A radiant and playful soundtrack to inner upheaval, Ellie Dixon’s sun-kissed song “Green Grass” captures existential dread through buoyant, groovy, and feel-good pop.
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Stream: “Green Grass” – Ellie Dixon
I fell on my face when I was walking through town earlier today, but then I stayed down, laying on the ground, ’cause everyone looks so happy when they’re upside down…
We all have our own existential crises from time to time – alright, sometimes perpetually – but never before has that dread taken on such an infectious, smile-inducing hue as it does in Ellie Dixon’s mesmerizing new single. A radiant and playful soundtrack to inner upheaval, Dixon’s sun-kissed “Green Grass” captures existential dread through buoyant, groovy, and feel-good pop. Balancing light with darkness, euphoric sound with big rhetorical questions and concepts, Dixon manages to capture soul-searching in the moment, while alleviating some of the stress, terror, and angst that can all too easily tear us up inside.
Hey, how’s your life?
Yeah mine’s alright
I’m doing fine
Well hey
I’m having a bad day
So tell me it’s okay
Sometimes it’s just that way
My mama said
The grass is always greener
Where you water it
Go and fill your diet up with
Greens and reds and oranges
Coffee goes cold
So you better drink all of it
Go and live your live
Cuz you know
You were born for it
Independently released May 21, 2021, “Green Grass” arrived earlier this spring as Ellie Dixon’s second release of the year (following February’s passionate “Sucker”) and the third single off her forthcoming fourth EP, set for release this summer. A Cambridge-born 22-year-old with a knack for tight, expressive lyrics and dynamic deliveries thereof, Ellie Dixon has steadily risen as an exhilarating musical force over the past five years. Her EPs (2016’s Look Forward, 2017’s Jungle, and 2018’s Growing Pains) tracked her rapid creative growth in her late teenage years, and more recently, singles like 2020’s ethereal, psychedelic summer song “Space Out” and “New Waves” have found her expanding the breadth of her art.
With influences as far-reaching as Easy Life, Still Woozy, BENEE and Anderson .Paak, Ellie Dixon is holding nothing back at this point in her burgeoning career: As singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer of all her content, she is in complete creative control, blending together a provocative mix of pop, rap, jazz, R&B, and more to make a singular melting pop of irresistible sound.
As fun as it is utterly cerebral, “Green Grass” is a particularly bubbly, self-aware moment of truth – a musical celebration that wraps us in revelry, while simultaneously provoking us to confront our own personal demons while, in point of fact, having quite a good time. Dixon’s quick wit and smarts come to the fore in a fast-paced song dives deep into the self, without letting things get too heavy. Her chorus is a stunning crescendo of assertive thought, feeling, and well-positioned perspective:
You are not an
Image or a product or commodity
You aren’t worth more
Because you like to eat broccoli
You’re made up of your
Thoughts, habits, hopes, fears and honestly
You’re floating through space on a rock
Ain’t that crazy?
So go and live your life
What could go wrong? Mmm…
“I started this song back in September, so it really feels amazing to get this one out into the world,” Dixon shared last month upon her song’s release. “I wanted a song that I could use as advice to myself, full of positivity and life lessons. What better way to do that than sum up all the wisdom and positivity given to me by my lovely mum! She has always been a beacon of confidence and living well, so this song goes out to her! You can even hear her sampled in this track saying, ‘It’s just life, honey.'”
“I hope this track brings you the joy it has brought me and reminds you that happiness is all relative – it’s about appreciating where you are right now, rather than where you were, where you’re going, or where you think you should be.”
Hey, so I fell on my face
When I was walking through town earlier today
But then I stayed down, laying on the ground
Cuz everyone looks so happy when they’re upside down
It got me wondering what is this all about?
We’re just kids in the playground, then the sun goes out
Where are my instructions? What am I here to do?
An existential crisis at 22
My mama said
The grass is always greener where you wanna be
You’ve got to learn to love the ground you’re
Standing on already and coffee goes cold
But be grateful that there’s any
Go and live your life, ‘cuz you’ve always been ready…
An uplifting, reassuring rapture, “Green Grass” gives us plenty of reasons to smile and embrace the life we have.
Ellie Dixon has started our summers off right with a beautiful, sun-soaked tune we’ll be singing (that is, if we can remember the words) all season long. Clever (honestly, who else sings about broccoli?!), bright, and endlessly enthralling, “Green Grass” is a welcome, joyful indulgence and a transportive escape ready to whisk us into our own happy la-la lands. Listen to Ellie Dixon’s latest below, and stay tuned for her new EP – coming (very) soon!
Oh the grass will surely be greener, but why do we even need that?
Go for purple, pink, or even turquoise, yellow
You’re a dreamer, oh I remember what my mama said
She knew just what I needed
She said the grass is always greener
Where you water it
Go and fill your diet up with greens and reds and oranges
Coffee goes cold, that’s why you better drink all of it honey
Mm, go drink it up
Cuz honey you ain’t an image or a product or commodity
You aren’t worth more because you like to eat broccoli
You’re made up of your thoughts, habits, hopes, fears and honestly
You’re floating through space on a rock, ain’t that crazy?
The grass is greener where you wanna be
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Stream: “Green Grass” – Ellie Dixon
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