimate, vulnerable, and achingly familiar:
We were the tightest g’s
‘Til we fell out over vaccines
Straight banger now somber ballad
us divided is sad mathematics
Made attempts to patch things up but
We men were like matchsticks,
He move mad, I’d match it
‘Til his name tasted of ashes
Then I heard from round the way
His mum’s in her final days
Tried my best to show face
Bridges burned leave no way
This can’t be the end though
We’d been friends since the first Nintendo
sad song with no crescendo
I guess that’s how it goes
Sometimes, all you can do is try
Alright? I’m saying
Sometimes, all you can do is try
and that will have to be alright
I promise it will be alright
I promise it will be…
As Idehen tells Atwood Magazine today, this song is a long time coming – and one that hits home hard, and in more ways than one. “‘All You Can Do Is Try’ was born in 2022, while I was on support touring for my mates Lazy Habits,” he shares. “It was the first beat Ludvig sent me after we finished Learn to Swim: A Mixtape, and I knew I loved it because I immediately had no idea what I wanted to write on it. Paralyzed in the face of genius, innit.”
“At the same time I was performing live for the first time since the pandemic, to the small early support crowds. I didn’t mind it; I saw it as a great way to test the new project and earn my stripes, but one show in particular, I was scheduled to perform to no one. I’d texted my partner, Julia, who told me keep my head up, and I said I’d try, and replied ‘that’s all you can do,’ and the song wouldn’t stop writing itself ’til it was done. She responded ‘I promise that will be alright‘ and ding! The chorus wrote itself.”
“I thought of my mother, the hardest shooting person I know, who’s fond of saying ‘we try our best and leave the rest to god.’ I thought of redemption: My therapist reminding me the key is to try to do good each day. I thought of the friendships that fell to the wayside when I could’ve done better. This song has all those stories.”
Advice will come to us in many shapes and forms throughout our lives. First, it will arrive through our guardians; from parents and grandparents, cousins, and other relatives. Next, it may be passed down from our teachers, and later on, maybe even a few friends. As we make our own way through the world, we can find wisdom in everything we interact with – from books and plays to movies and songs. The last stanzas of “All You Can Do Is Try” are (arguably) home to its most important lines, as Idehen makes that crucial connection between acceptance and understanding, hope and perseverance, belief, faith, and trust. “Most days I’m far from a Phoenix; I’m just laying in the ash with my dumb feelings,” he admits. “All you can do is try…. still, clear head, full heart, some days are rough, my best swing is going to be enough. I have to believe that.” This is his moment of zen; the cathartic release of a soul that’s learning to weather the storms, and in doing so, forging a deeper connection with the ebbs and flows of life itself.
Stream Joshua Idehen’s “All You Can Do Is Try” exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and bask in the warm glow of his wise words, passed down from generation to generation, for as far back as time can remember.
A song for the days when I’m less than elegant
don’t even mention excellence
most days I’m far from a Phoenix I’m just
laying in the ash with my dumb feelings
All you can do is try.
Maybe the seas will part,
or maybe the wheels will stay
on the cart a little longer
maybe the rain dance what
brings the thunder, still
clear head, full heart,
some days are rough,
my best swing is going to be enough
I have to believe that
Sometimes, all you can do is try
Alright? I’m saying
Sometimes, all you can do is try
and that will have to be alright
I promise it will be alright
I promise it will be
I promise it will be
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“All You Can Do Is Try” – Joshua Idehen
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